Space is awesome. Spaceships are awesome. And blowing things up in spaceships is…well…awesome. With that bit of wisdom out of the way, it seems that Frontier Developments has decided to make Elite: Dangerous just a bit more accessible with the launch of Elite Dangerous: Arena. They’ve taken the Close Quarters Combat (CQC) mode of the full game and made it available as a stand alone for just $7.49. CQC pits teams of 4 against each other in fast moving space battles. Players can choose from one of 4 ships, level up and customize their craft in three different modes. Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch and Capture the Flag are all available for those budding Luke Skywalkers out there.

Having sunk a fair amount of time into Elite:Dangerous, I have some experience with CQC. Having it as a standalone mode is an interesting decision, and should hopefully expose more people to Elite without the intimidating massive galaxy of the full game. However, it should be noted that as of the time of this writing, I have spent upwards of 30 minutes in queue waiting for a Capture the Flag match. This is nothing new, and as I primarily enjoy objective based game modes, has reaffirmed my opinion that CQC has nothing to offer to my playstyle. If you enjoy TDM though, give it a try.