In The Black

At this point this game is just a glorified tech demo, looks pretty, boring gameplay, slow progression, tiny player count, just over all really ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ boring. I would maybe feel better if it was $5 but no it's $20, not to mention 11 dlc's in an early access game that only add ship colors. Do not waste your money on this game at this point in development, the games seams promising but it needs a lot more time to develop and grow.

as others have said, this game is flat out not ready for Early Access, while yes this game does have promise... this game, right now? this is an over glorified tech demo, hell i think this is the same state its in when i played one of the beta's or something a while back. just, dont get this game. it flat out is not worth your 20 bucks, go play anything else or just get like, a rimworld DLC or something idk, there's so many other games out there that are just better that are 20 dollars.

dece game but way to grindy for the amount of content currently

Wanted to love this game. With the right accessibility options and more incentive to progress through levels (rather than repeating the same 3 over and over to earn a couple of credits), this game could be one of the greatest space-combat sims there ever was...but i'm highly skeptical. I really enjoyed the demo and felt like I was rather good at it. Unfortunately, the full version turned out to be a tedious grind. You spend your time replaying the easiest missions over and over just to earn enough money for barely noticeable weapon upgrades. Finally unlock an upgrade and think, *“Okay, now I’m ready for some real combat.”* Nope. You’ll need to grind through another 10 or so nearly identical missions before you might be powerful enough to take down a single enemy. And it’s not even because the enemies are particularly overpowered—the real problem is that you simply run out of ammunition and the game/missions are not fun enough for me to keep playing them over and over. The result is a frustrating progression loop that feels more like busywork than meaningful advancement. Maybe this is a completely different experience for someone who is already a pro-level flight sim player, but in its current state, I just can’t recommend it. I genuinely wanted to love this one, but the full game lost me somewhere between the ammo shortages and the endless grinding.

It was ok until I saw this was 10 years in the making. I expected way more. That gives some serious CIG vibes.

It's a hardcore full-Newtonian space sim that strongly favors good positioning and delta-v management. If that sounds appealing to you, you'll love it. If you want ace combat, you'll hate it. It's definitely not for everyone, but for those that have been waiting since independence war 2 for a decent sim along this vein it's awesome. IMHO it's definitely worth it.

It is true what some of the negative reviews point out. There is not much content in here and grinding PvE content to progress gets boring fairly fast. Also some ui bugs when you customize your ship, but nothing preventing you from playing. The main thing in my opinion is that the game mechanics are solid and fun. My recommadation is to grind pve until you have your favorite ship and then just stay in PvP until you get bored, then leave this game for some time and come back when you are in the mood for some more PvP. The game is worth its price tag in my opinion. Important Note: Try the Demo before buying, the flight model is something some people will love (like myself) and others hate, demo gives you good oportunity to find out which category you belong to.

The setting itself is, of course, interesting, and as far as I know there’s currently no alternative to the realistic space combat attempted here – and for that reason alone I decided, against all odds, to give In the Black a chance. So why did I request a refund after 116 minutes? Because, in my view, it’s currently a tech demo designed for PvP / arena battles. Singleplayer? That makes me laugh. Yes, there is a ‘Cantracts’ mode (aka single player Missions) – but that feels just like arena combat too; no ‘flying back’, just straight to the results screen. Mission failed? Never mind… you still get cash, based on the number of enemies destroyed and time flown – otherwise, no consequences. Can be repeated as often as you like. As I said... a tech demo that might turn into a game at some point. And if it does, I’ll take another look. But until then? I’d rather spend my money on projects that I don’t have to assume will fade out within a year.