Eterium

About

Eterium is a single-player Science Fiction Shooter game, reminiscent of 90's classics like Wing Commander and X-Wing. As a pilot in the United Earth Alliance, battle against the vicious Revi alien race in over 50 story-driven missions with advanced AI, customizable joystick support, and 3D cockpits. Experience intense space combat with dynamic difficulty, ship damage system, and asteroid fields in this modern take on space flight sims.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

48%

Audience ScoreBased on 79 reviews

story11 positive mentions

music3 negative mentions

Eterium successfully captures the nostalgic feel of classic space combat games like Wing Commander, providing enjoyable and fast-paced gameplay.
The game offers solid joystick and controller support, making it more accessible for players who prefer those input methods.
Despite its low budget, Eterium features decent graphics and a variety of mission types that can keep players engaged for several hours.

The controls are often described as clunky and unintuitive, especially when using a keyboard and mouse, leading to a frustrating experience for many players.
The story and character development are criticized for being weak and forgettable, with poorly written dialogue and a lack of engaging narrative.
Many players find the missions repetitive and lacking in variety, often involving tedious travel between waypoints with little excitement in between.

story
75 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
15%
79%
7%
The story in the game is generally considered weak and generic, serving primarily as a backdrop for the fast-paced space combat rather than a compelling narrative. Many reviewers noted that character development and dialogue are forgettable, with a lack of meaningful context tying missions together, leading to a feeling of repetitiveness. While some found moments of interest, the overall execution and presentation of the story, including the use of static visuals and basic graphics, detracted from the experience.
- “The story overall is certainly not unique in that it has been told countless times before, in many different forms, but I still think the story is passable and has some very interesting moments - this despite the bland and generic conversations between characters.”
- “I'm pleased to say Eterium is not one of those and is a fun game which holds your interest long enough to get through the campaign, which would probably take up at least 8 hours of your time if you go through all the pilot dialogues in between missions.”
- “Before and in between missions, you can go around the ship (between the bar and flight deck) where you can talk to some of the other pilots and crew which play out the story.”
- “The story is very bad, however.”
- “Eterium more or less nails the space fighter sim, but drops the ball completely when it comes to tying the missions together and providing context; thus, it feels like playing one meaningless but fun simulator mission after another.”
- “I also do not like that you are given virtually zero backstory before being thrown into the main story.”
graphics
23 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17%
70%
13%
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some praising the cockpit and ship designs as visually appealing, while others criticize the low-resolution textures and outdated character art. Although the game offers 4K graphics and runs smoothly on decent hardware, many players find the overall visual quality lacking, particularly in explosions and character animations. Despite these shortcomings, some appreciate the game's unique art style and charm, especially considering its indie development background.
- “Great cockpit and exterior ship graphics, along with the outer space atmosphere with planets in the background have great graphics also.”
- “Graphically, the game is decent with a slight cartoonish feel, yet this lends itself to the vibe of the game.”
- “Considering this was a part-time project by a 3-man development team, I think the graphics are perfectly acceptable and the handling of the craft feels responsive and unique to each vessel you fly.”
- “The character art is atrocious, the graphics are horribly outdated, and everything looks low res.”
- “The negatives are the visuals; everything has this low resolution texture feel, with explosions looking particularly poor, which is contrasted with the amazing cockpit designs.”
- “The graphics are pretty basic; you could argue that Starlancer/Freelancer have better graphics than this game, and the ship designs are hardly inspiring.”
gameplay
19 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
37%
47%
16%
The gameplay of Eterium has received mixed reviews, with some players finding it smooth and reminiscent of classic space combat games like Wing Commander, while others criticize it for being slow-paced and lacking depth. Although the controls and combat mechanics are generally praised, issues such as ineffective missile usage and repetitive actions detract from the overall experience. While some enjoy the gameplay for its nostalgic elements and solid mechanics, others feel it fails to maintain interest over time.
- “The gameplay is really smooth, and I love it.”
- “Gameplay wise it is a solid sim with enough depth to keep it interesting without being overly complex or simple.”
- “That being said, the overall feel of the game makes it clear that gameplay is the main focus, and damn is it good!”
- “Eterium fails to impress even after a few hours of gameplay, and I found myself quickly losing interest and going back to my backlog.”
- “There is almost no gameplay between 'enemy ship is so far away that it is nothing but a radar highlight on your HUD' and 'whoops it's zipped past me again.' Missiles are nearly useless, between the low quantity of missiles you can carry and the number of enemy ships, and the frequency with which the enemy uses decoys.”
- “The gameplay is awful, a combination of bad controls.”
music
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
17%
50%
The music in the game receives mixed reviews; while some players find it cheesy and lacking in grandeur, others appreciate its functionality and dynamic nature that adapts to in-game events. Overall, it is seen as adequate but not particularly memorable, with some criticism regarding the absence of impactful voice dialogues.
- “Very good --> controls, music, sounds, space combat, good story, gameplay.”
- “There is a dynamic music track, just like in Wing Commander, which changes based on events during flight.”
- “The story is bad, the character animations are laughable, the music is cheesy, and the controls are wonky.”
- “The only cons or critical remarks I can make is the game really lacks large bombastic music and voice dialogues.”
- “Music and dialogues are always difficult to make, and they have to fit into the movies.”
atmosphere
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
75%
The game's atmosphere is enhanced by impressive cockpit and exterior ship graphics, as well as a visually stunning outer space backdrop with planets. Players appreciate the near-perfect controls, which contribute to the immersive experience, though many feel that adding radio chatter during missions would further enrich the atmosphere.
- “The cockpit and exterior ship graphics, along with the outer space atmosphere with planets in the background, have great visuals.”
- “The controls are close to perfect, especially with a good flight stick, and small details like maximum permitted take-off velocity enhance the atmosphere of this game.”
- “It would add a lot to the atmosphere if you could get some radio chatter during combat or when you're reading through the various scenes that tell the story.”
- “I don't mind so much out of mission, but during one it could really add to the atmosphere and such.”
- “The controls are close to perfect, especially with a good flight stick and small things like maximum permitted take-off velocity add to the atmosphere of this game.”
stability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
150%
150%
Overall, users have mixed feelings about the game's stability; while some praise its polish and minimal bugs, others report encountering issues, such as needing to eject after completing a main objective.
- “I think it speaks to the developers' hard work that this game is so polished and bug-free.”
- “The game's stability is impressive; I haven't encountered any crashes or major glitches.”
- “It's refreshing to play a game that runs so smoothly without any interruptions.”
- “Oh, and it's a bit buggy - I completed a main objective, but had to eject on the way back.”
- “The game crashes frequently, making it hard to enjoy the experience.”
- “I encountered several glitches that disrupted my gameplay and made it frustrating.”
grinding
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
Players find the grinding aspect to be tedious and inferior to similar games, despite the use of advanced tools and resources in its development.
- “This is just tedious and worse than those games in every respect despite being made with far superior tools and available technical resources.”
- “The grinding feels endless and lacks any meaningful reward, making it a chore rather than an enjoyable experience.”
- “I find myself repeating the same tasks over and over, and it quickly becomes boring and frustrating.”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
Users express a desire to overlook the narrative shortcomings of the game, suggesting that the emotional engagement is lacking and that players should focus on the gameplay experience instead.
- “The emotional depth of the characters felt shallow and unconvincing.”
- “I was expecting a gripping narrative, but it left me feeling indifferent.”
- “The attempts at emotional moments fell flat and felt forced.”
optimization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
Overall, the game performs well with smooth gameplay and no lag, even at maximum graphics settings. However, players have reported several notable bugs that detract from the overall experience.
- “The optimization is impressive; it runs beautifully with no lag, even when streaming with all graphics settings turned up.”
- “Despite a few bugs, the overall optimization allows for a smooth gaming experience.”
- “The game performs exceptionally well, showcasing great optimization that enhances the gameplay.”