In The Black

I bought it and won't refund it because it is OKish for early EA and I want to support things like this (i like this!), but you should be aware of some things as of this moment (May 9th 2026): There is no pause - even when playing alone. The game requires always online to track experience progression. The navigation controls are... barebones. Everything manual. No way to set direction celestially, no way to automatically keep ship pointed at enemy or even to auto aim spinal weapons. No way to set thruster power - its ON or OFF. You cannot program navigation maneuvers (like evasion), or auto waypoints. The progression system currently is VERY slow, so you cant really experiment with different equipment or hulls because you have to farm XP and cash. To use the 2nd hull with missiles you have to farm 300K cash (100K ship, 100K each missile launcher), and level up a few times - i have a couple of hours of playtime and am not even halfway. There is no chat lobby in game (only during a match). But besides this and other quirks, the game is newtonian, there is an arena queue setup and there are some contracts (single player missions). I hope this improves significantly or I will continue to get radicalized against EA.

A ''10 year in development'' game that's less polished than a 7 day asset flip... So many problems/bugs it's ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ funny

At this point this game is just a glorified tech demo, looks pretty, boring gameplay, slow progression, tiny player count, just over all really ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ boring. I would maybe feel better if it was $5 but no it's $20, not to mention 11 dlc's in an early access game that only add ship colors. Do not waste your money on this game at this point in development, the games seams promising but it needs a lot more time to develop and grow.

dece game but way to grindy for the amount of content currently

It was ok until I saw this was 10 years in the making. I expected way more. That gives some serious CIG vibes.

as others have said, this game is flat out not ready for Early Access, while yes this game does have promise... this game, right now? this is an over glorified tech demo, hell i think this is the same state its in when i played one of the beta's or something a while back. just, dont get this game. it flat out is not worth your 20 bucks, go play anything else or just get like, a rimworld DLC or something idk, there's so many other games out there that are just better that are 20 dollars.

It's a hardcore full-Newtonian space sim that strongly favors good positioning and delta-v management. If that sounds appealing to you, you'll love it. If you want ace combat, you'll hate it. It's definitely not for everyone, but for those that have been waiting since independence war 2 for a decent sim along this vein it's awesome. IMHO it's definitely worth it.

It is true what some of the negative reviews point out. There is not much content in here and grinding PvE content to progress gets boring fairly fast. Also some ui bugs when you customize your ship, but nothing preventing you from playing. The main thing in my opinion is that the game mechanics are solid and fun. My recommadation is to grind pve until you have your favorite ship and then just stay in PvP until you get bored, then leave this game for some time and come back when you are in the mood for some more PvP. The game is worth its price tag in my opinion. Important Note: Try the Demo before buying, the flight model is something some people will love (like myself) and others hate, demo gives you good oportunity to find out which category you belong to.

The setting itself is, of course, interesting, and as far as I know there’s currently no alternative to the realistic space combat attempted here – and for that reason alone I decided, against all odds, to give In the Black a chance. So why did I request a refund after 116 minutes? Because, in my view, it’s currently a tech demo designed for PvP / arena battles. Singleplayer? That makes me laugh. Yes, there is a ‘Cantracts’ mode (aka single player Missions) – but that feels just like arena combat too; no ‘flying back’, just straight to the results screen. Mission failed? Never mind… you still get cash, based on the number of enemies destroyed and time flown – otherwise, no consequences. Can be repeated as often as you like. As I said... a tech demo that might turn into a game at some point. And if it does, I’ll take another look. But until then? I’d rather spend my money on projects that I don’t have to assume will fade out within a year.

Play the demo before you buy it. I did and had fun. Got the game, still having fun. Making progress through the ranks, unlocking ships, learning the ropes. It's exactly what is advertised. It's certainly not for everyone, they say that themselves, that's why they have a demo. One more time for everyone: Play the demo. D E M O