Star Citizen is a game that we're not convinced will ever be released at this point, or at the very least, will show up so late that much of its relevance has been lost. That isn't to say it isn't always looking impressive though. If you'd like to see what it looks like to have a play with the latest 3.0 edition of the game, there's now an hour of footage of it right from the start.
Right off the bat it's clear that Star Citizen still looks great, though not quite as mind-blowingly-pretty as it did when first unveiled way back in 2012 - the facial animations look a little funny too. Once the character gets out of the endless menu system though, fully kitted out with guns and amor and all manner of accessories, we see a little more of the station. It too looks pretty, with lots of clever depth of field tricks to enhance the visuals.
You'll spot a bunch of weirdly animated NPCs though, who get stuck on walls or act rather odd in the environment. The performance isn't particularly great either, but then the demo is running at full detail at 4K resolution.
Once out in the big black nowhere on a ship of this own, our player showcases how free-form the game is, letting you wander around the vessel, opening doors and windows -- all the while with that gruff snarl on his face -- and eventually get into the cockpit.
Flying the ships look phenomenal, especially when kicking things into quantum drive to cover vast distances much quicker. In fact the whole game and demo does, for the most part. It's still a little clunky, but the overall experience is certainly visually impressive.
Even five years on from the original announcement and three years late, the game still isn't where it was promised though. The game is either going to turn out fantastic, or as one of the biggest busts in gaming history.
Only time will tell.
