Bookworm Speaks!- EVE True Stories

Another Comic Book.

For the uninformed: EVE Online is science fiction Massive Multiplayer Online Games that takes place in the far future, in a region of the Milky Way called New Eden. In this future starships are manned by immortal pilots called capsuleers, whose memories are transferred to new bodies upon death. The story is driven by the conflicts between the factions created by capsuleers.

What separates EVE Online from other MMO’s is that the events in the game: The factions, the battles, even the economy is almost entirely player driven. If a player wants that ship, they don’t just buy it from an NPC vendor. They either mine or buy the raw materials themselves and then build it themselves using their own money or another player had to do that and they buy it from them.

The Story: The events of the story are player driven. In 2009, there were two factions of players which made war on each other constantly, the Band of Brothers and Goonswarm. Then, an act of espionage brought down one side and ended one of the greatest wars in the history of EVE. This was not created by developers. It was created by the players. As the cover says: True Stories.

The Good: EVE Online is a rich and diverse universe, chock full of story potential, so it is very great to see any kind of media being released about it. Books and stories about EVE are lacking compared to other games like World of Warcraft.

Like many graphic novels, the artwork is done by several artists. The artwork is very well done, though to be honest, it might have been better if they had focused more on ships rather than people because it is really the starship battles that get people hooked on EVE, at least from Bookworm’s perspective. The artwork has a dark and crowded feel which is characteristic of EVE.

The story is full of action and also plenty of interpersonal interaction, all of which contributes to the epic feel of EVE Online.

The Flaws: The biggest flaw in this book is the plot format. There is a trend in comic books lately, that makes it seem like writers are allergic to the traditional format of beginning, middle and end. The story is told through a variety of flashbacks by the characters during one of the main battles of the war. The flashback trend may have been avant-garde back when it was new but nowadays it makes the story very confusing and really doesn’t add to the narrative. It works slightly better in written works, as the author has to make it clear what is happening, but in comics, which are told through visual communication with the reader, it makes it very difficult to figure out what is occurring. They need to go back to the old story where the sequence of events is told in sequence. Also, the story itself is very short. Some readers may feel like they are being ripped off.

The story itself is not bad, but it can go over the heads of those who are not familiar with the EVE Online Universe.

Finally, while no doubt intended to attract readers, the sexy Femme Fatale on the cover does not appear inside of the book, which is very disappointing.

Final Verdict.

A good idea on the part of CCP Games but they have got to do a better job on the next one.

Two out Five Stars.