While the original release of KSP for consoles was a buggy mess, the new enhanced edition is a full blown masterpiece of a game. If you have ever wanted to become a rocket scientist then this is the game for you. With a huge variety of options, whatever spaceship you can imagine, you can build. The new control scheme is perfect for every kind of player.
If you are extremely patient, then Kerbal Space Program Enhanced Edition has a deep and rewarding game to offer you. But that patience isn't just tested in the tutorial or painstakingly crawling your way over the steep learning curve. It will be tested throughout your entire experience with the pacing, bugs, and even control scheme itself. Kerbal Space Program is a fantastic and unique gaming experience, and it's a valiant effort to bring this to consoles that rarely even attempt games this outside the box, but ultimately it always feels like a port, and one that would simply be better enjoyed with a mouse and keyboard. If that's not an option, there is an opportunity here to get a taste of one of the ways the PC gaming community stays weird, but be prepared to spend a long time chewing on it before you'll enjoy that taste.
Kerbal Space Program is a game that makes you feel dumb before it makes you feel smart. That is its appeal. There are some issues with its presentation on console, but if you want to feel smart and have the time to learn (and don't mind the annoying controls and menus), this is the game.
For those who love hyper-detailed simulators, Kerbal Space Program has that in spades, and for that alone, Kerbal Space Program deserves high marks. In my experience, though, that audience is far more prevalent on PC, which makes it disappointing to see that the console specific Enhanced Edition still feels like a poor console port of a heavily PC-based title.
Whatever direction can you go, I can say this: It’s less expensive than Space Camp. Go get yourself one of those freeze-dried ice cream bars, strap a Kerbal or two to some rockets, and call it good.
Kerbal Space Program is a fascinating educational tool. There's a childlike joy to be had in experimenting with your space-faring efforts. You'll find it hard to appreciate that on PS4 though, as this version is a mess on multiple levels. A genuinely good game is spoiled by a terrible port.
It's such a shame that Kerbal Space Program is so shoddily ported, because underneath its buggy, messy experience lies a fantastically detailed game with plenty for science nerds. The career mode offers replayability and near-endless depth, while the tutorials are hugely helpful in bringing new people into the complex clutches of physics, but its plethora of bugs and some huge design oversights make it very hard to recommend. The gameplay itself shoots for the stars, but its technical problems bring it crashing back down.
SummaryIn Kerbal Space Program, take charge of the space program for the alien race known as the Kerbals. You have access to an array of parts to assemble fully-functional spacecraft that flies (or doesn’t) based on realistic aerodynamic and orbital physics.