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. Raymond123
    Mar 2, 2015
    9
    The game is like a great and remastered version of terraria with diffrent worlds, quests, and a home ship. It has tons of long-term play abilty and provides quests which helps you along your way instead of you wondering what to do. You can also choose from several specieas, each with a slightly different story and ship. Great fun! Get for pre-release before the price raises!
  2. Elroyscout
    Feb 14, 2015
    10
    This game is art, this game is soul, this game is what this culture needs to survive... sure there will allays some stupid Mushroom cloud in this culture, but that only makes this more amazing by comparison
    i know the art is hyper-generic, i know the combat system is stupid but i do not care, because that is part of the charm. the entire starting universe is lame bland and predictable,    This game is art, this game is soul, this game is what this culture needs to survive... sure there will allays some stupid Mushroom cloud in this culture, but that only makes this more amazing by comparison
    i know the art is hyper-generic, i know the combat system is stupid but i do not care, because that is part of the charm. the entire starting universe is lame bland and predictable, but the player is the one to put their own spin on it, turn their castle ship into Farmer Joe's Cornfeild, go roaming the universe with a cowboy hat or make a paintball arena on a dead planet... which we did on a whim and had such a great payoff.i know this feels unfinished, but that makes it ever more tantalizing, because this game, in early beta, has one hundred and fifty hours of playtime, while the unnamed game which many people claim that this is a ripoff of... has only fifteen minutes, because this thing feels like it has only scratched the surface of it's potential, and yet feels even more wholesome, encompassing, and unique. the races deserve a line and that line is... these may feel a bit generic, but when you actually look at the time, the philosophies, effort and lore they put into seven separate races... you want to pack you bags and move to this galaxy. Unlike other popular games, which are pretentious, silly and just make a lot a noise for the sake of noise, this thing is light, simple and sweet in telling a very simple message, in a very unique way that makes it actually viable...
    Go and explore    … Expand
  3. 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.
  4. Cik
    Feb 10, 2015
    10
    A very, very enjoyable game, even at this stage of development; there is a very appealing uncomplicated beauty, yet depth of play and entertainment that has gripped me for days. It is worth it, and will continue to be as it develops more.

    There exists a lore for every character type as well, so the RPG elements are well polished for the build-stage this game is at, and will only get    A very, very enjoyable game, even at this stage of development; there is a very appealing uncomplicated beauty, yet depth of play and entertainment that has gripped me for days. It is worth it, and will continue to be as it develops more.

    There exists a lore for every character type as well, so the RPG elements are well polished for the build-stage this game is at, and will only get better. And the npc encounters that recognize you as your race and engage you differently in many circumstances is fresh and non-repetitive.

    The exploration potential is boundless and fun, along with the building emphasis of stages based upon your completion of quests; very fun. Jetting from planet to planet, system to system, makes the whole game seem never ending; very expansive. Not to mention that I found myself wandering on the surface of various planets a lot more, which I personally enjoy, and within the depths to accumulate more resources, hidden caves and base structures which I could gain unexpected gear and weapons from. The vast amount of weaponry and uniqueness to each one is simply brilliant.

    There is so much to see and accomplish in the game at the current stage, that I very much look forward to coming back to is with each developmental improvement.    … Expand
  5. YungDizuck
    Feb 6, 2015
    6
    First off, I'm going to preface this review by letting prospective buyers know that it's still in beta, and yes, there have been character wipes and there's still bugs. If this, or early access, are potential bugaboos for you, I'd recommend waiting until the full 1.0 release. That said, let's get to the review.

    First off, we'll talk aesthetics. Chucklefish has opted for a 2D style pixel    First off, I'm going to preface this review by letting prospective buyers know that it's still in beta, and yes, there have been character wipes and there's still bugs. If this, or early access, are potential bugaboos for you, I'd recommend waiting until the full 1.0 release. That said, let's get to the review.

    First off, we'll talk aesthetics. Chucklefish has opted for a 2D style pixel graphics art style, with fairly fluid animations, cursor facing, scrolling skyboxes and backgrounds. There's multiple races to choose from, each with their own unique characteristics, styles and backstories. (Some of which have barely been touched on, but you'll get a rough estimate from some opening flavor texts, and by collecting unique logs through out the game.) It's bright, it's colorful, it's fluid.

    Mechanically, it's very similar to Terraria and Minecraft, only on a much larger scale, as crafting, building, smithing, tech and many other collectables, furnishings, weapons and tools can be crafted from various ores, or combinations of resources. (Oil + iron = steel, and so forth.) You are given a ship that you must collect items to repair, and a set of missions to get you acclimated to what the game will require you to succeed at in order to progress. The downside, is that while the game is more fully fleshed out than during the prior versions, a lot of it is still barren and buggy, which is a shame, because there's definitely a ton of potential. Combat is done in one of two ways, melee, or ranged. Melee offers a variety of weapons, daggers, swords, axes and spears, some of which can be found in chests throughout the planets you visit and mine. Ranged is guns, beam weapons, bowguns, and hunting bows, some of which can be upgraded. Lastly, tools. Tools are important, but the newest update has dropped the durability of practically all of them, which forces you to carry spares that don't stack, which has dropped their importance to upgrading your matter manipulator. Mining plays a HUGE role in this game, and is probably one of its biggest time sinks, as a mechanic. That said, the upside is that the rate of occurence of unique tombs, bases, new underground biomes and other encounters has increased since the last update. Obviously, this entire mechanic is still quite tedious, especially considering how tools have been nerfed.

    Now I'll touch on music and sound, which, in my opinion, is meant to be charming, and instruments have actually been in the game for quite some time, which allows your character to play bits of music in the game. It adds flavor, if nothing else.

    Now I'll summarize. The bits and pieces of a great game are here. The rate of which the dev team is tying those pieces together, has been slow and tedious. There has been a massive addition of content added during the big update, but unfortunately, so have a lot of new bugs, some of which stonewall progress. If they were just annoying visual glitches, I'd dismiss them, but some of them are runtime crashes during missions. That's a major no-no, and something their QA should have caught before the update. I'm giving this a solid 6 of 10 as of right now. My recommendation is to wait until it's closer to being finished and bug free.

    (Full disclosure: I have 17 hours in game during the past week, 200+ on various builds total.)    … Expand
  6. SavageSalamence
    Feb 2, 2015
    7
    People realize now that it has been updated, it has no longer been not updated
    This game will entertain you for quite a while, but it doesn't have as much depth as it may seem. It's a great exploration game with a brilliant soundtrack, but it doesn't quite deliver a deep and progressive experience like other games such as Terraria do
  7. Prodigyfire
    Feb 2, 2015
    10
    Anyone who rate this game below a 7 is lying, this game is just beyond comprehension of most people, and those are the people who put below a 7, anyone above that knows a good game when they see it, and we can clearly see the potential Chuckle Fish has out into this awesome game. If I could rate higher then a 10 I would, because this game is just pure awesomeness on our planet.
  8. ninjaofthewest
    Feb 1, 2015
    8
    This is one of the most underrated game of 2014. For those who were raging about the game's problems most of these problems have been addressed and fixed. For
  9. 3dsboy08
    Feb 1, 2015
    9
    Very nice game. Extremely detailed and awesome to play. When the Upbeat Giraffe update was released, it made the game a LOT more fun to play. Play it, it is worth the 20$.
  10. Madforstarbound
    Jan 30, 2015
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Whoever said this was abandoned, never tried the nightly versions. This game is solid, Really a masterpiece of a game, with all the things a good survival game should have. And also... MOD SUPPORT! Not many games have these. and chucklefish is great at what they do. idiots, who call themselves gamers, can't hold a candle, if they knew what one is, to how amazing this game is.… Expand
  11. Zen-Zinxe
    Jan 29, 2015
    5
    While the graphics and sounds are really nice. The game itself is charming and has a lot of potential, it is held back by being essentially a simplistic Terraria where you can visit different planets. It's been ages since a "stable" update was released so for those who can't be bothered to beta test the game for them won't see any changes for months at a time.

    A big update just rolled    While the graphics and sounds are really nice. The game itself is charming and has a lot of potential, it is held back by being essentially a simplistic Terraria where you can visit different planets. It's been ages since a "stable" update was released so for those who can't be bothered to beta test the game for them won't see any changes for months at a time.

    A big update just rolled out for the game and it's finally starting to take shape, however I would definitely not recommend until they officially claim the game is in a 'finished' state. Which may be a lot longer than any one is willing to wait. Hold on to your money for now.    … Expand
  12. 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
  13. Knoxx
    Dec 23, 2014
    8
    Starbound is a great game it has so much content the planets you can explore the terraria gameplay the random encounters with aliens quests and much more if you like terraria you will like this game if you like space exploration you will like this game as well
  14. 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
  15. Okami
    Oct 7, 2014
    6
    Starbound...well.

    I bought this Game 2013 in Early Access, was hyped by the "Future Feature List". Eventually I played around 100hrs, with Friends on a Server, and a bit Singleplayer. After all that, and around one Year later I can summarize it as follow: Graphics are nice, sound and music are nice. The Basic Ideas and concepts sound good in theory. But: -For a Year now    Starbound...well.

    I bought this Game 2013 in Early Access, was hyped by the "Future Feature List".

    Eventually I played around 100hrs, with Friends on a Server, and a bit Singleplayer.

    After all that, and around one Year later I can summarize it as follow:

    Graphics are nice, sound and music are nice.
    The Basic Ideas and concepts sound good in theory.

    But:
    -For a Year now there are no new Updates. (besides silly valentines day items)
    -Performance is just incredible bad. Lag on High End Machines, unplayable on standard PCs.
    -Game Progression makes absolut no sense and is dull like hell.
    -Most of the random generated Items are totally worthless
    -Lots of Bugs and so many missing features...
    -NPCs are just senseless placeholders, most items are too.
    -Childish and whiteknighting community who defend all negative aspects to the death.
    -grindfest for getting to the next level, to start all over again to get to the next level, repeat...

    So in fact you spend alot of time mining material to build a nice house, city etc. from. But then you have nothing to do, no reason to explore the Universe etc.

    The Developers startet to make some other games meanwhile...honestly I think this game will never be finished.

    My advice would be to stay away till there is a really major update with some real progression and missions that make sense.

    It is some Fun in Multiplayer if you know the people you are play with, and have a powerful rig to handel the game.    … Expand
  16. Orderan
    Oct 3, 2014
    6
    Bought it 9 months ago, thinking "Terraria in unlimited space, this is going to be awesome !". And it was, for a few hours. And then you realize passed a certain level, the progressing system is still the same, linear and boring mining to upgrade.

    And then you realize the game in itself feels like the developers did not know at first how hard and tedious developping fully functionnal    Bought it 9 months ago, thinking "Terraria in unlimited space, this is going to be awesome !". And it was, for a few hours. And then you realize passed a certain level, the progressing system is still the same, linear and boring mining to upgrade.

    And then you realize the game in itself feels like the developers did not know at first how hard and tedious developping fully functionnal game is. Between the game complete lack of balance and the "missing description" for hundreds of items, it does feel like it was halfway done then someone said "let's release it early access".

    And while the release of seasonnal content for valentine's day was appreciated, it really shows the issues in this game development. It is not centered on content quantity, not quality. And if you consider this game is basically still on alpha stage with no change brought in a year, you wonder where this is going.    … Expand
  17. godzillarandom
    Oct 3, 2014
    6
    Note: I will update this after the full game is out

    I kinda like this game,It has a potential to be good! HOWEVER,How it's being executed is questionable So here is the basic pros/cons review! Pros: Endless travel places Endless ore Good crafting fun multi-player Fun bosses Cons: Mean developers No mod support KHAN NO UPDATES. Note: Like I said,I    Note: I will update this after the full game is out

    I kinda like this game,It has a potential to be good!

    HOWEVER,How it's being executed is questionable

    So here is the basic pros/cons review!

    Pros:
    Endless travel places

    Endless ore

    Good crafting

    fun multi-player

    Fun bosses

    Cons:

    Mean developers

    No mod support

    KHAN

    NO UPDATES.

    Note: Like I said,I kinda like this game at its beta state,It's okay,NOT WORTH BUYING,Just wait til' it updates a little and then buy it,It has the potential to be the best,Yes,Better than terraria,minecraft and "PP".

    But its in beta state and this is my "Beta" score ,6/10    … Expand
  18. zombiechan
    Sep 24, 2014
    8
    I picked up Starbound months ago and I've set up a server for me and my friends. We had a great time goofing off and building stuff. Doing our usual stuff when it comes to sandbox games like this.

    The music is pleasant and I love some of the random aliens you run into. If you enjoyed Terraria but wanted to prefer Scifi, then Starbound is worth a check. (A lot of people seem to be    I picked up Starbound months ago and I've set up a server for me and my friends. We had a great time goofing off and building stuff. Doing our usual stuff when it comes to sandbox games like this.

    The music is pleasant and I love some of the random aliens you run into. If you enjoyed Terraria but wanted to prefer Scifi, then Starbound is worth a check.

    (A lot of people seem to be rating this game with zeros saying it was unfinished, but I do not know what they expected from buying a game that is in early access.)    … Expand
  19. 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.
  20. Zipprian
    Sep 9, 2014
    7
    The game is initially very fun and kills a lot of time. After a while it gets extremely repetitive and the different races are really just different visually, they all play exactly the same.
  21. Airaindust
    Sep 5, 2014
    9
    This game is really fun. I'm waiting for the final build but play nightly sometimes. Anyone calling this a scam is an uninformed idiot. Tired of hearing about how they don't update because if you weren't an idiot you would know they do every night. Give the game a chance if you are interested and do your own research instead of listening to trolls.
  22. tpenterties
    Sep 4, 2014
    10
    Nomis!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
  23. 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
  24. 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
  25. 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
  26. 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.
  27. Woollenhat
    Aug 6, 2014
    9
    Most fun I have had in years in any kind of game, especially coop. Art is wonderful, music is great and building stuff is incredibly satisfying, if you are creatively inclined.

    That being said, it really is still in a very rough state and it is clear that it is far from finished. Once you have 'cleared' the content that is available at the moment, there is not much or nothing in the way    Most fun I have had in years in any kind of game, especially coop. Art is wonderful, music is great and building stuff is incredibly satisfying, if you are creatively inclined.

    That being said, it really is still in a very rough state and it is clear that it is far from finished. Once you have 'cleared' the content that is available at the moment, there is not much or nothing in the way of dungeon crawling, questing etc.

    Yet I find the criticism displayed here unreasonable, because it actually does not criticise the game, but the development cycle. A game taking long to develop is actually not valid criticism of the quality of the game**

    If I judge what I have gotten for my money, which is 70-80h* of delightful gameplay for about 15€ or so, then I can say that this is great value and has left me highly satisfied. Would I like to continue playing with more content? Hell yeah. But I'll have to wait till the game is properly out.

    *mostly coop. Probably would have been much shorter, if I had played entirely solo.

    ** I am not suggesting that people cannot be rightfully upset at having the release date pushed multiple times if they have been fans of the first hour. But the rating should not reflect your estimate of how well the development progresses, but what the game offers right now in its current form — which I personally find more then satisfying.    … Expand
  28. JERupp
    Jul 30, 2014
    5
    Another example of the pre-order/early-access scam. Chucklefish collected over 4 million dollars to make this game, and what we got instead was a half-baked Terraria with the ability to visit multiple boring worlds. Without the work of the independent mods for this game, I would have given it a solid 2 out 10.

    On principle, I would say to not reward this company with your patronage. On    Another example of the pre-order/early-access scam. Chucklefish collected over 4 million dollars to make this game, and what we got instead was a half-baked Terraria with the ability to visit multiple boring worlds. Without the work of the independent mods for this game, I would have given it a solid 2 out 10.

    On principle, I would say to not reward this company with your patronage. On rationality, I would say you should just go out and buy Terraria instead. You will actually be paying someone for a great game, and not to help create an "indie" publishing company that spits out half-finished games to pay for creating more half-finished games.    … Expand
  29. 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
  30. 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,
  31. 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
  32. 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.
  33. 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
  34. ReviewBros
    Jul 9, 2014
    8
    its a really cool sci fi game. ive played around 6 hours and loving it. its like mine craft and terrairer put together but set in the future. with over 20 weapons and diffrent materials makes it great. a must buy for addictive gamers.
  35. Vas
    Jun 29, 2014
    8
    This great game has a lot you can do in the beginning. If you don't cheat or get help from players, you can be entertained for many days gathering what you need to go up to the next level. You can create structures and traps and fun designs as well. With mods, you can add a lot more to your game which will make it last longer and more entertaining. There are endless planets you canThis great game has a lot you can do in the beginning. If you don't cheat or get help from players, you can be entertained for many days gathering what you need to go up to the next level. You can create structures and traps and fun designs as well. With mods, you can add a lot more to your game which will make it last longer and more entertaining. There are endless planets you can visit so you can always go far away to a planet no one will find to build your stuff, in order to protect it. Planets of different sizes and types, so there is always a unique planet to find, with many unique NPCs and bases.… Expand
  36. eponymous
    Jun 29, 2014
    6
    Strong foundation with a lot of potential. A number of times in co-op MP my friends and I would comment that Starbound has some great foundation mechanics for an awesome game. Either large scale content releases need be released or strong community modding is required to complete what still feels like a slightly hollow game. There is a skeleton of progression but not much in the way ofStrong foundation with a lot of potential. A number of times in co-op MP my friends and I would comment that Starbound has some great foundation mechanics for an awesome game. Either large scale content releases need be released or strong community modding is required to complete what still feels like a slightly hollow game. There is a skeleton of progression but not much in the way of end-game. It represents reasonible value but in current form wont be a minecraft or terraria quality time-vampire.… Expand
  37. HeyItsAze
    Jun 29, 2014
    10
    This game is one of the best games ever, you can fly to other planets,you can create amazing building with the furniture so please ignore those haters and try this game out

    .PS the soundtrack in this game is amazing
    you should listen to, "On the beach at night"
  38. Blazington
    Jun 26, 2014
    9
    Vastly superior to Terraria with its own original ideas and concepts-- and don't let anyone tell you differently. Starbound makes the 2D survive-and-craft sandbox game feel limitless, which other games of the genre generally fail to do.

    It achieves this by letting you fly to planets, explore generated cities and villages, and collect a huge amount of furniture and objects. There is a    Vastly superior to Terraria with its own original ideas and concepts-- and don't let anyone tell you differently. Starbound makes the 2D survive-and-craft sandbox game feel limitless, which other games of the genre generally fail to do.

    It achieves this by letting you fly to planets, explore generated cities and villages, and collect a huge amount of furniture and objects. There is a lot of depth to this game, and it keeps on growing. Better played than read about.    … Expand
  39. 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
  40. 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
  41. 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
  42. PenisMan69
    Jun 14, 2014
    7
    Starbound is a pretty good game, but very unfinished. It's updated frequently, but mostly with Holiday content (Want to dress up like Santa Claus? You'll be happy. Want more than a few hours worth of gameplay? You probably won't be.)
  43. NOVEANO
    Jun 5, 2014
    9
    This is the game in have always dreamt to play, a game where you explore the entire universe! There is endless exploring, and amazing lore. Unbelievable structures procedurally generated, I live terraria but this is a step forward. Better graphics, and the music... The music is the best music I have ever listened to in a video game. I can't wait to have this game on my ps4 or vita,This is the game in have always dreamt to play, a game where you explore the entire universe! There is endless exploring, and amazing lore. Unbelievable structures procedurally generated, I live terraria but this is a step forward. Better graphics, and the music... The music is the best music I have ever listened to in a video game. I can't wait to have this game on my ps4 or vita, developers are great as well and keep updating for free all the time.
    This game is unmissable!    … Expand
  44. vanhaver
    May 25, 2014
    10
    Don't listen to these ignorant fools who wouldn't know a good game if it flew out of their ass. Play this game. Simple as that, it's absolutely fantastic w/ an amazing soundtrack to boot! The makers of this game have really committed themselves to this project.
  45. Theanchorman900
    May 21, 2014
    5
    Games fun for a few hours but it lacks true depth yet. The progression is just a raw numbers game i.e stronger armors and weapons which barely vary beyond having larger numbers. The armors and weapons and armor do look visually decent but this game is mostly superficial at the moment. The Music is pretty good - although when you come across a small monster epic battle music plays everyGames fun for a few hours but it lacks true depth yet. The progression is just a raw numbers game i.e stronger armors and weapons which barely vary beyond having larger numbers. The armors and weapons and armor do look visually decent but this game is mostly superficial at the moment. The Music is pretty good - although when you come across a small monster epic battle music plays every time which detracts from the immersion. If you have read this review thanks. I'd basically advise you to avoid the hype and the rose tinted opinions of the positive scorers as the game is still a working progress. Don't let potential cloud your judgement. I'll score it higher once it earns it.… Expand
  46. ZippyRagu
    May 21, 2014
    9
    I believe this game is truly something of beauty and amazement. It's lore is the best I've seen in a long time, combined with the aspect of building, combat, and most important, exploring. Hopping from planet to planet, system to system, makes the whole game seem never ending. So much to see do and build is beyond anything I've seen in a long time.

    What makes this game differ from an    I believe this game is truly something of beauty and amazement. It's lore is the best I've seen in a long time, combined with the aspect of building, combat, and most important, exploring. Hopping from planet to planet, system to system, makes the whole game seem never ending. So much to see do and build is beyond anything I've seen in a long time.

    What makes this game differ from an incredibly similar game like Terraria? One thing major thing that caught my eye was the animations. They're beautiful, bouncy and fun to look at. Even swinging a sword feels good. Another major difference is that this ones more surface-based. You'll be finding yourself wandering on the surface a lot more which I personally enjoy, considering you may encounter npcs like avians or glitches, which are actually birds and robots.

    I encourage anyone questioning whether or not to purchase this to not be off put by reviews that say it's not worth it because its a Terraria clone. Many have said the same thing about Terraria and Minecraft in fact, that Terraria is just a 2D clone of Minecraft, which depending on your definition, really isn't. I say take a risk, spend a few bucks, and have a great time exploring the universe. Creativeness bursts within this game.    … Expand
  47. jecoconono
    May 19, 2014
    10
    Don't follow what the haters say. Play the game yourself and you will see that its amazing. The music, the art, the adventure is all greatly done, and plenty of mods from the community and the fact that you need little to no knowledge to mod the game too, its just a amazing game! Sure, it might be terraria-like but its mostly pure inspiration. Its a great game, and don't forget that itsDon't follow what the haters say. Play the game yourself and you will see that its amazing. The music, the art, the adventure is all greatly done, and plenty of mods from the community and the fact that you need little to no knowledge to mod the game too, its just a amazing game! Sure, it might be terraria-like but its mostly pure inspiration. Its a great game, and don't forget that its currently just a beta so things will change often.… Expand
  48. powerscot
    May 12, 2014
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Starbound: Chucklefishes sci-fi tribute to Terraria. Having played 92 Hours of Starbound to date over the course of the games development - I aim to give each update a decent shot. I can honestly say that this game provides an enjoyable starting experience with an adequate set of character customization options and six playable races. There is much promise upon beaming down to your first planet. You truly feel starbound. The Strange planet beckons to be explored and the unique mobs are extremely diverse with a mix of docile and hostile creatures. There is a real variety of NPCs and structures which serve as a means to explore and potential to gain great loot. But as the game progresses and you've explored your first few planets, perhaps even killed the boss in order to move to the next sector of space, that you are experiencing a bit of deja vu. Don't get me wrong there is a respectable amount of content in game already. But not all of that content does necessarily contribute to an enjoyable game play experience. Great a fluffy unicorn plushy! - but can't I get some more weapon variety beyond a melee weapon or a gun? I've dug down into a planets core! - oh great more stock monsters...
    Don't be mistaken this game is still in development in its beta stage. It boasts a good amount of content but it's still undercooked. So unless you want to risk a belly ache, or just feel like you want to support Starbound's development, save your money at the moment. The experience is still a little thin to be called a game. I mean the last 5 of 10 tiers of gear can pretty much be skipped at the moment. Starbound lives up to its name and will take flight eventually. Give it some time and I think this will flesh out to be an enjoyable multiplayer experience. Maybe not quite minecraft or terraria but still an admirable addition to the genre of Indie Sandbox games.    … Expand
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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.
    Read full review
  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.
    Read full review
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