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. prossnip42
    Aug 27, 2016
    4
    What a **** disappointment. This was exactly what i was afraid off. Well onto the review then.

    Pros: - one thing that i can say about this game which is pretty commendable is that it is a universe sized sandbox. there's multiple planets,galaxies with their own solar systems etc. But that's where the good things end Cons: -the first sign for me that this wasn't gonna be good was    What a **** disappointment. This was exactly what i was afraid off. Well onto the review then.

    Pros:
    - one thing that i can say about this game which is pretty commendable is that it is a universe sized sandbox. there's multiple planets,galaxies with their own solar systems etc. But that's where the good things end

    Cons:
    -the first sign for me that this wasn't gonna be good was that the download was only 5 gb. Wait what? 5 gb for a universe sized sandbox?! Well unsuprisingly all of the planets look almost identical, the only difference is that some planets are slightly more darker or have slightly more aggressive creatures. In the words of Angry Joe: :"As wide as an ocean but has the depth of a puddle"
    -the gameplay is the most basic of basics when it comes to a gathering and crafting game. you fly on planets,collect resources so you can fly on other planets and collect more resources. There's no interesting story,characters,factions or anything that Sean promised was gonna be there,was not and instead we got a one big bowl of **** YOU!

    In conclusion No man's sky is a repetitive grind fest that will have you bored in a matter of hours. Just play elite dangerous instead.    … Expand
  2. playerguy8
    Oct 3, 2016
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. (CONTAINS SPOILERS)I'm going to be very short and precise with my review since i would not like to waste your time however at the same time i will make sure to cover all the points-

    this game made by hello games is mediocre at best . multiple issues related to bugs and poor optimization are evident . In fact i feel ashamed to give this game a 5 . I should give it lower but I will cut hello games a slack this time , but they shouldn't expect that in the future.

    The game promised too much and the hype was too large to be handled even by triple a devs. this indie studio overpromised and now the ASA are undergoing the process of researching "false advertising " done by the company . the front face of hello games , sean murray lied to us all with his innocent smile and because of that very smile they are sitting in heaps of cash . this article will provide all the lies incited by hello games on no mans sky : https://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/4y1h9i/wheres_the_no_mans_sky_we_were_sold_on_a_big_list/ (god bless you if you have time to read through it all without breaking a sweat)

    Even if you take away everything that was falsely advertised by hello games and look at the game as if it was the game that was promised to us , its still a very crappy game. You are paying triple a money for this game (19000 naira if you live in nigeria) but offer not more than a 3000 naira game . The game is heavily repetitive where you only do about 3 things , fly , mine and walk .even when you finish the game (that is when you reach the center of the galaxy) ******SPOILER ALERT******get taken to another galaxy after a small chit chat with the atlas , a sort of jello being you've been chasing the entire game .

    All and all this game is an atrocious mess with bare bone features and nothing worthy to offer . The only thing i appreciated about this game is the music and the diversity of (some) planets .I would refrain from buying this , even a cheaper copy or even a pirated one because however you obtain it , you feel robbed , especially if you pre ordered it (please stop pre ordering your games if you do ) this game is half assed and i believe hello games drained more resources in making fancy cgi's for the game than actually developing it . As an alternative i would recommend star citizen or elite dangerous or perhaps an indie rival , rodina . spore is also a good option though not completely similar . Do your self a favor and ignore this game    … Expand
  3. JustMy2
    Sep 20, 2016
    0
    If anyone wants to make a game today, PLEASE USE AN EXISTING GAME ENGINE! They're incredibly advanced and super-optimized these days, and they are cheap to license! You even get access to the full code and can modify it as you see fit if you need to do something unusual.

    Game engines lets you stand on the shoulders of giants, and frees you from technical concerns so you can focus on    If anyone wants to make a game today, PLEASE USE AN EXISTING GAME ENGINE! They're incredibly advanced and super-optimized these days, and they are cheap to license! You even get access to the full code and can modify it as you see fit if you need to do something unusual.

    Game engines lets you stand on the shoulders of giants, and frees you from technical concerns so you can focus on developing your actual game! You'd have to be an idiot to not take advantage of that!

    Should you be stupid enough to decide to roll your own engine instead (and have less than 100 man-years of highly skilled programmer time to dedicate to the job!), you'll end up with a game that looks really dated and low-resolution, but that still runs like total cr*p on high-end PC's.

    Guess what Hello Games decided to do... that's right, they made a game engine!

    And of course it sucks like there's no tomorrow...

    Flying over a planet you'll hardly even see what it's supposed to look like because of the ugliest pop-in of any game in history. That's how bad this game engine is - it just can't load terrain fast enough, and it can't smoothly blend in objects as they spawn into view either, it just pixelates them into existence instead, which looks *horrible*. Especially when this isn't happening "in the distance", but literally right in front of you.

    But the poor struggling engine also compromised the gameplay by forcing poor decisions. Your ship flies slowly and steers with the agility of a stoned cow. Both are obviously necessary sacrifices that were made because flying and turning with more agility would put even more strain on the already struggling terrain loading code.

    BTW, you can't even land your ship where you want manually, instead the game auto-lands it for you, with about as much success as a stoned cow trying to cr*p in a bucket. I've tried landing on a point of interest and ended up as much as 2 minutes walking away from it!

    But it's an RNG thing, sometimes the cow hits the bucket by pure chance. I even managed to land on a landing pad once!

    Strange the game didn't give me an Achievement for that, it certainly felt more like an achievement than walking 5000 steps (which the game considers achievement-worthy!).

    This review is already more than long enough, so I won't even go into details on why the game sucks as a game. Read other negative reviews for that, there's plenty of them...    … Expand
  4. MacBinary
    Dec 10, 2016
    0
    "Cornflakes, Cornflakes, Cornflakes, Cornflakes, Cornflakes, Cornflakes, Cornflakes, Cornflakes, Cornflakes"

    ~ Vyvyan - The Young Ones ~

    There, that was more interesting than NMS.
  5. Yabs
    Oct 23, 2020
    10
    Update: I first booted up No Man's Sky about 2 years ago. I've now put in ~250 hours. The exploring is thrilling, and the progression in terms of equipment is addicting. That said there are a few parts of the game that can be improved upon. Update Oct 2020: The developers added storms, new ships, new horrors and ghost ship (frigates) to explore. New planets with hazards and my favoriteUpdate: I first booted up No Man's Sky about 2 years ago. I've now put in ~250 hours. The exploring is thrilling, and the progression in terms of equipment is addicting. That said there are a few parts of the game that can be improved upon. Update Oct 2020: The developers added storms, new ships, new horrors and ghost ship (frigates) to explore. New planets with hazards and my favorite improvement... wait for it...... VARIABLE GRAVITY!!!.
    Update: I first booted up No Man's Sky about 2 years ago. I've now put in ~250 hours. The exploring is thrilling, and the progression in terms of equipment is addicting. That said there are a few parts of the game that can be improved upon. Update Oct 2020: The developers added storms, new ships, new horrors and ghost ship (frigates) to explore. New planets with hazards and my favorite improvement... wait for it...... VARIABLE GRAVITY!!!.

    Pros:
    -runs smoothly on an older system gtx 860mobile at medium graphics settings 1080p. (update: Oct. 2020... NMS is no longer friendly to my gtx 860, i'd recommend a minimum of a gtx 960 or better now)
    -The ships and are beautifully designed. Update: even greater diversity of ships now. Oct 2020
    -I really enjoy how the multitools work as weapons / tools and how they are replaced and upgraded.
    -the game provides some challenge in terms of environment.
    -The planets and creatures are awesome and diverse (enough).
    -exploration via ship or on foot is wonderful.
    -leaving a planet and landing on one is thrilling.
    -crafting bases is fun and easy to understand.
    -Grinding for resources is not necessary, IF!, one learns the shortcuts.

    Cons:
    -Few intelligent alien life forms to fight against on foot (only the sentinals are available to fight)
    -Little diversity in spaceship vs spaceship dog fighting.
    -Void of other players to interact with.. Update: Oct. 2020, limited interaction with other players.
    -The game could be more accurate in terms of elements e.g. di-hydrogen, deuterium, tritium and what could be used with such elements on the periodic table if not only to be educational.
    -NO gas planets / giants? There should at least be planets that one should avoid at all costs or risk instant death and alternatively the player can send a probe into such planets.
    -No interaction with Stars, no change in gravity experienced on different planet / massive bodies (Update: there is now different experiences in gravity... BRAVO!!).    … Expand
  6. Nightshire
    Aug 24, 2016
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This game is a huge disappointment and barely fun at all. We were promised so much and give so little. One of the worst things of all is the devs are still keeping quiet about their development, and continue to lie to the fans about what is and isn't in the game. The whole thing seems like a massive cash grab, and while addictive, is very little fun at all. The graphics are awful, as is the gameplay and performance.

    The three worst things are as follows-

    1) The Dev's continue to lie to the community over their broken mess of a game which they literally did lie about content during development.

    2) The demos shown on the steam store are still old builds of the game and look nothing like the real game. It is basically fraud displaying those demos as a way to trick users into buying this awful game.

    3) (MASSIVE SPOILERS ALERT-DO NOT CONTINUE READING UNLESS YOU WANT IT SPOILED BUT IT IS WORTH BEING SPOILED,)

    The center of the universe ay? Wasn't that the whole point of the game to begin with? To get to the center? To finally find out what is there? Well guess what, there is NOTHING. YOU CAN'T EVEN GO THERE. It just makes you start the entire game over. All. the. way. over. again. Literally, you just try to go there, and it says you're going there, and then it zooms out all the way to the edge of a new galaxy for you to start all the way over again. You never find out whats in the center. The new galaxy's have nothing beneficial to them. They are completely pointless. This is the most disappointing game I have ever beheld.

    THE ONLY GOOD THING IS THE SOUNDTRACK which can be found for free on youtube.
    Do no buy this game.    … Expand
  7. Sr_Tregras
    Aug 31, 2016
    0
    Una basura de juego y la mayor estafa que he visto por parte del marketing. Me sorprende que con el tema de devoluciones hayan llamado ladrones a los jugadores (ironía a tope).

    Un análisis serio no merece la pena, yo ya hice mi análisis en steam con mis escasas 10 horas de juego (que en este juego son un montón). Tremendamente no recomendable y si seguís con hype después de la    Una basura de juego y la mayor estafa que he visto por parte del marketing. Me sorprende que con el tema de devoluciones hayan llamado ladrones a los jugadores (ironía a tope).

    Un análisis serio no merece la pena, yo ya hice mi análisis en steam con mis escasas 10 horas de juego (que en este juego son un montón).

    Tremendamente no recomendable y si seguís con hype después de la polémica conseguid probarlo de algún amigo o por donde rule gratis. Y ya esta bien por parte de algunos de defender a estas compañías de ladrones que no hacen mas que destrozar el género indie y la industria de videojuegos.    … Expand
  8. gavoooo
    Sep 7, 2016
    0
    If you are thinking of buying this game, I would recommend you watch some of the cool trailers showing you what is not in the game and don't waste your money on this game that doesn't even deliver the stuff that was talked about and promised in interviews etc before release.
  9. HeadyWook
    Sep 15, 2016
    0
    Awful game, developers completely lied to sell it. Not worth 60 dollars, more like a 10 dollar early access alpha. The game runs like **** even on nice PCs, there is zero multiplayer potential despite numerous claims from the developers there was. It's just paying 60 dollars to grind in a broken game with no substance and little story line or purpose. They couldn't even get the variety andAwful game, developers completely lied to sell it. Not worth 60 dollars, more like a 10 dollar early access alpha. The game runs like **** even on nice PCs, there is zero multiplayer potential despite numerous claims from the developers there was. It's just paying 60 dollars to grind in a broken game with no substance and little story line or purpose. They couldn't even get the variety and procedural programming down right. The great majority of plants, species, and planets look strikingly similar or quite literally the exact same just with a different color.

    This game is a scam.    … Expand
  10. Ravendiscord
    Sep 24, 2016
    0
    Hello Games currently advertises the features below that are missing from the game.

    1) In No Man's Sky, every star is the light of a distant sun, each orbited by planets FALSE Planets do not orbit suns. 2) At the Center of the galaxy lies a irresistible pulse which draws you on a journey towards it to learn the true nature of the cosmos FALSE getting to the center of the galaxy    Hello Games currently advertises the features below that are missing from the game.

    1) In No Man's Sky, every star is the light of a distant sun, each orbited by planets

    FALSE Planets do not orbit suns.

    2) At the Center of the galaxy lies a irresistible pulse which draws you on a journey towards it to learn the true nature of the cosmos

    FALSE getting to the center of the galaxy -spoiler- happens but you learn absolutely nothing about the nature of the cosmos.

    3) no loading screens (from deep space to planetary surface)

    -FALSE There are loading screens every-time you warp or enter a black-hole.

    4) factions vie for territory

    FALSE Factions do not vie for territory

    Neither "expectations" nor "hype" as some folks call it is at fault for my ZERO rating.

    Peace.    … Expand
  11. Zisum
    Sep 29, 2016
    1
    The game is devoid of the features promised by Sean Murray in the build up to this games release. Possibly to the point of being illegal. Do not take the risk on this game as Steam are being very difficult in offering refunds.

    The game is poorly executed, badly optimised, hollow with it's only redeeming feature being it's soundtrack and colour palette
  12. Kabutow
    Oct 2, 2016
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Played the game for 20 hours and did not get as much reward that I should be getting. Reaching the center of the galaxy itself is not satisfying as being promised. Other than it is have clipping bugs and it really annoys me. This game has the potential to be a good game but have been wasted. Lack of creative content and story is the issue with this game.… Expand
  13. LEGENZSxKirito
    Oct 7, 2016
    2
    Cuando Compre Este Juego Pensé Que Sería Un Mundo Vivo Enorme E Increíblemente Divertido De Explorar Pero Realmente No Cumplió Con Ese Cometido... No vale la pena
  14. AngryBanana
    Nov 11, 2016
    4
    I spent 60 dollars on this game and I feel **** ripped off! What the actual **** is this **** Did I pay for a demo? It's like mgs ground zeroes all over again! What a piece of ****
  15. Nyakuya
    Dec 20, 2016
    0
    "¡SE PUEDE JUGAR ONLINE!... (Mentira)". Claro que si campeón.
    Este juego es una mierda canceríjena con sindrome de gunther. Sinceramente es una porquería se lo mire por donde se lo mire. Gráficamente es basura y por eso mismo no se entiende como demonios tienes problemas de rendimiento con una PC de la NASA.
    "LA UNICA FORMA DE VER A TU PERSONAJE ES SI OTRA PERSONA TE VE... (Pero como no    "¡SE PUEDE JUGAR ONLINE!... (Mentira)". Claro que si campeón.
    Este juego es una mierda canceríjena con sindrome de gunther. Sinceramente es una porquería se lo mire por donde se lo mire. Gráficamente es basura y por eso mismo no se entiende como demonios tienes problemas de rendimiento con una PC de la NASA.
    "LA UNICA FORMA DE VER A TU PERSONAJE ES SI OTRA PERSONA TE VE... (Pero como no hay modo multijugador ni cooperativo, esto no sucederá, wajaja)". Claro que si campeon x2.

    Este juego fue mentira tras mentira y estafa tras estafa. Es una mierda inservible y la misma comunidad lo afirma. Ojalá el hijo de puta que se dedicó a mentir de esta forma contraiga docenas de enfermedades degenerativas y extremadamente dolorosas.    … Expand
  16. pavel8585
    Aug 19, 2019
    0
    Bugs, grind , lies, boring, ugly,
    This game is astonishingly bad in every possible way. Pointless, boring. Yeah, and lying developer as its apogee. Don't even try to play this **** let it be forgotten.
  17. RudigerTech
    May 15, 2019
    10
    The Developers cleaned their mess with a new Multiplayer and big bugfixes and created a very good game.
  18. Kunray
    Feb 5, 2019
    10
    Unique Game Experience. Started several days ago, still digging into it...and i lovin' it. Working pretty well on my average spec PC. The game itself is pretty Huge to discribe it here. Spare some 5 minutes on youtubers overwiev videos... it worth it.
  19. StEjsing
    Dec 25, 2018
    9
    Since the No man's sky NEXT update dropped i've had a blast with this game.
  20. 13sins
    Mar 29, 2019
    10
    i'm just giving this score to motivate the developers to give out more updates for the game, cause as much as i hate this game, because it has NO story and boring gameplay, at least they are still updating it and making it better with each update like no other developer i have ever seen and that by it self deserves a 10 because you know they will not stop until this game reaches to that value.
  21. rezo_21
    Apr 19, 2022
    9
    ====================IIIIIIIIII GAME SCORE : 89 IIIIIIIIII====================
  22. AkitoAK
    Jul 16, 2020
    9
    At one point in time i too ridiculed No Man's Sky for making a game that was not touching any standard.. But the devs did abide with what they promised and even beyond it..

    The game now is in a phenomenal state, best it has ever been..
    It's a must buy game if you like space and space travel..
  23. Jongamer
    Nov 21, 2020
    9
    No Man'S SKY is one of the best games I ever played. I invested 300 hours of grinding and exploring.
    The game became many updates and today (21.11.2020) the game is a other experience as 2016.
    You can build bases, build your own freighter, buy weapons, craft items and much more...
  24. MetaSami
    Oct 29, 2020
    10
    It's way better now. The new updates and fixes have improved the game greatly. Give it another chance
  25. Dark_Wayfarer
    Oct 3, 2020
    8
    That's not the bad game, but it's just specific. Very specific. If you want to chill this is the game for you, but if you like dynamic action... no.
  26. IndyG0
    Oct 20, 2020
    8
    No mans sky did show consistent improvement since release in 2016. With the recent update "Origins" the game did further evolve into a really nice and potentially unique game experience.

    The low user and mediocre critics score does not represent the current state of the game. If you are remotely interested in No man´s sky, chances are good that you will enjoy it.
  27. Jonrodrr
    Dec 11, 2020
    10
    I play this game in 2020. Over 130 hour and is never annoying. Is a Masterpiece. Beautiful planet, many ships, and most important a beautiful community. The people in reddit and in the Nexus are friendly.
  28. Siorys
    Nov 27, 2020
    9
    No Man's Sky is a much better game than before due to the fact that it has been continuously updated since 2016.
    Really, you should try it now.
  29. LL3gend
    Dec 14, 2020
    10
    I didn't play at launch, but I'm playing now and having a ton of fun. I'm glad they fixed the game and showed care for it. The game makes every discovery feel new and amazing. My only gripe is that the tutorial is pretty long and tedious.
  30. stachuatx7
    Dec 16, 2020
    8
    The game had painful launch in 2016 I believe. I bought it yesterday and after 4 hours I can say easily I have a lot of fun! Graphics are awesome
    Music FX and soundtracks are great
    The game itself is great. Short review but I hope its on point.
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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]
See all critic reviews »