Starbound

 PC
User Score
7.3

Mixed or average reviews- based on 508 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 306 out of 508
  2. Mixed: 130 out of 508
  3. Negative: 72 out of 508

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  1. Alexander_Z
    Jun 19, 2014
    1
    As is the game is unfinished. That wouldn't be so bad except in seven months time they have done nothing of note besides expand as a publisher. Work on Starbound has slowed to a crawl. The game itself is in a state where it is little more then 2D Lego's and there are other block building games out there that are more complete and cheaper then the asking price of this unfinished work. IAs is the game is unfinished. That wouldn't be so bad except in seven months time they have done nothing of note besides expand as a publisher. Work on Starbound has slowed to a crawl. The game itself is in a state where it is little more then 2D Lego's and there are other block building games out there that are more complete and cheaper then the asking price of this unfinished work. I would love to talk about the gameplay more but there simply isn't any to be had as the work is simply not fun at all in its presently and likely soon to be rushed out 1.0 state that is slated to be missing features. As is the developers have also gone back on their word several times involving the mechanics and gameplay, date of release, and are blaming their userbase for these faults. 2015 at the time of this writing slated as the release date. They have been noticably changing the release date since -2012-.

    I find this one of the most disturbing early access games on Steam in terms of lost potential. I would warn people to instead pick up Terraria, Minecraft, or a host of other games in a better state and that are still being worked on diligently. What is here is only the most basic of block games and looks to remain that way so I give this a 1. Chucklefish at present is to concerned with other matters to make this game the product it could have been.    … Expand
  2. Grenzor
    Aug 12, 2014
    0
    This came is a scam. Don't consider buying it. For 11 months they haven't released a single major update, and it's still in the 1st stage of early alpha.
  3. Moo-vies
    Aug 9, 2016
    3
    Game is disappointing.
    The crafting is extremely limited. There is a total of 6 arbors to craft in the game. 6, with aesthetic variations.
    Seriously, the game is boring past the first 10 hours of discovery. There is no character whatsoever, everything is smoothed out and neutered. Story, graphics, ideas, possibilities. To release such a gut out product cut of functionalities    Game is disappointing.
    The crafting is extremely limited. There is a total of 6 arbors to craft in the game. 6, with aesthetic variations.

    Seriously, the game is boring past the first 10 hours of discovery.
    There is no character whatsoever, everything is smoothed out and neutered. Story, graphics, ideas, possibilities.

    To release such a gut out product cut of functionalities present in early access after 5 years of development is a spit in the face of the customers.

    Never again Chucklefish.    … Expand
  4. JoeJoeJoeJoe
    Aug 25, 2016
    3
    This game has had excellent appeal during its Beta and Alpha stages, and I absolutely love the freedom of exploring planets and stuff. HOWEVER level design in challenges that have since been introduced give it an almost "rogue'-like appeal. I absolutely detest this, and this prevents me from enjoying the game that I know is stuck behind these extremely, extremely, frustrating and punitiveThis game has had excellent appeal during its Beta and Alpha stages, and I absolutely love the freedom of exploring planets and stuff. HOWEVER level design in challenges that have since been introduced give it an almost "rogue'-like appeal. I absolutely detest this, and this prevents me from enjoying the game that I know is stuck behind these extremely, extremely, frustrating and punitive challenges. I will never play that game, and I will never forgive Chucklefish for this.… Expand
  5. Ellthan
    Jul 28, 2016
    0
    Four years. A million dollars and a complete development team.

    Four ♥♥♥♥ing years, a million ♥♥♥♥ing dollars and a complete godamn development team and the result is a mediocre edge of space clone that runs like crap. The game had a lot of promise, but the developers got so much money from pre-orders and early adopters they overdosed on hookers and cocaine and forgot they were    Four years. A million dollars and a complete development team.

    Four ♥♥♥♥ing years, a million ♥♥♥♥ing dollars and a complete godamn development team and the result is a mediocre edge of space clone that runs like crap.

    The game had a lot of promise, but the developers got so much money from pre-orders and early adopters they overdosed on hookers and cocaine and forgot they were supposed to make a game after taking the money.

    Long periods of inactivity combined with procrastination led to disjointed updates and developers so utterly disconnected from the community that the majority of old time players who gave a ♥♥♥♥ about the game left and only the fanboys remained.

    The game started out with an intresting premise. Multiple differenct races each of them explore space for its own reason with its own goals, it's own allied and enemy races creating conflict and generating and truly living breathing world, its own tech and it's own special abilities, exploring to find the reason why they left their planet in the first place.

    You could be a pirate, a researcher, a space bandit fighting for your own cause beacuse your own reasons.

    Sounds intresting no?

    Well, what we got now is everyone is happy, everyone is united, no conflict, part of a united federation type deal, and your character is the newest graduate out to save the world with the other graduates from cthulu who hates all live and wants to see it gone because it gives an evil boner or whatever. (ORIGINAL PLOT ALERT, DO NOT STEAL).

    How do you save the world from cthulu? Do 5 incredibly drawn out, tedious fetch quests, 5 nonsensical dungeons and then you fight the boss.

    All races are the exact same with the only differences being cosmetic. (As opposed to earlier versions where you had unique armors with abilities and special weapons)

    Since beta from more than half the special abilities or techs (like nullifying gravity, flying, teleporting, FTL dashing, mechs ect) got completely removed , a massive ammount of custom/unique racial weapons in the game got gutted for no reason at all, the game went back to use a terrible "Damage on contact" combat system and the racial armors turned from unique special sets with different abilities to 12 different reskins of the exact same item, and ontop of that all, all the unique racial AI was removed in favour of everyone using the human one! WHY!?

    Also, in the 4 years that it has been out the devs never gave a ♥♥♥♥ to properly optimize it so it'll run at more than 10 frames per second on high end gaming PCs.

    But all that could have been easily excused.

    IF THE GAME WASN'T IN THE GAME FOR 4 GODAMN YEARS WITH A BUDGET OF OVER ONE MILLION DOLLARS!

    Honestly, I cannot in all honesty give this game a positive review, because it does not deserve a positive review.

    The developers took people's money, develivered a product that's even remotely close to what they promisd and took 4 years to do it. It's a mediocre game in a sea of mediocrity.    … Expand
  6. Gamer911
    Jun 19, 2014
    0
    This game just proves all that is wrong with early acess
    First release date was 2013, then 2014, now changed to 2015.
    No content added since february. Developers ban any game complain. As for the game, looks more like a tech demo than a Beta, would be better if they called it a alpha, it could be a perfect game, but the lack of any professional developer i will be amazed if then    This game just proves all that is wrong with early acess
    First release date was 2013, then 2014, now changed to 2015.

    No content added since february.
    Developers ban any game complain.

    As for the game, looks more like a tech demo than a Beta, would be better if they called it a alpha, it could be a perfect game, but the lack of any professional developer i will be amazed if then fulfil one promise of the many they made when they kickstarted this "game".

    20 millions funding, for delays and broken promises.

    Dont spend your money on this, dont even pirate, it isnt worth your time    … Expand
  7. DaALC
    Jul 24, 2016
    0
    This game has been in development for years, and finally has been "released",. While I am sure it is full of lovely content, there are so many utterly idiotic design choices that make this game nothing but a nightmare to play, that enjoying it is impossible.
    Super sensitive character movement, none intuitive menu systems, plenty of strange bugs, inability to hit things that are slightly    This game has been in development for years, and finally has been "released",. While I am sure it is full of lovely content, there are so many utterly idiotic design choices that make this game nothing but a nightmare to play, that enjoying it is impossible.
    Super sensitive character movement, none intuitive menu systems, plenty of strange bugs, inability to hit things that are slightly below you with a sword, torches that light up a meter in front of you , toolbar system that does not remember where you had something moments ago, menus with single items that do not auto-select this item, forcing you to make extra clicks for no reason, convoluted food/ eating system, a pointless tutorial that teaches you nothing about how the game works, character dialogues that either stay on screen for ages and cannot be skipped, or go by so fast you do not get a chance to read them entirely.... there is not one intuitive design feature to be found.
    The developers should be embarrassed that they call this a ready to be shipped game when it is so painful to play.
    0 out of 10 for the utter idiocy of everything everywhere.    … Expand
  8. Kedisi
    Jul 3, 2018
    4
    It's Jule 2018 and the last update was in Oct 2017.

    The devs could swear they're doing the console version or whatever but the fact is - we have abandonware here. They had some ideas for 1.4 then "delayed" the release, then gave up cuz "weee, XBox". Come on, anybody who wanted to play SB already played it on PC. An endless universe. Great graphics. Great music. Great concept. A    It's Jule 2018 and the last update was in Oct 2017.

    The devs could swear they're doing the console version or whatever but the fact is - we have abandonware here. They had some ideas for 1.4 then "delayed" the release, then gave up cuz "weee, XBox". Come on, anybody who wanted to play SB already played it on PC.

    An endless universe. Great graphics. Great music. Great concept. A crapton of neat ideas, but like 5% of them is finished. A cemetery of ideas, if you want.. The story sucks. The balance is crap. The devs is mostly ignoring negative feedback and for some (no) reason put their own good findings in gameplay on the shelf: racial perks? yeah, cool, but no; item tags? sure, but they will be invisible; mode without stuff drop on death but with hunger? FU player. And you got nothing to do here in like 48 hours at best. Old Terraria has more content and more challenge than SB in it's current form.
    Yeah, you could say "SteamWorkshop" and mods, but guess what - Terraria was great -without- any mods.

    The devs act now like the Novakids they've introduced - took Terraria, reworked it, then lost the interest and left the game half-baked. I loved Starbound until they dumped it. Sooo salty.    … Expand
  9. hassall
    Dec 16, 2016
    2
    the game is boring past the first 10 hours of discovery. for me this game is dull and boring. The crafting is extremely limited. I remember m friends telling me about this game and i played it and it just sucked. this game is no where near done.
  10. leeber222
    Jun 19, 2014
    0
    Starbound has a great idea at its core and a huge amount of potential. Sadly, I don't think the developers (a small inexperienced indie company) know how to make this game any better than it already is. Lots of empty promises and "soon" coming from the developers. Combat is tedious, exploration is unsatisfying and bland, and there's just not incentive to explore or build. There's tonsStarbound has a great idea at its core and a huge amount of potential. Sadly, I don't think the developers (a small inexperienced indie company) know how to make this game any better than it already is. Lots of empty promises and "soon" coming from the developers. Combat is tedious, exploration is unsatisfying and bland, and there's just not incentive to explore or build. There's tons of core game mechanics, all of which are shallow, undeveloped, and unbalanced at the moment. It's like they tried to make a sequel to Terraria without understand what made Terraria such a compelling and surprisingly deep game. I do not recommend you buy this game.… Expand
  11. zBedlam
    Jul 9, 2014
    0
    Let me begin by saying the game is average at best, basically a cut down version of Terraria in every regard - but that is expected given it is in "beta" status, I use the term beta in quotes because Chucklefish (the developers) seem to have no idea what a beta actually is even though one would hope they have at least one software design professional on their team. What it is at the timeLet me begin by saying the game is average at best, basically a cut down version of Terraria in every regard - but that is expected given it is in "beta" status, I use the term beta in quotes because Chucklefish (the developers) seem to have no idea what a beta actually is even though one would hope they have at least one software design professional on their team. What it is at the time of writing this review (July 2014) is more of a alpha or tech demo.

    The reason I gave it such a low score is because purchasing this game is essentially handing money over to Chucklefish in the hope that once complete the game will be good. And time and time again they prove that not only are they unmotivated or incapable of delivering a good product but they also think very little of their customer base.

    Postponing release dates and not even coming close to meeting them along with very slow development progress are the least of anyone's concerns when purchasing this game, blatantly lying to consumers, berating them, trolling them, any form of criticism against their product are labelled as "loaded" and dismissed if you are on their forums and not white knighting you can expect a ban fairly quickly. These are the kind of ways this company handles their PR, this is the kind of behavior you will be enabling if you give this company any more money.    … Expand
  12. skrik
    Sep 3, 2014
    3
    I wouldnt say its a scam like other did. I think the team wants to make a good game, but... they dont know how to. A game has to "feel right" and a big mistake in game devlopment is to add a ton of content and **** before it does. Starbound has done this mistake full force and the exploration and combat feels extremely dull and bland. On paper and on the blog it sounds awesome and I wasI wouldnt say its a scam like other did. I think the team wants to make a good game, but... they dont know how to. A game has to "feel right" and a big mistake in game devlopment is to add a ton of content and **** before it does. Starbound has done this mistake full force and the exploration and combat feels extremely dull and bland. On paper and on the blog it sounds awesome and I was super excited about it but after 9 hours ( i ve tried and retried over 4 or 5 characters along the updates) i never had fun. it's really sad to say but yep, didnt have fun a single minute.
    Fights are slow and boring, gravity is always too low and controls dont feel nervous or tight. Muddy at best. Game is super unbalanced ( which is ok for the early beta, but its been in beta for a year now and i havent seen much change...). Character progression is boring, nothing exciting to be found in exploration. "quests" to push you to a next step feel forced and break the fun a game like terraria had in its sandbox system and freedom of exploration. Terraria had genius in the fact that you could discover everything yourself ( i never had to read a walkthrough), starbound hasnt found a way to teach the player to play the game in a clever way and instead tries to take him by the hand telling him what to do turning the experience into a fetching bore.

    I have lost hope in Starbound right now. I ll come back and update my review in a few months if things have evolved.    … Expand
  13. Guyler
    Oct 17, 2014
    0
    The game looked promising back in 2013 but the developers have stopped releasing updates and refused to honour refunds after receiving significant backlash from the community, even though they originally said that they will happily give refunds to any users who pre-ordered the game and felt that Chucklefish was not delivering on their promises. On top of that, the Chucklefish moderatorsThe game looked promising back in 2013 but the developers have stopped releasing updates and refused to honour refunds after receiving significant backlash from the community, even though they originally said that they will happily give refunds to any users who pre-ordered the game and felt that Chucklefish was not delivering on their promises. On top of that, the Chucklefish moderators and admins have been relentlessly banning users for criticising them, claiming that all of the users are trolls or are breaking there rules.

    It has become very apparent that this game will never be finished.

    Starbound is nothing more than a scam at this point. The developers have already stolen my money, don't let them steal yours.    … Expand
  14. jparker782
    Jul 11, 2014
    3
    This game had a lot of potential but it seems to be effectively abandoned by its developers(save for an occasional blog post about their "progress"). Avoid this one and save your money.
  15. Whisena
    Jul 17, 2014
    1
    This game is the exact reason why I don't like early access anymore. Developers go us into buying their game with colorful promising features, and only to take our money and laugh at our foolishness for paying for unfinished product. I would never buy another early access from Chucklefish,
  16. gyrate
    Jul 11, 2014
    0
    This is not a game it is the shell of a game, and it's been a shell of a game for over a year. Chucklefish has forums minions and a plethora of reasons for it. They sell it on Steam where it's early access. This gives one the impression that you will be playing the game as it is developed. Sure you will, but not on Steam where they haven't updated the game for seven months. Instead you canThis is not a game it is the shell of a game, and it's been a shell of a game for over a year. Chucklefish has forums minions and a plethora of reasons for it. They sell it on Steam where it's early access. This gives one the impression that you will be playing the game as it is developed. Sure you will, but not on Steam where they haven't updated the game for seven months. Instead you can go to their website and read about their updates. That's right forget about having them delivered to you. What you are purchasing here is a "story" about someone building a game. This is a novel it is not a game. However, if you love Terraria and only desire to build things in a new setting this might suit your taste. If you can get past the pokemon looking graphics and the extremely lame enemies, your hero looking like something found in a cereal box free for pc in 1985, or having pretty much nothing to do but gather material and build you may very well love this game. Had I known that a small group of people will vehemently defend this game and act like everyone else has a problem I'd have passed. What you are buying here is a game where you can build things with materials that you gather, and join a cult. A cult of people that likely own goat simulator, tree simulator, rock simulator...… Expand
  17. Fharl
    Aug 15, 2014
    0
    Two years ago, Tiyuri (Starbound's lead developer) left the Relogic Team (responsible for Terraria) and began his own project. Since then, he's been responsible for a quite successful faux-Kickstarter that landed him $4M for the purposes of "speeding up beta," signed on with Steam for an additional estimated $15M, moved the majority of his team to an incredibly expensive-to-live-in cityTwo years ago, Tiyuri (Starbound's lead developer) left the Relogic Team (responsible for Terraria) and began his own project. Since then, he's been responsible for a quite successful faux-Kickstarter that landed him $4M for the purposes of "speeding up beta," signed on with Steam for an additional estimated $15M, moved the majority of his team to an incredibly expensive-to-live-in city (minus Bartwerf, one of his more talented programmers), and failed to deliver much beyond a tech demo for an entire universe of promises and assurances. Having failed to meet the 2013 deadline and with 2015 rapidly approaching, it seems that the "1.0" sticker will be applied to this game in order to avoid dishing out the refunds that so many Early Access supporters have been clamoring for since they realized that they were only inflating the massive ego of the sprite artist that nearly sank Terraria before it even left port by stealing Final Fantasy V sprites for Redigit to use. If you liked Terraria, you're in good company. Tiy loved it so much, he ripped it off himself.… Expand
  18. hellONkeys
    Jul 22, 2014
    1
    I am relatively new to the steam experience, and after enjoying Terraria I was excited to try Starbound after reading the "Developers" pitch of the game. As I haven't tried an early release title before, I figured "What the Hay... Ill get a little experience before the game is released!" That was over a half year ago. Now I have been extremely patient waiting for a full release, and mayI am relatively new to the steam experience, and after enjoying Terraria I was excited to try Starbound after reading the "Developers" pitch of the game. As I haven't tried an early release title before, I figured "What the Hay... Ill get a little experience before the game is released!" That was over a half year ago. Now I have been extremely patient waiting for a full release, and may have continued to do so, until I read that they have MILLIONS of dollars from gamers like myself yet the game is still far from being released! I feel like I have been hornswaggled! The Devs have used our hard earned money to purchase expensive plane tickets to England, for prime office space, and who knows what else, and the game has been pushed back for release until 2015? That seems completely absurd! Top it all off with a recent progress post on Chucklefish forums from a head Dev that states he has no idea what the other Devs are exactly up to! Look it up for yourself on the official forums! Never again will I invest in an early access game because of Starbound. I don't think the game will ever be finalized. Lesson learned.… Expand
  19. nxss
    Apr 6, 2015
    1
    Dear diary,

    We are on 2015 and Starbound is still an EA. Since I bought the game, I've married and now I have 2 kids. Hope someday my kids can see the game release.

    tl;dr: scam..
  20. hakai124
    Jul 24, 2016
    3
    For a game that's allegedly finished it sure feels like a beta. Oh wait *launches game and reads the window*, it appears to say Starbound Beta.

    Joking aside this game has a myriad of problems, some good things too but mostly problems. Pros: Decent presentation Good soundtrack For me runs better than it ever has before but I understand a lot of people are having problems with it.    For a game that's allegedly finished it sure feels like a beta. Oh wait *launches game and reads the window*, it appears to say Starbound Beta.

    Joking aside this game has a myriad of problems, some good things too but mostly problems.

    Pros:
    Decent presentation
    Good soundtrack
    For me runs better than it ever has before but I understand a lot of people are having problems with it. That being said it still has random frame drops on my machine. GTX 970, AMD FX-8350
    A lot of different loot and cool abilities
    Varied surface landscapes

    Cons:
    Incredibly poor UI decisions; draggable windows that don't stay put in between closing and pulling them back up, the hotbar can't be truly customized to put things where you'd like them, inventory/options/crafting all accessed from separate buttons (this is an issue for me because this game is similar enough to terraria that the UI feels like it should be the same)
    The questing is generally terrible fetch/delivery quests
    The varied planet surfaces don't matter when you spend a large portion of time underground
    Mining and digging a straight tunnel is tedious
    The endless save wipes between every version (this doesn't matter if you're new but for anyone whose been playing since the early access release this is a problem)
    The whole game is a grind

    I could go on and on but honestly it's not worth it. If you've played Terraria and think this looks good, just play Terraria again. All that being said if I have to give this game a score it gets a 3/10.    … Expand
  21. MetacriticWeeee
    Jan 4, 2015
    0
    As many have pointed out, the game is basically a scam. I purchased it when it originally released on Steam over a year ago, progress has been laughably slow for a game that has made millions of dollars on Kickstarter and Steam Early Access. I still find it amazing that they could not have hired just a few more people to work on the game and get content pushed out at a decent rate. ThereAs many have pointed out, the game is basically a scam. I purchased it when it originally released on Steam over a year ago, progress has been laughably slow for a game that has made millions of dollars on Kickstarter and Steam Early Access. I still find it amazing that they could not have hired just a few more people to work on the game and get content pushed out at a decent rate. There are 'nightly' builds, which are as you can imagine very regular releases, but they are not stable and typically result in crashes. The community surrounding the game is horrendous, devote fanboys on one end, and those who feel swindled on the other. There is supposedly a large update coming out first quarter of this year, but if it's like anything like I've come to expect from Chuckelfish.. Well, I'm not holding my breath. Would strongly recommend against purchasing this game and supporting poor developers. They don't deserve your money.… Expand
  22. Krogort
    Sep 19, 2014
    1
    Seems to be one of many early access/kickstarter scam.
    Dev team cashed out after filling their pocket due to the hype generated by the announcement and early release.
    We are left with little content and a total lack of support from the developer.
  23. MAJLich
    Jan 13, 2017
    4
    Not worth playing. The beginning of the game I was motivated to play. Soon after, the game becomes repetitive as you progress, the controls become cumbersome. It really lacks true depth. I get a slight lag when there is lot going on and slows my movement down to change equipment that causes me to die.
    There is infinite building but you can't get the detail easily and no benefit building    Not worth playing. The beginning of the game I was motivated to play. Soon after, the game becomes repetitive as you progress, the controls become cumbersome. It really lacks true depth. I get a slight lag when there is lot going on and slows my movement down to change equipment that causes me to die.
    There is infinite building but you can't get the detail easily and no benefit building on these worlds. Just a standard building game. I can't seem to get the benefit of more crewman either.
    The last boss is virally impossible for me at least since it's near impossible to dodge and the lag slows my play down just enough that I can't heal by one click or even two clicks of the mouse.
    Overall, becomes boring and the controls are too cumbersome for boss battles. What a disappointment. The critics score is too high. Less than average game.    … Expand
  24. HumanTrash
    Feb 13, 2015
    0
    Four years and millions of dollars later, the game's dev still hasn't delivered on its promised features.

    The lead dev's attitude doesn't do much to toward spurned fans, doesn't help, either.
    "It's not what I promised you when you bought it, but it's practically finished and you've had your money's worth of fun!"

    In a sane world, this developer would be bankrupt.
  25. aceofspace
    May 1, 2016
    3
    Boring. Incredibly boring. No meaningful content, progression feels pointless, combat mechanic is dull, exploring is only skin-deep (one "procedural" world is as good as any other). The one single plus is that some of the writing is decent. But oh man, that combat is terrible.

    A great concept ruined by its execution.
  26. vanjavk
    Aug 13, 2016
    0
    Welcome to screen saver simulator. Yes that's what this game is, a screen saver. Yes it's nice, graphics are calming music is soothing but I don't want to call it a game. Just because you press few buttons and move around doesn't make it a game (well it does, but a game with 0 score)
  27. wytas2
    Aug 19, 2014
    0
    This "game" is a scam.The devs arent even uptading it.Its just a list of what they want to (not) add.The last real uptade was last year.They just keep prototyping "uptades" and taking money
  28. R77
    Jul 23, 2016
    4
    There were high expectations for this game after three years of development and a long beta process, and it missed almost all of them.

    The Good: - The music is excellent, and the game sounds great overall - The art style is fun - The variety of weapons (although the combat mechanics make this almost meaningless) The Bad: - The inventory system - which should be the core of a    There were high expectations for this game after three years of development and a long beta process, and it missed almost all of them.

    The Good:

    - The music is excellent, and the game sounds great overall
    - The art style is fun
    - The variety of weapons (although the combat mechanics make this almost meaningless)

    The Bad:

    - The inventory system - which should be the core of a game with thousands of items - is badly broken. This is after years of testing. There are now five separate inventory screens, and the UI that controls them is clunky and frustrating. Items that used to stack no longer do, which leads to inventory crowding almost immediately.
    - The story is bland and unoriginal. This would be fine if it wasn't a mandatory part of the early-game, but you're now required to run the same broken dungeon you were in beta before you can do any real exploring. It still sucks.
    - The quest hub/town area has undergone only cosmetic changes since early beta, only now there's a story dungeon sloppily cobbled onto it.
    - You now drop healing items and other important items on death on the normal difficulty mode, which adds a layer of meaningless frustration.
    - Combat is the same 'try not to let the monster hit you' snoozefest as before, only now you sometimes have functional weapons when they aren't glitching out.
    - Enemy variety was supposedly going to be huge, but I found myself running into the same six aliens over and over. I guess this got scrapped?

    I know $15 isn't very expensive, but considering how much money these developers made through early access and what a long development cycle this had...I expected much more. Unless Starbound gets the fixes it still needs and an almost complete inventory/combat overhaul, I see no reason to come back. Save your money.    … Expand
  29. gabenhater
    Jan 15, 2017
    1
    tries to recreate Terraria but just feels empty and repetitive

    I had high hopes for this since I bought it in beta, but the deveopers overextended and cut their losses into one boring, homogenous, "you have to stop an ancient evil!" storyline, instead of the "you break down in the middle of nowhere and have to make the best of it, explore the galaxy" thing it had previously. All races    tries to recreate Terraria but just feels empty and repetitive

    I had high hopes for this since I bought it in beta, but the deveopers overextended and cut their losses into one boring, homogenous, "you have to stop an ancient evil!" storyline, instead of the "you break down in the middle of nowhere and have to make the best of it, explore the galaxy" thing it had previously. All races are the same except for looks, and things like the race unique ship AI have all been removed.

    You probably be better off spending less money on Terraria.    … Expand
  30. powerslide111
    Oct 30, 2018
    0
    Полная хуйня не работает мультиплеер. Говно. Полная хуйня. Одна звезда
  31. SergeiLoodi
    Feb 1, 2019
    0
    The game was in development for years now and out of beta yet in reality this is not out of beta nor can be called a beta. The game is broken and thanks to it's terrible performance for a long time unplayable. It's a waste of time to even write a review about it. Just avoid this garbage.
  32. MaxPay
    Nov 29, 2016
    2
    Disconnected and barebone mechanics render a shallow experience that's already grindy by nature.
    If the goal was to conquer the galaxy, for example, then things like building colonies, upgrading ships, terraforming and so on would be useful features.
    But your mission is to scan all the furniture in the universe! And not as you go along, but in racial order! Performance issues still    Disconnected and barebone mechanics render a shallow experience that's already grindy by nature.
    If the goal was to conquer the galaxy, for example, then things like building colonies, upgrading ships, terraforming and so on would be useful features.
    But your mission is to scan all the furniture in the universe! And not as you go along, but in racial order!
    Performance issues still exist after 5 years. Large amount of content was cut from the game like racial differences, lore, weapons, tech, armor... And they added same monsters to every planet!
    Visiting other planets gets old fast, cause of frequent deja vu.
    2 points are for pixel art and soundtrack.    … Expand
  33. SomeonReviews
    Jun 19, 2020
    4
    I really wanted to like this game. Terraria in space. It sounds amazing! But its just not fun. The gameplay loop is just... unsatifisying. The UI is a mess and just confusing, just like the entire game. Its just confusing. Why make an open world sandbox, with tutorials, a story mode and fetch quests. What game do you want to be Starbound?! Soundtrack and mod support are pretty good though.I really wanted to like this game. Terraria in space. It sounds amazing! But its just not fun. The gameplay loop is just... unsatifisying. The UI is a mess and just confusing, just like the entire game. Its just confusing. Why make an open world sandbox, with tutorials, a story mode and fetch quests. What game do you want to be Starbound?! Soundtrack and mod support are pretty good though. Wouldn't reccomend.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

54
#54 Best PC Game of 2016
32
#32 Most Discussed PC Game of 2016
74
#74 Most Shared PC Game of 2016

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
81

Generally favorable reviews - based on 21 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 21
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 21
  3. Negative: 0 out of 21
  1. Everyeye.it
    Oct 24, 2016
    82
    Starbound is one of the very few games that gets both "open world" and "sandbox" done right. The amount of activities available is astounding and the best part is you can avoid them all, if you wish to do just that.
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  2. CD-Action
    Oct 14, 2016
    85
    The price to fun ratio is amazing, but Starbound’s biggest advantage is the freedom it offers. I took a long break from Elite Dangerous to play this indie gem – it’s that good! [10/2016, p.58]
  3. Games.cz
    Sep 19, 2016
    70
    Starbound is not as polished and debugged as other games, and sometimes it may seem repetitive. But compared to more "modern" sci-fi games its explorative, almost melancholic spirit and emphasis on building catches your heart. Spare a few hundred hours of your time, the ultimate boundary once again calls for the survey.
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