Frontier Developments has announced that the beta to test out the major new Planetary Landings feature of its Horizons Season Pass for Elite: Dangerous is now live.
Planetary Landings allows players to travel from space to the surface of a world, and then explore the world’s land for the first time in Elite. They’ll be able to fly over the surface in their spacecraft, then drop out a Scarab SRV (surface reconnaissance vehicle) and drive around the place - all in one continuous action, with no breaks or loading screens.
”Each of these life-sized worlds offer incredible vistas and new gameplay opportunities as players discover valuable resources, experience deadly combat encounters, raid bases, scout crash sites and cooperate with other players,” explains the studio, ”both on the planet surface and flying high above.”
If that weren’t enough, the developer stated that purchasing a full season of Frontiers will include the following upcoming upcoming DLC packs being released in 2016:
- Loot and Crafting, unlocking a world of customization options and adding new value and meaning to every action.
- Multicrew, allowing teams of players to assume roles aboard the same ship.
- Commander Creation, giving a unique appearance to players’ in-game avatars.
- Ship-Launched Fighters, allowing larger spacecraft to carry their own short-range fighter ships for attack and defense.
The Beta edition of Horizons Season Pass costs £49.99 and will allow players access to all of the betas of the DLC content as well as the content itself. The standard edition is £39.99 and only comes with the DLC. Pre-ordering either pack grants a £10 discount.
