No Man's Sky

 PC
User Score
4.0

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 2694 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 819 out of 2694
  2. Mixed: 284 out of 2694
  3. Negative: 1,591 out of 2694

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  1. Allions
    Oct 13, 2016
    7
    This is a complete SCAM. The game first hours is "wow"... thinking on what you will do when you reach the levels shown in the trailers... but then you realize that the trailers, the interviews seen on youtube etc etc... are COMPLETELY FALSE! I bought the game and played more than 3 hours so i cannot recieve a refund from steam. What a shame.
  2. Sitheral
    Aug 3, 2022
    6
    Perhaps it is the best redemption story in gaming, but its not like we have a completely different game now, NMS still feels boring and limited and I would rather play a game with a few planets that are custom made than explore quintillion of them here.
  3. Taylord99
    Aug 15, 2018
    7
    This game is a much better game than what it was in 2016. There are many more things to do now and it feels way more dynamic and has way more depth. The game still has a ways to go, but it is getting there.
  4. Rhynlock
    Aug 15, 2018
    7
    First of all, this game is not for everyone, this is a game about exploration, about wandering about in the endless procedural generated galaxy. The Next updated really blew life into a dead game and make me jump into it. is interesting to go find little pieces of a language to help you communicate with new species. the spaceships has a good variety even tough they all play mostly theFirst of all, this game is not for everyone, this is a game about exploration, about wandering about in the endless procedural generated galaxy. The Next updated really blew life into a dead game and make me jump into it. is interesting to go find little pieces of a language to help you communicate with new species. the spaceships has a good variety even tough they all play mostly the same, its nice eye candy. the game does has a huge amount of farming and grinding that slows the exploration quite a bit and this is my main issue with the game. other issue I have is that lots of the flora and fauna you find in different planets look weird or outright creepy, which can be a little unsettling. anyway I love exploration and in space is just better, if you are into that pick it up and have fun. if you don't, then stay away… Expand
  5. BuckThundermeat
    Nov 19, 2019
    7
    TL;DR - Worth a look. The developer is working overtime releasing good content for the game, and for a survival-lite Minecraft spin-off it's fun, engaging, and has a pretty good amount of non-linear content.

    +PROS+ · Mechanically, the game is pretty good. Controls are solid and everything feels 'right'. Swapping between tools, and the adjacency system (though the latter is hardly    TL;DR - Worth a look. The developer is working overtime releasing good content for the game, and for a survival-lite Minecraft spin-off it's fun, engaging, and has a pretty good amount of non-linear content.

    +PROS+

    · Mechanically, the game is pretty good. Controls are solid and everything feels 'right'. Swapping between tools, and the adjacency system (though the latter is hardly explained) are pretty intuitive once you get the hang of it. Vehicles are fun to use and work very well in the game. Some people complain about the in-space combat but frankly I haven't had that many problems with it and it seems more like a personal problem.

    · It's really cool to look at. The visuals are just out of control.

    · The developer is actively releasing high quality content for the game, and seems to actually care about the sustainability of the title.

    -CONS-

    · The game struggles with its story - it's pretty cool but it drags on for an eternity and the rewards are pretty garbage.

    · Both PvE and PvP in this title are for the most part non-existent and otherwise complete and utter garbage. While the title seems to be purposefully centered around exploration, the lack of content encouraging players to interact with one another results in a game that's pretty boring to play with a group.

    · While new stuff is coming out, it still does suffer some of the same repetitive complaints that have plagued it in the past about lack of meaningful content, though it's getting much, much better.    … Expand
  6. xoca
    Nov 29, 2019
    7
    Had a pretty rocky launch but it improved steadly (and for free) and it's now a pretty decent game.
    A brief caracterization would be: It's like a Galaxy wide version of Minecraft.

    Random facts:
    - Beautiful scenaries
    - Boring creatures and NPCs
    - Endless exploration
    - Grindy
    - Spaceships
    - Repetitive
    - Addictive
  7. amonen
    Jul 21, 2022
    5
    This is hard one. I did get a fair amount of fun out of it and I have been revisiting the game every other year. Unfortunately its still the ultimate underlying problem for me, which is
    "So much to explore and so little to discover".
    If you like playing games like e.g. minecraft (Which is also dislike) and rarely reach the point of asking yourself "Why the hell am I doing any of this"    This is hard one. I did get a fair amount of fun out of it and I have been revisiting the game every other year. Unfortunately its still the ultimate underlying problem for me, which is
    "So much to explore and so little to discover".
    If you like playing games like e.g. minecraft (Which is also dislike) and rarely reach the point of asking yourself "Why the hell am I doing any of this" you might enjoy it for a long time. But the game actually gives you no reason to play the game, except the things you want to accomplish in it.
    (For me it was hunting down a specific space ship that I really liked). Once you reach that point, the whole game might become absolutely pointless.    … Expand
  8. Bee4keed
    Mar 22, 2023
    5
    (2023)

    IMMERSION AND GAMEPLAY – The game overall is too unrealistic, too illogical and too childish. Just to mention some dumbest and most repulsive things in NMS: 1) your small backpack can contain more staff than the entire spacecraft; 2) similarly, some visually SMALL spacecrafts can fit more staff than BIGGER ones just because of so-called starship class and cargo upgrades; 3) in    (2023)

    IMMERSION AND GAMEPLAY
    – The game overall is too unrealistic, too illogical and too childish. Just to mention some dumbest and most repulsive things in NMS: 1) your small backpack can contain more staff than the entire spacecraft; 2) similarly, some visually SMALL spacecrafts can fit more staff than BIGGER ones just because of so-called starship class and cargo upgrades; 3) in planet's ATMOSHERE your starship consumes fuel only to take off, but not during the flight (wtf?); 4) in space your starship can go backwards like a car, BUT this ONLY make's sense IF spaceship has the proper movable thrusters to reverse spaceship's direction, but starships in NMS DON'T.
    – Space is too unrealistic, too colorful and too cartoonish as well. Planets are always unrealistically close to each other. 95% of planets are very rich in life forms, which makes them soon enough boring and repetitive, as the procedural generation algorithm seems to work the same on most planets. In real life it's the opposite - rich planets are extremely rare and that's what makes them so precious and magnificent.
    – Stars (suns) in systems are just unreachable sprites. You cannot reach them and burn yourself down as in Elite Dangerous.
    – But guess what you CAN do in this game... You can breed, select and ride some stupid Spore-like animals. You can basically have any animal as your campanion which would pleasantly go after you in any harsh environment that require you to wear an exosuit (!) It's not No Man's S-K-Y now! It's a f*cking Spore.
    – Spaceship dogfights with pirates get boring and annoying pretty quickly, so you only want to end them asap.
    – I'm not saying NMS should be as realistic as Elite Dangerous but neither for 5-year-olds.

    MULTIPLAYER
    – Playing with friends is a nightmare, because you cannot invite them to the party from the menu. You should find them in person IN GAME. And it's not always easy to do, because even if you are at the same location, you are not always going to see each other. Moreover, it's easy to lose them from the party for no reason or when they get too far. Besides there is actually not much to do together. OK, there IS an option to join your friend's world instantly from the menu, but it never works in my case. Generally speaking, the game just wasn't meant to play together from the beginning, and that's very noticeable.
    – Developers could have created an awesome simulation in a living galaxy with real players, an economy, cohesive missions and so on... with a few main planets with some headquarters of guilds or something like that and so players could build their own cities. If someone wouldn't want to interact with other players, they could still fly away to some uninhabited far far away planet. Instead we have 256 galaxies with trillions boring procedurally generated planets with almost no chance finding another player. Players spread all over the worlds doing their senseless sh*t. What's the point in such multiplayer? None. There is only one way to randomly meet a real player and even many players - in Expeditions, because all players start on the same planet and have similar missions and routes, and that's great, but that's another problem...

    EXPEDITIONS
    – Expeditions are like small events with some new added staff and some kind of quests with rewards after completing them.
    – So, to me, expeditions are the most boring and pointless addons in my game experience ever. First of all, you have to start a new game in a new save to begin the expedition. So till now, you would have had 9 save games with some progress in each, but none complete with all the content the game provides (unless you have literally no other interests in life). No sense to me.
    – Expeditions bring no cohesive lore quests nor fun. Just random missions like find/kill 10 creatures, build some new random buildings which developers added or travel somewhere for no reason. That's exactly what Expeditions are in a nutshell. Ok, sometimes you get some cool rewards when you complete the expedition, but my God, how boring and pointless it is to make it to the end.

    SUMMARY
    No Man's Sky had huge potential but unfortunately went in the wrong direction. The main problem the game has is there are too many unnecessary and half-done features, while important ones (as for the planets and cosmos exploration game) are too weak or not implemented at all. It's still a decent meditative sand-box time killer, rather for single player unfortunately, which gets quite repetitive (especially if you start new games because of new Expeditions). If you don't like Minecraft-like gameplay, this game is not for you at all. After 184 hours spent in the game, I have only one regret – this journey might have been much more interesting and epic.    … Expand
  9. TheGvH
    Aug 21, 2023
    7
    No Man's Sky presents a captivating experience for those with a penchant for exploration and adventure. With 50 hours invested, I find myself inclined to recommend it. The game's allure lies in its vast universe to traverse and discover, offering a plethora of activities to engage in. However, to maintain lasting enjoyment, creativity is key. While there's no shortage of things to do, theNo Man's Sky presents a captivating experience for those with a penchant for exploration and adventure. With 50 hours invested, I find myself inclined to recommend it. The game's allure lies in its vast universe to traverse and discover, offering a plethora of activities to engage in. However, to maintain lasting enjoyment, creativity is key. While there's no shortage of things to do, the onus is on players to craft their own entertainment. If you possess the imaginative spark to keep yourself engaged, No Man's Sky provides a fulfilling and expansive journey worth embarking upon.… Expand
  10. ZombieTech
    Jun 26, 2017
    7
    Ater playing a decent chunk of the game on day-one release... I must say, the game IS EXCELLENT!

    Being honest, when I first launched, I had a small hiccup with graphic-settings, where for some reason it had an issue when I went to restart the game, in switching to full-screen mode. Ended up having to edit the settings file in the Steam-dir to make it borderless windowed. Was able to    Ater playing a decent chunk of the game on day-one release... I must say, the game IS EXCELLENT!

    Being honest, when I first launched, I had a small hiccup with graphic-settings, where for some reason it had an issue when I went to restart the game, in switching to full-screen mode. Ended up having to edit the settings file in the Steam-dir to make it borderless windowed. Was able to play the game for, according to Steam, an 11 hour stretch, without any real issues and everything was excellent, fun, interesting, explorative... this is not only the definite game I've been wanting to play for ages... but even the game I've been dreaming of for the past 20 years. When I was a teenager and used to be more into coding, I used to have ideas of games that could just render, on the fly, procedural-code and functions, to make a gigantic game without much need of mammoth-space and resources to make it work... this is more or less exactly what I would have imagined... starting in space and working down to the planet-level, rather than the other way around.

    Devs are already working on updates and additions to the game, which is GINORMOUS! To give an idea of the SCALE of this game: Before buying the game, I was SO excited for it... and found myself watching some PS4 gameplay videos on YouTube... kind of had a semi-idea of places to tighten up on that I'd see other players slip on, or stuff they'd pass by... or so I kind of thought. I had noticed in the journal-screen or whatever, that a lot of planets gave a few hundred thousand units, or more, if you discovered everything on the planet. Well, the planet I started on was awesome... which again, after the above-listed tiny graphics issue I had at first and flipping through some options, I found that if you exited and restarted at the very beginning you can re-renderer everything about the planet you start on. Since I was actually squared away, launched the game, and ended up on a freezing snowing planet... yeah, having grown up most my earlier years in the snow, I was good on that, restarted... and the planet I have now is lush, it's pretty, has neon-green grass with purple-ish and orange like landscape, the creatures are neat looking, the drones are there but only attack if provoked (and sometimes go into attack mode when I mine, which is odd), and findings are plentiful.

    This is where the scale comes into play, because I'm not sure if the amount of stuff per planet is semi-set or if it's procedural, but OMG, the first planet I'm on is SO HUGE with SO MUCH TO DO! As I said above, I noticed in videos that if a planet is completed there's a big pay day, and having an enjoyment of being a completionist, I thought I might start off completing the first planet or two. WOW! I can tell you now, the whole 11.5hrs listed up to this point has all been spent on THE FIRST PLANET! I have my ship repaired and ready to shoot into space... but I wanted to try to get everything on the first planet to have the few hundred thousands of credits starter-funds going into the cosmos; which I'm coming to find, with the found junk/sell-loot [like daggers and cubes and such] sold in a decent amount, can make just as many units, and perhaps for that reason, I'm feeling a nudge to move on with the game and maybe come back later, BUT... and this is the critical part...

    There's SO MUCH TO FIND... this game is an EXPLORER'S DREAM come TRUE! On just the first planet I've managed to upgrade my ship to a slightly nicer upgrade (another slot, a few more pre-installed functions/weapons) that was found in "downed ship" or whatever map-marker. I've also upgraded my multi-tool TWICE, and I think it's a 12-slot now (looks like an MP5), with a bunch of cool mods, that I crafted onto it. Also learned a TON of tool mods and ship mod (+several language words)... still can't access some of the materials yet to build them... but looking forward to huge mutli-slotted tools/ships that can be loaded to the teeth (it kind of reminds me a slight bit of Kingdom Hearts and the Gummi Ship with its upgrades & such).

    But seriously, after 11.5 hours, I'm STILL finding new stuff, on THE SAME STARTER PLANET! And I've barely made, in comparsion I'd imagine, a reasonable dent in the surface of the planet... when I think about how far I've traveled and what I've seen... I can't say that I can recall going in one direction, then realize coming back around the other side as in going all the way around... the planets are HUGE!!!! Which is a GREAT THING! This game is a UNIVERSE-SIMULATOR if there ever was one!!!

    From what I've seen in the videos, there are space-stations, there are "space bars" it'd seem, and everything in between... for any that grew up on the classic-game-series "Space Quest" by the *original* Sierra On-Line you OWE IT TO YOURSELF to try this, and be patient with it.    … Expand
  11. tommy61157
    Jul 31, 2017
    7
    No Man's Sky is clearly a flawed game and had a terrible launch. With that said though, there still is a lot to love here and the developers are adding more and more to the game through updates and the recent 'Waking Titan' ARG. I would recommend buying it whenever it goes on sale at some point after the 1.3 update comes out because I think the game will improve even more than it alreadyNo Man's Sky is clearly a flawed game and had a terrible launch. With that said though, there still is a lot to love here and the developers are adding more and more to the game through updates and the recent 'Waking Titan' ARG. I would recommend buying it whenever it goes on sale at some point after the 1.3 update comes out because I think the game will improve even more than it already has in that update and it might be worth a sub-60$ price point. Personally, I've had a lot of fun with the game actually and if you ignore all the hype BS and take the game for what it is, it can be very relaxing and kind of cool, keep your eye on this one, as it can only get better with the updates Hello Games is continuing to provide.… Expand
  12. ShutupandJive
    Aug 14, 2016
    5
    I feel like this game has been getting a lot of bad PC press for things that shouldn't matter. There are settings in the game by default which make the game unplayable, being the vsync being turned on, and frames limited to 30fps, causing stuttering. If you adjust this setting, the game runs smoothly on full settings.

    I don't own a beast computer, but the simplest problem solving    I feel like this game has been getting a lot of bad PC press for things that shouldn't matter. There are settings in the game by default which make the game unplayable, being the vsync being turned on, and frames limited to 30fps, causing stuttering. If you adjust this setting, the game runs smoothly on full settings.

    I don't own a beast computer, but the simplest problem solving (changing fps cap to 60 to match monitor) fixed it, so I can run the game on full settings with a i7 6700K and a GTX 970. It really isn't that hard, and the game runs 60fps, MAX SETTINGS.

    The game itself, is a little underwealming. There is a dangerous habit forming among developers to release an unfiinished game at full AAA price, with the promise of adding content later in updates and free DLC's, and this game is no exception. Following the lead of games like Overwatch and Starwars Battlefront, this game has launched with a interesting premise, but little content to ween people in for the long haul. The planets are interesting, and while environments vary slightly, the biggest change on each planet is usually the colour scheme. The animals are weird, but in the end, quite forgettable. There isn't really any standout features from the 30+ planets I have already visited.

    The computer port is another feature that has let down users. The HUD is horrendous, and difficult to get the hang of. Weird keys have been used for important features, such as the letter X being used instead of scrolling on the mouse for changing weapons by default. There is also no tutorial to explain a lot of the keys, or what needs to be done at all in the game. I understand that the game is meant to be "thrown in the deepend with a crash on a random planet", but the fact that the game doesn't explain how to charge life support seems like a fatal flaw for new users.

    Overall the game is interesting, but the PC port is very poor, and the graphics extremely disappointing considering what our PC's are capable of producing. The controls and HUD is disappointing, there is very little instruction, and the game play is unfinished, and repetitive.    … Expand
  13. AlKappaccino
    Aug 16, 2016
    7
    Badly optimized, non engaging blunt gameplay, graphics nowhere to what they showed and show us, horrible flight controls - hotas not supported either.
  14. flash82
    Aug 20, 2016
    5
    I must've been one of a very small number of people that heard nothing of No Man's Sky until recently, so I managed to avoid the hype and the inevitable disappointment following the first minutes in the game. That's why my review is going to be a bit different than most other users' I've read here.

    There are both positives and negatives, but lets start with the things I liked: I love    I must've been one of a very small number of people that heard nothing of No Man's Sky until recently, so I managed to avoid the hype and the inevitable disappointment following the first minutes in the game. That's why my review is going to be a bit different than most other users' I've read here.

    There are both positives and negatives, but lets start with the things I liked:

    I love that you don't know anything about your personal back-story in the game. You start on some random alien planet after having crash-landed recently. Your ship is damaged, which means you need to go out into the unexplored wilds and gather resources. Thankfully your Omni-tool - oh, I'm sorry, it's actually called Multi-Tool - comes equipped with a mining laser, so you will have an easy start. Iff its fuel ever runs dry, it is possible to hit destroyable objects with your fists instead.

    That's basically what the first few minutes in No Man's Sky are about. You go around randomly destroying stuff like plants, rocks or crystals and use the resources to fix your ship. Once that's done, you'll have a much easier time getting around on the planet, but be aware that most starts will use up a chunk of plutonium. The first hour in the game was the period I enjoyed the most and although most planets reduce your suit integrity over time, there is plenty enough time to never be in much of a hurry even without any suit improvements. Unless you lose track of time and forget going back to your ship, which has happened to me right at the beginning, go figure ;)

    Lastly: bearing in mind that the developer is a small company with only 15 employees, the graphics are not an issue and the huge scale of the in-game world, thanks to procedurally generated content, is mind-blowing.

    Lets take a look at the negatives now:

    Although you have a vast freedom of movement and action in this game, in practice you will soon end up doing the same things in a repetitive cycle of advancing your character and belongings. While no game is the same, the different starting positions and the rng both play an important role, the only viable goal in mind and the general order of things to get there is soon understood. From then on it is a long grind: you gather resources, then you craft bypass chips, which are used with signal scanners to locate outposts (possibility of finding a better Multi-Tool) and drop pods (expanding your suit inventory).

    After both have gotten too expensive to bother with for now, upgrading your ship is the next step in improving yourself. Even if you won't use your ship for anything else than a transport, the increased storage on board will still be a very desirable feature. It's too bad then, that upgrading to a significantly better ship takes a lot of time (often flying half-way across the planet to find a crash-landed wreck), resources (the list of stuff needed for repairs is extensive, you should write that down and keep a supply on hand) and patience (in my time in the game, I only ever found ships with one additional inventory slot, so going from 15 to 48 will be a long grind).

    It's really too bad then, that the other, more mercantile version of getting a better ship, is just as repetitive and boring but a lot quicker. Once you find an access terminal to the local market planet-side, you can basically print money as much as close-by resources allow. Early on, it's most efficient to gather iron and plutonium, then create as many free slots in your suit's inventory as possible and fill them up with crafted bypass chips. They sell at a decent profit, compared to just getting rid of the resources on the market. Rinse and repeat the whole thing in as many locations as you need to until you've been able to afford a maxed suit inventory and a superior Multi-Tool. Soon you can earn cash by the millions to buy the first 40+ slot ship you stumble upon.

    There is one thing I can already recognize after having visited only two space stations and half a dozen planets. The colors may be different, the plants and rocks may vary in design and even animals will differ from planet to planet, but it all feels and plays exactly the same. Even space stations are identical and always only contain one visible NPC.

    I'm given to understand that there are three races in the game and you must work on each reputation by itself. That's certainly nothing revolutionary, but the method of learning the language certainly is. It makes some sense to learn a foreign language word by singular word, but the process soon gets very tedious. It's also badly balanced, because you can endlessly grind with an NPC once your reputation with the race has gained a certain level.

    In summary: No Man's Sky has the potential to be a very interesting game, because the base is strong. Unfortunately, it all seems so repetitive and gets boring fast. The excitement of looking at alien landscapes can only last so long. What the game needs is mods, but will that be possible? I don't know.    … Expand
  15. SrMoure
    Aug 12, 2016
    5
    Do not buy without trying it before. GOG demo version is out there. The game freezes for seconds while playing but that s going to be fixed eventually. It's entertaining to name planets and animals up to a certain point. I think Solus project does a better job at space survival game . NMS is an interesting game and entertaining for some time . Nothing special but it has the initial catchDo not buy without trying it before. GOG demo version is out there. The game freezes for seconds while playing but that s going to be fixed eventually. It's entertaining to name planets and animals up to a certain point. I think Solus project does a better job at space survival game . NMS is an interesting game and entertaining for some time . Nothing special but it has the initial catch of most survival games at the start. The score will end between 5 and 7. Lot of disappointment from the one expecting an ED or X type of space game. One detail that shows a lot, when you mine a mountain of minerals and you start from the bottom, the top stays magically floating in the air !!!… Expand
  16. Itsapaul
    Jul 26, 2018
    7
    The newest update is neat, though the game's still a pain to go through since you always start on a hostile world with sentinels aka fun police shooting you for doing actions the tutorial wants you to do. You can get into crazy shenanigans later on though.
  17. Smoke-away
    Aug 13, 2016
    5
    No Man's Sky is an ocean of content that is only as deep as a puddle.

    The procedural generation engine is quite impressive and lays a great foundation for the setting, but the story fails to run with it. 3 hours in the game starts to drag and you can feel the game content stretching thin. After traveling to 10 planets, landing at a few outposts and looting around it gets repetitive.    No Man's Sky is an ocean of content that is only as deep as a puddle.

    The procedural generation engine is quite impressive and lays a great foundation for the setting, but the story fails to run with it. 3 hours in the game starts to drag and you can feel the game content stretching thin. After traveling to 10 planets, landing at a few outposts and looting around it gets repetitive. There are not enough side missions or clearly lined up tasks to drive you onward on your main mission, traveling to the center of the game.

    Technically speaking the PC launch was about as bad as it can get. To start you off the title screen experiences frame drops as "No Man's Sky" flys towards you which leaves a bad impression. After the game starts up you can expect massive fps drops to the single digits when, turning too quick, transitioning from space to atmosphere, loading in the next procedural landscape while flying, and many other times. When there weren't massive fps drops my fps held stable around 140 with everything on High/Ultra at 1080p. Once there a few patches I have faith that the fps can be salvaged and be stable, but it is in embarrassing condition for a launch of a $60.00 game with so many delays.

    Visually the art style and design is very interesting and creative. Every planet you land on has a different color pallet with unique shapes, landscapes, and creatures. Unfortunately the game does not portray these visuals efficiently. It feels like the game was ported directly from PS4 as the graphics are almost identical. 1080p with all settings on High/Ultra looks like it is 720p on Low settings. There are no options to change render distance so you will see jarring pop-in textures. FOV is capped at 100 so you have to edit files in the game folder to get it higher. With all the potential that there is to push PCs to the limit he graphics just look disappointing. Missed opportunity to make up for other downfalls.

    No Man's Sky is great step forward for procedural generation in video games, but that's about it. It feels like a tech demo that they forgot to add a game to. This is an experience not a game. If you have some free time to kill and want to wander infinite landscapes just basking in the beauty of alien evolution then No Man's Sky is right for you. If you wanted a video game, then keep on looking. I never expected this game to live up to hype created around it, but I also never expected it to fall so short of being good at all.

    In its current state the game is worth $30.00 at most. If you're reading this you should wait until it goes on sale for $20.

    My PC Specs:
    -Windows 10
    -i5 4670k @4.5GHz
    -EVGA 980Ti Hybrid OC'd
    -500gb Samsung Evo 850 SDD
    -16gb DDR3 RAM@1600MHz    … Expand
  18. Jo0ker
    Aug 21, 2016
    5
    Giving 5 because I love space, and the game is good.. the idea is beautiful. But, we have so much problems.. The PC version is trash, bad optimization. Inside the game.. Ok, what we do in the game?
    The ATLAS history is monotony and we do the same thing a thousand times.. and we need to keep in the inventory so many spaces to the Atlas stones to finish the atlas story. This is trash.
    In    Giving 5 because I love space, and the game is good.. the idea is beautiful. But, we have so much problems.. The PC version is trash, bad optimization. Inside the game.. Ok, what we do in the game?
    The ATLAS history is monotony and we do the same thing a thousand times.. and we need to keep in the inventory so many spaces to the Atlas stones to finish the atlas story. This is trash.
    In the planets.. everything looks the same, we across so many stars and so many planets.. all we see is PRIMITIVE life, never we see a civilization with intelligence (only the travelers aliens) but never a civilization that don't discover the space.. a medieval civilization. Just DINOSAURS and animals..
    So many bad things, but I believe that with updates then can create a better game.. I want to believe in that, because I love the style, I love games like this and No Man's Sky is that game, they need to wake up and listen the gamers!    … Expand
  19. GamesBeatAll
    Aug 21, 2016
    5
    FIRST IMPRESSIONS: If you understand what you are getting, which is explore, discover, upgrade, occasional very basic fights, in interesting landscapes, then this game ticks the boxes.
    I find it a nice game to chill out in, but not for getting my heart racing, driving me crazy trying to achieve something, or bringing a lump to my throat.
    But the £40 price tag is a far, far too high.
  20. iceveiled
    Aug 12, 2016
    5
    My PC exceeds RECOMMENDED specs. I updated my driver today, launch day on PC. Ran like **** at 1080 with settings at medium and no AA. So I bumped it down to an embarrassing 1280 x 720 with all the settings as low as they could go. Still ran like **** and maxed out my overclocked CPU to boot.

    This is what you call a **** PC port folks. 5 out of 10 because the hitching and stuttering is    My PC exceeds RECOMMENDED specs. I updated my driver today, launch day on PC. Ran like **** at 1080 with settings at medium and no AA. So I bumped it down to an embarrassing 1280 x 720 with all the settings as low as they could go. Still ran like **** and maxed out my overclocked CPU to boot.

    This is what you call a **** PC port folks. 5 out of 10 because the hitching and stuttering is so bad I don't even want to play the game to give it a higher or lower score. Will be seeking a refund. Shame, I was really looking forward to this.    … Expand
  21. BlackDouglas
    Aug 16, 2016
    5
    Can't say I've experienced any technical problems. So that's all fine and good...
    BUT this game's lacking, mainly in it's shallow contents and repetitive gameplay.
    I've had quite an emotional roller-coaster ride with this game. From feeling pure delight, boredom, then disgust and now having rather somber afterthoughts. I enjoyed exploring my first few planets and naming my first few    Can't say I've experienced any technical problems. So that's all fine and good...
    BUT this game's lacking, mainly in it's shallow contents and repetitive gameplay.

    I've had quite an emotional roller-coaster ride with this game. From feeling pure delight, boredom, then disgust and now having rather somber afterthoughts.

    I enjoyed exploring my first few planets and naming my first few critters very much. Swimming, diving, jetpacking, spellunking and all that. At one point I climbed a mountain at sunrise and said to myself "this is the most beautiful view ever, what a game!"

    I actually like the look of the game and I had great fun on the night of release.

    Sadly, after exploring twenty more planets with different but somehow familiar looking creatures on them and appreciating the beautiful but similar vistas, I found the exploring part less and less thrilling. Not good when this game is all about exploring.

    The game generously offers a gozillion worlds of this boring dejá-vu adventuring. Guess you could slog on for a while and end up with the meanest ship in the galaxy (and the biggest exosuit). But what's the point of that? In the end there is not much else to do...

    The crafting, isnt it challenging or rewarding? Not pretty much so! Just collect, build and install upgrades that in many cases doesn't do squadoosh.

    Compelling characters and interesting, scary or funny alien encounters? Nioerp! (Gek word)
    Aliens and their culutures are fairly well done and they look ok, but posess no personality whatsoever. Furthermore there are only three species (and you) in the entire universe. What!?
    (Now I will go into a bit of rant.)

    Hey, how about "procedurally" (very fancy coding only known since the sixties), generate aliens instead?
    No, that won't work, it'll still be the same old aliens' bodyparts combined in bizarre ways,
    "Too very scarey that, we'll only be that cruel to the animals and plants." - Hello Games

    You should always look ahead, so perhaps in the distant future this game after patches and DLCs, will be more entertaining. We will see, but it's unlikely that I ever will consider NMS a great game.

    For now it's massively overhyped and overpriced.
    I'm more than a wee bit disappointed, so giving it a 5 score feels generous.    … Expand
  22. Minestra
    Aug 16, 2016
    5
    The worst game I can't stop playing. I don't know what it is about this game but despite the simplistic play style and overly repetitive worlds I can't not play it. I go to play other games and with in 20 minutes I'm back on No Man's Sky trying to find something new I suppose. There is a rush when you actually find or see something cool, and I feel like a lot of bad remarks come fromThe worst game I can't stop playing. I don't know what it is about this game but despite the simplistic play style and overly repetitive worlds I can't not play it. I go to play other games and with in 20 minutes I'm back on No Man's Sky trying to find something new I suppose. There is a rush when you actually find or see something cool, and I feel like a lot of bad remarks come from people simply not knowing all you can do in the game. For example those pods with lasers spewing out of them towards the sky; if you create a by pass chip they'll give you way points to various things, from extra inventory slots to bits of lore. This game really needs some more content however and hopefully with in a year we'll be looking at a totally different game. I would personally like to see some sort of terra-forming and base creation, as well a better map and ways to connect to other players. Think of it as a mine craft where you're attached to the entire world and other people can land on a planet you've been too and gaze at structures you built. In addition perhaps some RPG elements could really help this game out, the ability to truly have different classes, a real in game economy, and some actual affiliation with different groups. Even making this into a 3D version of the palm classic Space Trader would be great. Ultimately this is a good foundation that could with a lot of work be made into something incredible.

    On the technical side of things, simply editing the max FPS rate and turning off v-sync fixed all my performance issues. It is not a breathtakingly stunning game either, but if they added more content that wouldn't matter. Music isn't that spectacular either.

    For now I will continue to play and enjoy this game myself as I let my imagination run wild, but I will not recommend this game to anyone. Perhaps for around $15 bucks I'd say, "Yeah if you have every other game around 15 bucks and you need to buy something." I hope to be able to amend this review in a few months time.    … Expand
  23. zCezz
    Aug 19, 2016
    5
    Writing this as someone who didnt buy into the hype, no expectations going in and I have to say they fell short. This game is enjoyable if you enjoy the journey more than the destination.
    PRO
    - Space travel is awesome - Beautiful environments - Exploring is fun - Snowballing CON - Terrible UI - Very shallow (repetitive assets) - Not enough things to do - A few annoying bugs -    Writing this as someone who didnt buy into the hype, no expectations going in and I have to say they fell short. This game is enjoyable if you enjoy the journey more than the destination.
    PRO
    - Space travel is awesome
    - Beautiful environments
    - Exploring is fun
    - Snowballing

    CON
    - Terrible UI
    - Very shallow (repetitive assets)
    - Not enough things to do
    - A few annoying bugs
    - Shallow combat

    If they added more alien races, buildings, ships, music and refined the combat and UI this game would be an 8/10 for me.
    For $60 though its unacceptable.    … Expand
  24. Willybach
    Sep 3, 2016
    5
    I am still playing this game. Despite my score of 4 here on the site. I've prob logged 40+ hours so far, but with every passing visit, I'm spending less and less time in the game. And for good reason. There's literally nothing to do after you max out your slots on your exosuit and get the largest ship. At present it's a screenshot generator, and the number of players is seemingly shrinkingI am still playing this game. Despite my score of 4 here on the site. I've prob logged 40+ hours so far, but with every passing visit, I'm spending less and less time in the game. And for good reason. There's literally nothing to do after you max out your slots on your exosuit and get the largest ship. At present it's a screenshot generator, and the number of players is seemingly shrinking rapidly. It needs updates quickly but sadly those updates can't just be addons, and extra game mechanics like 'owning a freighter' or 'base building'. The core mechanics of this game need to be radically remodeled. They need to swallow their pride and accept that their vision for what this game should be (essentially a text-based journey to the centre of the universe with a fairly boring backstory involving the handful of races) is far wide of the mark of what people were expecting or hoping for. There's an entire universe here, it should have been a canvas for people to create their own stories, playing as pirates, explorers or traders. You know the three main play styles that were much touted before the game launched. Combat is overly simplistic, with no skill. I mean, honestly, it's incredibly poorly conceived. You actually have to open your inventory for example to restore your shields... Trading is equally shallow and badly executed. Elite this is not. You'll struggle to even find a previously visited star system. Space stations, incredibly repetitive as they are, sell a handful of items and in small quantities. NPCs are just static loners waiting for you, the only person who seemingly will ever visit them, to turn up and give you a blueprint or something. Even exploration ends up being largely disappointing and falling short. The creatures and plants are far more repetitive than advertised. Some of the more interesting ones in the trailers aren't even in game, and you'll probably never see some of the AI bahaviours from the trailers, like herds fleeing together or migrating in single-file columns.You'll see the same plants over and over again, same with the crystals, and every cave is identical.

    This game wants you to rush to the centre, not explore. It's a solid grind with occasional pretty views to distract you. It wants you to read its puerile sci-fi text rather than actually experience something meaningful in-game. The ship is a struggle to control, and the game runs poorly even after several updates.

    Updates and more importantly MODS can and are improving the game, but as I said, they need to go back to the drawing board in key areas and I'm not sure they'll do that.

    4/10.

    Very sad after following the game closely for 3 years.    … Expand
  25. Colbert
    Sep 5, 2016
    7
    Planetscape wallpaper generator. Plenty of ambiance with a 70s sci-fi art style. Buy it if you would like to wander the universe looking at different but similar planets while grinding elements ad infinitum with the occasional ship fight.
  26. BastianTank
    Jul 26, 2019
    7
    I think No Man's Sky is a great game. The graphics are impressive, the gameplay relatively exciting. What I have to criticize in the gameplay, however, is that the missions are mostly structured as follows:
      - Go somewhere
    - pick something up / give / eliminate - fly back. It can also be annoying when small animals attack you for unknown reasons. What I also should mention is that    I think No Man's Sky is a great game. The graphics are impressive, the gameplay relatively exciting. What I have to criticize in the gameplay, however, is that the missions are mostly structured as follows:
      - Go somewhere
    - pick something up / give / eliminate
    - fly back.
    It can also be annoying when small animals attack you for unknown reasons.
    What I also should mention is that mining / picking up / etc. plays an important role.
    Incidentally, I'm grateful that there are encyclopedias about No Man's Sky because not everything is self-explanatory.    … Expand
  27. aaf6
    Aug 13, 2016
    6
    Do not buy the game yet, as it is badly optimised. Please wait for an update and the drivers optimised for this game from AMD or Nvidia, who release driver updates each time a major title like this comes out.
    I quiet enjoyed the game so far with 5 hours in and it seems very interesting. It ran smoothly at +40 fps for an hour or so. However it started stuttering after the first time I used    Do not buy the game yet, as it is badly optimised. Please wait for an update and the drivers optimised for this game from AMD or Nvidia, who release driver updates each time a major title like this comes out.
    I quiet enjoyed the game so far with 5 hours in and it seems very interesting. It ran smoothly at +40 fps for an hour or so. However it started stuttering after the first time I used the hyperdrive and the fps dropped to about 15 fps. I hope the game gets optimised soon.

    Specs:
    Intel Core i5-6400
    MSI GTX 950 OC 2GB
    8GB RAM    … Expand
  28. Gullyvuhr
    Aug 15, 2016
    5
    The review is simple: It's a incredibly open explorer. So many places to go, and only a handful of things to do when you get there. Beautifully boring.

    Game has much potential, but we'll have to see if they can deal with the early problems to take us someplace great.
  29. GuruJoeyy
    Aug 12, 2016
    5
    I've been playing the game since the minute it was released (well the minute I could download it, thanks again for no pre-loading cause it took 10 times longer cause everyone was scrambling to DL it). The biggest issue I have is mostly QoL stuff and performance, the game play itself is fine if a bit awkward and unexplained largely. Almost no way whatsoever to track your exploration, wannaI've been playing the game since the minute it was released (well the minute I could download it, thanks again for no pre-loading cause it took 10 times longer cause everyone was scrambling to DL it). The biggest issue I have is mostly QoL stuff and performance, the game play itself is fine if a bit awkward and unexplained largely. Almost no way whatsoever to track your exploration, wanna do planet 100%s? Well good luck cause you'll have no clue at all if you've been to that part of the planet yet. Wanna explore all the systems or even head to the center? Well good luck cause you'll have to literally use a pen and paper to keep track of your progress and compare 'distances to the center' to decide where to go next. Best part yet, wanna use a gamepad? (Obviously the Xbox version), Well too bad because the game doesn't bind all the functions to the gamepad and won't let you do it either. Achievements are extremely intrusive and literally make you have to stop playing for 10 seconds or so just to see 'congrats you've taken 100 steps!'. The stores aren't explained at all, the story is vague which is fine and I obviously can't complain about it yet since I haven't played long enough to give it a chance, but there is an issue where there isn't a way to track story progress, which is VERY irritating.

    Though the game is pretty fun, with some optimization for PCs and MANY QoL updates, the game would be deserving of a 7 or 8. There is plenty to explore and you have complete freedom to succeed or fail by your own hand, exploration areas are massive and the music is very good if a bit repetitive. They don't hold your hand which I believe will be a positive in the future as people are going to constantly be discovering things they didn't know. I personally don't recommend purchasing until at the very least they make it run better and add some QoL updates, though I will definitely be playing it for now. Also I'm not experiencing the absolute chaos that others seem to be with crashing and horrible tears ect. I run a pretty decent PC as well, though nothing insane.    … Expand
  30. telefoonboek
    Aug 29, 2016
    6
    I am giving this game 6/10. The game is overpriced for what it currently offers. I think 30 euros or 30 dollars would be a more correct price for this product.

    For a small development team of 20 people, the graphics of this game are actualy quiet good. I also quiet liked my first 10 hours into this game. Everything felt new, it was fun to discover new stuff, also figuring things out on    I am giving this game 6/10. The game is overpriced for what it currently offers. I think 30 euros or 30 dollars would be a more correct price for this product.

    For a small development team of 20 people, the graphics of this game are actualy quiet good. I also quiet liked my first 10 hours into this game. Everything felt new, it was fun to discover new stuff, also figuring things out on the go. Without trying to read guides on the internet. I think the limited inventory space in this game is intentional, and makes you use your braines to think out whats important and what not. Perhaps u indeed have to trade more often at the start to empty your inventory.

    The problem with this game, in my eyes, it becomes more of the same. There are only so much anomaly's availble in the game. Also upgrades don't come fast enough. After 15 hours I am still in my second ship and second multi tool( without using guides...). Their should be a bit more variation in the game to keep things interesting. I also dont feel a real connections with the backstory when I am running around on a planet.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

2
#2 Most Discussed PC Game of 2016
25
#25 Most Shared PC Game of 2016

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
61

Mixed or average reviews - based on 17 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 17
  2. Mixed: 13 out of 17
  3. Negative: 2 out of 17
  1. Pelit (Finland)
    Oct 11, 2016
    67
    No Man's Sky breaks the record in falling short of the hype – which is an incredible achievement in the category of super ambitious space games. The huge universe is a repetitive, lifeless and meaningless place, no amount of random generated creatures can change that. The most unforgivable fail is making the spaceship such a pain to fly, which makes exploring the vast universe simply a chore. However, at its best the game is epic and many of the issues should be easy to fix, so this might not be the end of the journey after all. [Sept 2016]
  2. PC PowerPlay
    Oct 2, 2016
    60
    It's partially broken, shallow, repetitive and aimless, but hang me, I still kind of love it. [Issue#255, p.56]
  3. Edge Magazine
    Sep 27, 2016
    60
    While some poorly designed systems and mechanics chip away at your patience, the feeling of flying seamlessly from space down to a peninsula you spotted from orbit never fails to enthrall. [Nov 2016, p.106]
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