‘Star Citizen’ Wows At Gamescom, Showcases Brute Force Power Of PC Gaming

Star Citizen is easily one of the most anticipated games in recent memory. The game which claims to be “the most crowd-funded project in history” has had it’s fair share of stumbling blocks along the way, with many wondering just when the game will actually be finished. As of August 2016, the project has raised over $119 million with no signs of stopping. However, with each successive stretch goal reached, the project just seems further and further out of reach. Many original backers have become antsy, requesting their contributions refunded, even going so far as getting the LA Attorney General involved. So it stands to reason that Star Citizen needed to put those fears at ease.

Boy did they ever.

At Gamescom in Germany this past week, Star Citizen developer Cloud Imperium Games showcased an hour-long live demo of Star Citizen 3.0, and not only did it wow the people in the audience there witnessing it live, but it seems to have put a renewed faith in the project as a whole. The demo, which is presented by Chris Roberts, showcases the game’s seamless gameplay, mulitplayer, and sheer level of detail.

Powered by Cryengine, the game is shaping up to be one of the best-looking titles in the near future. Star Citizen is a title that has only ever been discussed for release on the PC, and with good reason. The sheer power they are pumping out is too much to handle for even some of the upper mid-range PCs that make up the bulk of the user base. Such a game could never be doable on a console, not without drastic compromises to the artistic vision of the title. Given that games running on Cryengine have struggled on current consoles, such as Ryse: Son of Rome not hitting even a consistent 900p, 30 frames-per-second, or even Lichdom: Battlemage which released in shambles on both platforms, it’s no wonder that the game has never been even uttered to have a hope of arriving on the Xbox One or PlayStation 4. Maybe if the PlayStation Neo, which will be unveiled officially next month according to reports, or the Xbox Scorpio are powerful enough, Cloud Imperium Games could see about porting the game over, but as of now, it’s likely the game will remain a PC exclusive indefinitely.

The demo follows two players as they travel to a seedy spaceport named Levski, showing the entire sequence of lifting off from a space station in nearby another planet in the system all the way to the ground of the spaceport. Breaking through the atmosphere of the planet where Levski is located was a treat, and was met with raucous applause from those in attendance.

Also shown off was the Star Citizen 2.5 Alpha trailer. The trailer shows off some more impressive looking gameplay from the shooter mechanics to some wild looking space battles. While no official date has been given for the release of Star Citizen 2.5 Alpha, the developer has stated it’s “close” to going live.

First announced in 2012, Star Citizen has a lot to live up to. Star Citizen is slated to showcase four distinct gameplay components: first-person space combat, exploring, trading and mining. Additionally, a single-player and, as the demo showed above, a drop in co-operative multiplayer mode is in the game. Star Citizen takes place in the 30th-century Milky Way, giving players a chance to explore the wonders of the galaxy we inhabit. Star Citizen is slated to launch, in some form, late 2016. Are you looking forward to Star Citizen? Sound off with your thoughts below.

[Image via Cloud Imperium Games]