New sci-fi co-op FPS game with epic space battles and sleek graphics is free to try for Steam Next Fest ahead of imminent launch
Jump Ship is a space-based sci-fi game currently in development, and the developers have some bold ambitions for the new first-person shooter. At its core, Jump Ship will be a mission-based co-op PVE roguelike, where players drop into a run, complete missions, and navigate the expanses of space. While no fixed release date is planned yet, there is a free Jump Ship demo on Steam as part of Steam Next Fest. The demo will be available from June 9–16, so there is plenty of time to get to know the game.
Jump Ship gameplay and free Steam demo details
Jump Ship promises more than simple FPS gameplay, with everything from resource management, ship crewing and maintenance, and orbital dogfights on the cards. The dev team is currently promising teams of four in PVE co-op gameplay, meaning there will be plenty for each player to do. Interestingly, there are no classes in Jump Ship, and the game allows players to freely organise and reorganise themselves and their duties. There is also a solo gameplay mode, but the game was ultimately designed around co-op, so that makes less sense.
The mission-based nature of Jump Ship suggests that the gameplay loop will feel similar to something like Warframe, with the difference being the seamless switching from piloting the cruiser to battling on-foot ground battles and the orbital dog-fighting. The missions are all hand-crafted, but it sounds like there will be procedural generation involved to keep each run feeling fresh. Players can also try out different ship configurations and a variety of upgrades in order to switch up the play style.
From a graphics point of view, Jump Ship looks like it borrows some of the pseudo-realistic futuristic look of games like Apex Legends and the Halo series. Overall, things look clean, with the space-based portions of the game offering some flashy visuals, both in the panoramic view of space and the bright laser-based weapon blasts.
The Jump Ship Steam Next Fest Demo features only a small slice of what the game will supposedly offer, with a basic tutorial, "a few missions" in one map region, a handful of ship upgrades to unlock, and "basic player and ship customisation." Prior to this, the game's beta was limited to a small group of players, and it seems as though it will return to that after Next Fest is over. Players will seemingly have to wait for the summer Steam Early Access release to try the game in any serious way. Fortunately, that's not a long wait.
It should be noted that the development team behind Jump Ship has disclosed that the early builds of the game will use AI-generated text-to-speech, but that these placeholders will be replaced by voice acting as the game gets further down the development pipeline.
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