Biltong & Bytes: Jump Space (Early Access Review)

At Pro-IT we’re all about bytes, biltong, and a bit of co-op chaos with the team. So when Jump Space (formerly Jump Ship) launched into Early Access on 19 September 2025, we strapped in, grabbed some droëwors, and took our first voyage into deep space. After 10 hours on board, here’s our verdict: this game is already a blast.

First Impressions: Smooth Flying

The first thing worth shouting about: optimization is lekker. On our rig (Ryzen 9 6900X, 64GB DDR5, RTX 3070Ti) we hit a solid 60 FPS on high settings, with the frame cap at 60, V-Sync off, and upscaling disabled. In early access, that’s impressive — no stutter, no chop, just smooth sailing through asteroid fields.

“Sea of Thieves… but in Space” (with Rogue-like Flavour)

If you’ve ever vibed with Sea of Thieves — the shared crew roles, the on-the-fly chaos, the stories that write themselves — Jump Space lands in a similar pocket. You’re crewing a ship together, shouting “shields!” and “we’re on fire!” while someone patches hull breaches and another lines up a boarding action. The twist? It layers a rogue-like progression loop over the top: branching routes, resource decisions between jumps, and persistent ship upgrades that carry across runs. Same cooperative magic, but in space and with more deliberate, repeatable runs.

Crew Life in the Void

Jump Space throws you straight into the deep end — or rather, deep space. You and your mates start off fixing up your first ship, scavenging parts and scrap to restore it to glory. It doesn’t take long before chaos erupts: one minute you’re boarding an enemy ship, next minute your buddy accidentally blasts you into orbit. 😅

There’s even a quirky mod that turns friendly fire into a healing shot — pro tip: doesn’t work with rocket launchers, as we learned the hard way. It’s chaotic, funny, and sets the tone perfectly: this is a game best played with friends, chirps over Discord included.

The Gameplay Loop: Rogue-like in Space

From the hangar, you pick missions with their own rewards and challenges. The rogue-like flavour comes through strong: every jump offers choices. Planet landings, space battles, asteroid storms — each branch feels different.

One of our most memorable runs saw the pilot dodging rocks like a rally driver while the rest of the crew frantically put out fires, fixed shields, and kept ammo flowing. If you don’t reload the ship guns in time, expect your pilot to moer you over comms.

After each jump, you gather materia to craft ammo, repair kits, and other essentials. Loot you can’t carry gets sold off at the end of a run, while ship upgrades persist — so there’s a rewarding sense of progression even if your crew gets toasted.

Just don’t mess with the power systems mid-dogfight unless you want to experience what it feels like to lose shields, weapons, and engines at the same time. Spoiler: it’s not lekker.

On-Foot & Combat

Between ship battles, you’ll jump into FPS-style action. Combat can feel a bit repetitive, but the weapon variety keeps it interesting. The roadmap promises more to come, but even now it’s entertaining enough to break up the ship chaos.

Co-op Chaos at its Best

Like all great co-op PvE titles, Jump Space is designed to make memories. Whether you’re sharing pizza to heal, laughing at a mate setting the ship on fire, or coordinating a desperate repair job mid-battle, the game shines in teamwork and banter.

It’s the kind of experience that makes you shout, laugh, and sometimes swear at your friends — all the marks of a proper co-op classic.

Price & Value

At R169.50, Jump Space is already excellent value. For an Early Access title, it offers a polished foundation with plenty of fun, and the roadmap hints at even more content and chaos in the pipeline.

Roadmap

Verdict

Jump Space is:

✅ Smoothly optimized (solid FPS out the gate)

✅ Co-op teamwork done right (crew roles matter)✅ A great rogue-like loop with persistence and variety.

✅ Affordable and packed with potential

❌ On-foot combat can get repetitive

❌ Still Early Access, so expect more polish later

Our score: 9/10. Already worth your time and money, and it’ll only get better as the devs expand on this strong base.

Final Thought

If you’ve ever wanted to crew a spaceship with your mates, juggle fires and shields mid-dogfight, or accidentally blow up a buddy by shooting him into space(*cough* I mean heal) — this is your game. Jump Space captures that “Sea of Thieves with your friends” magic, in space, and spices it with a satisfying rogue-like progression.

So grab your headset, call up the crew, and don’t forget the biltong. 🚀🍖