No Man's Sky

 PlayStation 4
User Score
4.8

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 5473 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2,123 out of 5473
  2. Mixed: 648 out of 5473
  3. Negative: 2,702 out of 5473
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  1. I3R0K3N7FEET
    Aug 21, 2016
    3
    If you are looking for a modern space-faring game to replace your freelancer feels from the past.

    This isn't it.

    Huge premise, but ultimately dull, bland, boring, uninspiring, and not good.

    The most difficult thing about NMS is inventory control, but once you have upgraded yourself, which is a boring chore, there is nothing about this game that is interesting.
  2. Critikal
    Dec 16, 2016
    3
    I was sooo looking forward to playing this game and I was just so excited when I finally got to try it out. Initially it looks really good, but it's all a bit pointless and directionless. Some of it looks very nice, but the numerous glitches don't help either. Elite Dangerous is probably the best way to go if you want a huge and immersive space universe to explore.
    I'll say goodbye to    I was sooo looking forward to playing this game and I was just so excited when I finally got to try it out. Initially it looks really good, but it's all a bit pointless and directionless. Some of it looks very nice, but the numerous glitches don't help either. Elite Dangerous is probably the best way to go if you want a huge and immersive space universe to explore.
    I'll say goodbye to Hello games for this one, at least for the moment.    … Expand
  3. Brainstrain
    Dec 12, 2019
    3
    I'm very glad that Hello Games has stuck by this game and improved it so much. But they will never, and should never, live down the false advertising that resulted in people like me paying $60 for a game that was years away from having all the promised features.
  4. Rbox
    Aug 10, 2016
    3
    It's a grind. Plain and simple, a grind. Not a game, not a survival exercise. But a tedious, mind-numbing and overall baffling grind. From the get-go you are faced with a lack of inventory space. Resources are needed for shields, suits, engines etc. And everything gets depleted real quick. All items need different resources to be recharged. Couple this with an inventory that is too smallIt's a grind. Plain and simple, a grind. Not a game, not a survival exercise. But a tedious, mind-numbing and overall baffling grind. From the get-go you are faced with a lack of inventory space. Resources are needed for shields, suits, engines etc. And everything gets depleted real quick. All items need different resources to be recharged. Couple this with an inventory that is too small already from the first minutes of the game and you understand what your mission is. Instead of No man's sky, it should have been named 'Everybody's Grind'.… Expand
  5. Myon-Neutrino
    Aug 16, 2016
    3
    It took me about 15 hours of intense gameplay to realize how redundant, repetitive and shallow this game really is. Honestly, the first few hours were amazing! What a potential! Thousands of planets and cultures to explore. To boldly go, where no one has gone before. Upgrading your multitool, ship and Exo Suit follows well-known gameplay mechanics and motivated me to continue. The onlyIt took me about 15 hours of intense gameplay to realize how redundant, repetitive and shallow this game really is. Honestly, the first few hours were amazing! What a potential! Thousands of planets and cultures to explore. To boldly go, where no one has gone before. Upgrading your multitool, ship and Exo Suit follows well-known gameplay mechanics and motivated me to continue. The only frustrating factor, the very limited inventory, soon was eliminated when I discovered those escape pods which grant you another slot for a bargain. The farming/grinding concept worked pretty well, learning alien languages was interesting and the game was fun. BUT soon there isn´t anything special to explore anymore, every new planets with all its content kinda looks and feels just like the ones before. There is no specific mission, no quest, no story, no immersion left. I see no reason to continue my travel to the center of the galaxy, why should I? I really, really wanted to love this game because it has so much potential. It´s unfinished. It´s at 60$/60€ which is ridiculous! Do not buy it in this state, it´s not worth the money. I will wait for some HUGE patches, maybe some passionate community mod to bring necessary content to this game. I will wait for the price to fall to a normal amount (20$ or less!) before giving it another shot.… Expand
  6. maddiplomat
    Aug 11, 2017
    3
    Played it at launch. Like all others, I soon realized that there is almost nothing to the game compared to what was promised. It gets boring and repetitive fast, and everything in the game just starts to look the same. At best, this is a mediocre niche game worth $20 launch price, but instead it was marketed as a game for everyone at $60. I tried out the game again after the 1.3 patch,Played it at launch. Like all others, I soon realized that there is almost nothing to the game compared to what was promised. It gets boring and repetitive fast, and everything in the game just starts to look the same. At best, this is a mediocre niche game worth $20 launch price, but instead it was marketed as a game for everyone at $60. I tried out the game again after the 1.3 patch, which as supposed to add a lot of stuff. Yes, there is now more content, but the game does not feel improved and the core experience remains the same as it was. Too little, too late & it was not enough to motivate me to play more after the extended break. If anything, it now reminds me of an early access game that never gets finished. This sort of mess belongs on Steam Early Access. I hope this is not a sign of things to come for the PS4. This sort of practice does not belong in the AAA title section at full price at launch.… Expand
  7. lobo666
    Sep 13, 2016
    3
    no vale la pena este juego roto es una puta bazofia los que lo votan bien son sonyers soñar con lo no soñado no compren esta bazofia para ps4 ni pc. AHORRENSE EL ASQUEROSO DINERO
  8. TicTacToad
    Aug 9, 2016
    3
    No Man's Sky seems like an exhilarating idea on paper, but the final execution is very lackluster. It doesn't take very long before the gameplay gets stale and repetitive. While the size of the game may certainly be impressive, it doesn't mean much if it No Man's Sky doesn't offer much to keep you entertained with the game. If you really want to pick the game up, I'd recommend waiting forNo Man's Sky seems like an exhilarating idea on paper, but the final execution is very lackluster. It doesn't take very long before the gameplay gets stale and repetitive. While the size of the game may certainly be impressive, it doesn't mean much if it No Man's Sky doesn't offer much to keep you entertained with the game. If you really want to pick the game up, I'd recommend waiting for a price drop, but otherwise, I would skip it.… Expand
  9. Illuvial
    Aug 9, 2016
    3
    Rather poor, lazy and generic survival elements covered up by shallow and boring exploration. The game certainly is pretty when you're ignoring the various graphical bugs. But aside from gorgeous music and selectively gorgeous visuals, the game doesn't have much to offer.

    Your super limited inventory space (even after upgrades) makes exploration a chore that you simply can't partake in    Rather poor, lazy and generic survival elements covered up by shallow and boring exploration. The game certainly is pretty when you're ignoring the various graphical bugs. But aside from gorgeous music and selectively gorgeous visuals, the game doesn't have much to offer.

    Your super limited inventory space (even after upgrades) makes exploration a chore that you simply can't partake in as you'll have almost no inventory space to spare when you factor in upgrades and resources for just maintaining your redundant hazard and life support meters. Your best hope while exploring is finding some super boring wildlife that simply runs away when you get near it, or looking at plants that look like slightly different than real world counterparts (trees, cacti etc.). Its also not very fun discovering planets, wildlife or plants when you have no one to show off too or share your 500th meaningless discovery with. Discovering things doesn't feel fun, isn't rewarding or worthwhile, so why bother exploring?

    What about survival elements? Well you have a health bar that refuses to empty (read: its impossible to die this game is so easy) and lazy, generic "Life support & Hazard suit" gauges that depletes based on planetary conditions. The way to refill the gauges is simply using the super common resources found all around you. So survival is a non-issue at all times, and death doesn't set you back at all. Where's the tension and fear of the unknown when you essentially know nothing will harm you, and even if something does harm you odds are it won't do much of anything? It all seems very tacked on, as if Hello Games realized that the bland exploration caused by proceduraly generated planets would be boring if they didn't tack on various gameplay elements. Problem is, those elements don't enhance the game, its just frustrating.

    Further adding to the list of faults is the combat. With poor aiming mechanics and lackluster enemy variety and design, there is no depth. On foot combat offer very little in the way of challenge or fun, and ship combat doesn't really change much at all. Fighting enemy starships is a tedious "blown one up blown em all up" affair, and outside of pirates occasionally trying to blow you out of the sky,you'll probably forget your ship even has guns attached to it.

    The trade and economy system are lackluster. Galaxies have different values for items, but with such limited space and no way of knowing what the next galaxy's trade rates are, keeping your selling items (indicating by green boxes) in-between trips is sort of impossible when you're always bleeding for inventory room. Trading with NPCs is sort of pointless as well, seeing as how they all behave the same way and you always get the feeling like you're paying or losing out on trades to get next to no benefit. Whenever you walk up to any trade ships you encounter, the flavor text for what the interaction is like may change, but your options are still “Trade for ship or stop talking to this person”. When you finally go into the trade screen, you may think to yourself that you're going to get to bargain, or offer your valuables in exchange for the trader's valuables that can be used to craft upgrades or something. But no, its a black and white “Buy at this one set price or don't bother talking to me”. The whole trading, buying and selling system has about as much depth and is about as interesting as NES RPGs like the original Final Fantasy.

    The sense of discovery is lost here. What you discover isn't interesting and never feels worth discovering. Alien life is boring and dull, and you can't share your discoveries with them or any of the other players. What good is it that I discovered this galaxy when all of maybe 10 NPCs inhabit it, and no other human player will likely ever get to witness it or use my discoveries to aid in their survival there? Exploration proves fruitless, as the randomized planets lack the setpieces and gorgeous handcrafted vistas that such brilliant exploration games like Abzu, Shadow of Colossus, Flower or Journey have provided in the past or present. Combat is dull, survival feels like I'm babysitting some constantly depleting bars rather than using my wits to outsmart the universe, and the economy system is about as generic and uninteresting as any other game's despite its shallow attempts at depth or intrigue.

    In short, if all you want from a game is pretty scenery and can handle the worst pop-up you've ever seen in a game as well as lifeless planets with no personality, than by all means pick this up, you can take some wonderful screenshots for your desktop. But if you're looking for absolutely any substance in your exploration or interactions with the universe, or hope to discover some truly breathtaking moments on par with the aforementioned exploration games, I recommend looking to the upcoming Abzu, or the August PS+ game Rebel Galaxy for your exploration or space trader/pirate needs.    … Expand
  10. Louis_Ferdinand
    Aug 9, 2016
    3
    Apparently my review was pruned, because honest (albeit negative) opinions are not allowed. So I submit another one! Great disappointment, a marketing collosus on wooden legs, a cashgrab catering to a generation of gamers starved so much, that they can't see right from wrong.
  11. Witcher3Fan21
    Aug 9, 2016
    3
    As extremely good reviews have said, only buy this game if you think exploration is your kind of game. So basically an interactive photo reel of procedurally generated space. Is it worth $60? No. Is it even a game? Maybe. What other game is it like? Journey. Did they mislead you with the gameplay? Yes.

    Only buy this game if you enjoy quite scenery, if you want action, building,    As extremely good reviews have said, only buy this game if you think exploration is your kind of game. So basically an interactive photo reel of procedurally generated space. Is it worth $60? No. Is it even a game? Maybe. What other game is it like? Journey. Did they mislead you with the gameplay? Yes.

    Only buy this game if you enjoy quite scenery, if you want action, building, crafting, killing or anything that any other actual game has, then don't get this game for $60.

    I actually basically purchased a space sim to just look at, not what I thought it was.    … Expand
  12. BorNlol
    Sep 21, 2016
    3
    Extremely repetitive. The game completely fails to keep you engaged after the first 5 hours, which is a damn shame since those first hours were great. After that planets all begin to look the same, you recognize the same plants and animals with very minor changes everywhere and the unholy grinding of minerals is enough to drive you mad.
  13. PeterBournem
    Aug 9, 2016
    3
    Im 14 hours in and I just don't care any more so bored. Floating copper, I can almost deal with but I have no idea of what the hell Im doing or the point. Not going waste hours to find the centre, you see one planet you seen them all. I will be selling it ASAP. Sorry I know the work Hello game put in but I like mine craft and I like games like x3tc but this is neither. the price tagIm 14 hours in and I just don't care any more so bored. Floating copper, I can almost deal with but I have no idea of what the hell Im doing or the point. Not going waste hours to find the centre, you see one planet you seen them all. I will be selling it ASAP. Sorry I know the work Hello game put in but I like mine craft and I like games like x3tc but this is neither. the price tag should be £20. Hello games announced day before launch further up dates. it essentially not finished.… Expand
  14. SupportIndies
    Aug 9, 2016
    3
    Sorry to all the ones that liked this, I'm glad you're out there for these types of games. Just not for me I guess I thought there were many things lacking, control menus, suggestion menus, graphics, making me want to continue playing it just wasn't there. Regardless as well to all of those out there if this is going to be a title that is successful it's sure going to have to do betterSorry to all the ones that liked this, I'm glad you're out there for these types of games. Just not for me I guess I thought there were many things lacking, control menus, suggestion menus, graphics, making me want to continue playing it just wasn't there. Regardless as well to all of those out there if this is going to be a title that is successful it's sure going to have to do better then it's average rating of just above a 5.… Expand
  15. gristy
    Aug 9, 2016
    3
    The first hour is quite interesting learning the basics with little hand holding and restoring your ship so that it can take off. I played 3 more hours and just found it quite boring. I am sure some will love the experience, but it seems like the game will require a lot of time for little pay off.
  16. Vble
    Aug 9, 2016
    3
    Exploration is fantastic in the first few hours as you try to let your imagination and high hopes carry you through the endless yet utterly dull universe.

    Let's get straight to the point. While exploring a seemingly infinite universe conceptually is appealing. The graphics are on par with something from last gen at best. There is little to no content to be found and the game is more of    Exploration is fantastic in the first few hours as you try to let your imagination and high hopes carry you through the endless yet utterly dull universe.

    Let's get straight to the point. While exploring a seemingly infinite universe conceptually is appealing. The graphics are on par with something from last gen at best. There is little to no content to be found and the game is more of a mindless resource grind for no apparent reason other than to try and call that some slap of content. There isn't any multiplayer even though the developers spouted that there would be (Albeit Minimal). And even exploring gets dull as you quickly come to find out that everything you explore is EXACTLY like the last, Except it has been given a different color.

    In the end, I would NOT recommend "No Mans Sky" to anyone, Not even to fans of bland exploration genre games. As it is just not worth the 60$ purchase.

    No Mans Sky ends up being another failed game where developers promise the universe (literally) and end up delivering nothing at all.    … Expand
  17. Coombs
    Aug 10, 2016
    3
    This is a glorified tech demo with a cumbersome, tedious resource juggling game awkwardly and haphazardly dumped on top. I was stunned to discover just how ugly this game actually is. The menu interface is not inspiring, which is a shame since you'll be spending so much of your time there. The controls are clunky, the sound effects obnoxious, the music a huge disappointment. I foundThis is a glorified tech demo with a cumbersome, tedious resource juggling game awkwardly and haphazardly dumped on top. I was stunned to discover just how ugly this game actually is. The menu interface is not inspiring, which is a shame since you'll be spending so much of your time there. The controls are clunky, the sound effects obnoxious, the music a huge disappointment. I found that the totality of the aesthetic experience, something I thought would really be a selling point in this game, is utterly lackluster. It's amazing just how often the sound effects and music combine to create a supremely unpleasant effect. Every once in a while the game would create a lot of fanfare over the fact that I just walked an arbitrary number of feet since starting the game. Trivial statistical events like these are treated like major events, even though they couldn't possibly be less significant. For a game that tries to emphasize biology and diversity, what ends up being highlighted is how tremendously inorganic the gameplay experience is. None of the it feels natural. It comes off like a desperate exercise in alchemy. Truly, the most fun I've had with this game was when I watched the trailer in 2014. I had my reservations that these guys were in way over their heads, and sadly, my fears are confirmed. There's a reason AAA titles are developed by huge teams: that's what it takes. As it stands, I'd say a fair price for this game is $10. Any more than that and you could be playing something so much better.… Expand
  18. Kotwurschd
    Aug 10, 2016
    3
    Absolutely trash. Again a overhyped title that dissapoints massively. I wasn't expecting much, but after playing for a few hours, I must say that this game is not more worth than 20 bucks. It's so repetitive. The planets look boring. I almost fell asleep while playing this and I'm not even kidding. The only thing you do on these planets is running around and collecting materials to be ableAbsolutely trash. Again a overhyped title that dissapoints massively. I wasn't expecting much, but after playing for a few hours, I must say that this game is not more worth than 20 bucks. It's so repetitive. The planets look boring. I almost fell asleep while playing this and I'm not even kidding. The only thing you do on these planets is running around and collecting materials to be able to fly to other planets, that look almost the same. There is no diversity. The graphics and textures on PS4 are horrible. I had a few game breaking bugs. The auto-landing feature of the Ship landed me inside a tree. I couldn't do anything, I was stuck in their. My Ship then crashed and I had to farm all the resources again. I was missing 1 more resource, when I tried to buy it from a spot, it only gave a me few of the resource. I had enough to buy it and free space in my inventory and checked everything multiple times, but it wouldn't let me buy more of the ressource, no matter what I did. The Ship controls are absolutely horrible too. And you will never see any player somewhere, because there are 18 trillion planets Please save your money and don't buy it, because it is a terrible game and overhyped for no damn reason.… Expand
  19. Vvrax12
    Aug 11, 2016
    3
    Sure it's fun during first 5 hours as you explore the huge universe in your ship and mine resources but it all gets repetitive quickly as you realize you are doing the same thing over and over. The game does not have a plot nor any interesting characters, all the game tells you is "reach the center of the universe". The story is not interesting at all and you'll forget about it. And withSure it's fun during first 5 hours as you explore the huge universe in your ship and mine resources but it all gets repetitive quickly as you realize you are doing the same thing over and over. The game does not have a plot nor any interesting characters, all the game tells you is "reach the center of the universe". The story is not interesting at all and you'll forget about it. And with no multiplayer or a nice story this game is not worth $60. Most of the planets that I visited are dead, empty and depressing, finding life on some planets was cool and interesting at first, but the interaction with the animals isn't fun, you can feed them, analyze them, or kill them. I didn't find any interesting characters and when I reached the center of the universe I was very disappointed by what I saw, possibly the worst ending in a video game. There is not much you can do and you'll get bored after 5-7 hours of mining resources, craft/upgrade, sell your resources, go to another planet and do the same thing over and this is bad for a $60 title.… Expand
  20. awolcz
    Aug 11, 2016
    3
    First, I was really excited about the game. It was really fun for first couple of hours, but then it get really repetitive. You are basically doing same routine on every planet. Discovering same outposts, with same aliens in it. Mining same resources just to warp to another solar system, where you go on similar planets, to discover same outposts and mine resources, to get to another solarFirst, I was really excited about the game. It was really fun for first couple of hours, but then it get really repetitive. You are basically doing same routine on every planet. Discovering same outposts, with same aliens in it. Mining same resources just to warp to another solar system, where you go on similar planets, to discover same outposts and mine resources, to get to another solar system... Also, the diversity of planets is not what I expected. First couple of planets were somehow different, but then I started to discover planets, which were just re-skinned versions of basic planet archetypes. Toxic planets, radioactive planets, ice planets? Only difference is logo above the shield and exosuit alert message. Behavior is all same - it just reduces protection level continuously. Every animal and every flower is almost same and acts the same. On planet 1, you get cow body with dog head, on planet 2 you get cow body with chicken head. On planet XY you get cow body with head XY etc. What is the point of discovery, when everything you can discover is just some randomly generated stuff with no logic in it? What is the meaning of discovering caves, when there is no secret at the bottom? From technical point of view, game is really good. I really enjoyed views on some planets. But as I said, it is fun for couple of times, but really boring after a while. This game totally lacks diversity and meaning.… Expand
  21. qLu
    Aug 11, 2016
    3
    The first few hours are the honeymoon period in which you have virtual ♥♥♥♥♥♥s of coolness and art and retro-urban-hipster color schemes. After that, you realize a few things:

    1) The assets are very low quality. I mean, visible pixels and all. 2) It is nowhere near being optimized. Let me just say this: the console is the nexus of optimization. They spend hours and hours making it    The first few hours are the honeymoon period in which you have virtual ♥♥♥♥♥♥s of coolness and art and retro-urban-hipster color schemes. After that, you realize a few things:

    1) The assets are very low quality. I mean, visible pixels and all.

    2) It is nowhere near being optimized. Let me just say this: the console is the nexus of optimization. They spend hours and hours making it look good on these because they have a limit of hardware. Don't get me wrong: it will look much better on the PC than on the console, but the resource cost will probably be much higher than you expect. Also: wouldn't be surprised in the lease if it is FPS capped like it is on the playstation.

    3) You see most of the available assets on the first few planets you are on. After that, the assets repeat over and over and over again. On one planet, gold looks like gold, on another planet, it's the same but BLUE! And they weren't even thorough enough to make all of it cohesive. When you see the little gold bits flying at you (collecting them) suddenly they turn from blue to GOLD again! #SCIENCE!

    4) It's really cool that you want to name that animal after your son, but you will probably be the only person who ever sees it. With the repetition of assets means that there are NUMEROUS iterations of things that look the same, but don't keep the name that you gave them. Even in the same SYSTEM, you go to another planet and that blue flower that gives you Platinum? It looks exactly the same, but it's an entirely different species.

    5) It's not an exploration game. I was told this game was going to be an explorer's wet dream. The thing that is so agonizing (like, blue balls level agonizing) is that it COULD be that! The problem is that you will spend so much time acquiring resources that allow you to survive long enough to explore that you won't be able to actually enjoy the exploration that you want to do! Remember when the food/water timers were WAYYYY too fast in Rust and H1Z1? Yeah, it's that bad. It may not be food/water in this game: it's protection and life support. Something something a rose by any other name....? TL:DR - it's a survival game with exploration elements, not an exploration game with survival elements.

    5a) I sure hope you like busywork - because that is pretty much all the game is! Tag plants and animals on one planet, do it again on the next!

    6) The biggest thing for me is all of the evidence that Sean Murray totally lied to us for a long time (see places like reddit, if you can stand the fanboism for long enough). Remember this last week when he started tweeting and blogging about how we shouldn't get upset if the game is totally different than he presented it? Yeah. How can I trust a team that has billed the game as one thing for so long (OK lets be honest, it took him 4 years just to say what you even did in the game so I guess that we can't go too hard on him here) and then pulled the ole bait and switch.

    7) He is still an indy developer even though he's backed by sony. So let's say that he actually intends to fix the things he says that he wants to - it will take the team FOREVER to do it because of how small the team is, and how many platforms they must update all at once. Do the math.

    8) It is a buggy mess. There are so many examples of clipping and things just not working right that I couldn't even list them all. Sometimes when I take off in my ship, I hover nicely above the ground like I should, other times I am catapulted across the solar system with no way to get back to the planet because I'm out of fuel lol.

    9) They pretty much plaigurized Rodina for exploration mechanics.    … Expand
  22. Luciella
    Aug 11, 2016
    3
    The game is boring to a fault. There is no story o direction to really follow, other than -go to the center of the galaxy- You can't customize anything physically, you cant create or name your character, you can't build anything in the world(s), you have to share upgrade inventory space with regular inventory which is pretty small. When you do said upgrades, nothing changes in your suit orThe game is boring to a fault. There is no story o direction to really follow, other than -go to the center of the galaxy- You can't customize anything physically, you cant create or name your character, you can't build anything in the world(s), you have to share upgrade inventory space with regular inventory which is pretty small. When you do said upgrades, nothing changes in your suit or ship or weapon (only the shooting, be in laser or in small rounds or augmented time). The alien life is plain, aliens don't move and animals come from crappy cardboard nightmares. The first 2 hours might be fun, but after those everything is the same, on similar looking planets with no soul.
    This game is to me unfinished and a waste of money.    … Expand
  23. Bondegg
    Aug 12, 2016
    3
    I will write this as fairly as I can,

    The game, while amazing to look at and grand in scale, is nothing more than a glorified walking simulator, and even then it doesn't have the gripping story of something like Gone Home or Dear Esther, it instead places a terrible survival aspect and you'll spend far far too long of your game time filling up certain parts of your ship. The game,    I will write this as fairly as I can,

    The game, while amazing to look at and grand in scale, is nothing more than a glorified walking simulator, and even then it doesn't have the gripping story of something like Gone Home or Dear Esther, it instead places a terrible survival aspect and you'll spend far far too long of your game time filling up certain parts of your ship.

    The game, when first begun will make you feel incredible, I was alone on this planet no one else had yet been on, everything was there for me to find and it was incredible - I spent a few hours running around naming new species that I found and plants and the such

    Incredibly, it was once I set off in to space I realized how poor this game really was, I eagerly jetted to my next planet and traded some resources at a local space station, I landed on my next planet excited by what I'd find, it was here that it went downhill.

    I quickly realised that while everything looked different, (it was snowy instead of sandy) there was so little to do, I wondered around naming animals that looked pretty much the same, naming plants that looked EXACTLY the same using a rubbish mining laser to slowly get enough resource to fly to the next planet.

    I have played this game for 12 hours or so and visited over 50 planets, but they all just feel the same - sure it's cool finding a large animal and naming it, but most of the animals look the same, the environments are pretty much the same besides some weather and color change and the game offers no progression, the combat is the dullest thing I've ever experienced, the story is a mess and I don't really care for it at all.

    I'm sure you'll say "It's about exploration" and I agree, but unfortunately, even that loses its novelty extremely fast, I spent a third of my playtime in the inventory trying to figure out how to build useless crap that would help my mining laser cool down a bit faster.    … Expand
  24. Blockamon
    Aug 12, 2016
    3
    I really don't like this game. It's boring, repetitive, and not worth £50. It's a £20 game at most. ($25.83.) The survival elements in it takes it away from what it's supposed to be: a space exploration game. There is numerous glitches/bugs. I found one planet where literally everything was floating, for about 20 minutes, my sensitivity would not go up in game, no matter how high II really don't like this game. It's boring, repetitive, and not worth £50. It's a £20 game at most. ($25.83.) The survival elements in it takes it away from what it's supposed to be: a space exploration game. There is numerous glitches/bugs. I found one planet where literally everything was floating, for about 20 minutes, my sensitivity would not go up in game, no matter how high I increased it. Also, this isn't really a glitch, but when you're finding a place to land your ship on a planet, it looks horrible on the horizon just seeing everything load in in front of you. I know that it would be so hard to make it already loaded before you get there, but come on! Hello Games can do better than that! I've played about 4 hours and will not be returning to it. I'm getting a refund.… Expand
  25. SsmarkSs
    Aug 12, 2016
    3
    I don't understand how people defend this crappy game, the only fun I had playing this garbage was during the first 3-5 hours, but after I realized I'm just doing the same thing over and over like an idiot, I quickly regret playing it. it is not worth $60, it has the content of a $20 game. if you are thinking about buying this game you should consider the following;
    1)This game has NO    I don't understand how people defend this crappy game, the only fun I had playing this garbage was during the first 3-5 hours, but after I realized I'm just doing the same thing over and over like an idiot, I quickly regret playing it. it is not worth $60, it has the content of a $20 game. if you are thinking about buying this game you should consider the following;
    1)This game has NO MULTIPLAYER
    2)NO STORY
    3)NO MEMORABLE CHARACTERS
    4) NO PLOT
    5)NO ENDING
    more than half of the planets are empty and not interesting to explore. The animals on some planets look stupid and ugly, the ground has the same ground texture, combat sucks, the game has one thing which Is mining rocks and it gets boring and annoying. I still don't understand how people give it a 10/10, it earns 5/10 at best.    … Expand
  26. moonmuppet
    Aug 13, 2016
    3
    Actually a rather boring game. Would work well as a screen saver, or a beautiful time-waster for loading screens, but as a AAA game it's not very good. RNG will usually fail relative intentional craft, and that completely happens here. Planets are largely the same, which is not what you would want from this kind of game - you'd want variety.
  27. AshFox
    Aug 13, 2016
    3
    This game did NOT live up to expectations. it's over hyped and didn't deliver what it promised. The gameplay gets so repetitive you don't even know what's the point anymore. I admit i was really hyped for this game....guess i shouldn't have.
  28. JimmieReview
    Aug 13, 2016
    3
    Great potentials flushed down the drain.
    This game is in desperate need of any kind of enjoyable game mechanics. There is not a single enjoyable type of interaction with anyone or anything in this game. There sure could have been. I can imagine plenty on top of my head, how about animals that actually do anything? The only thing the animals will do is either stare at you, or give you a    Great potentials flushed down the drain.
    This game is in desperate need of any kind of enjoyable game mechanics. There is not a single enjoyable type of interaction with anyone or anything in this game. There sure could have been. I can imagine plenty on top of my head, how about animals that actually do anything? The only thing the animals will do is either stare at you, or give you a boring melee attack. How about an animal that spit fire, or shoot lightning bolts at you. Or a gigantic bird you could ride. Anything really. The aliens in the game dont do anything either, they dont even walk around for christ sake. They just sit in the outpost waiting to blurt random text at you. The combat with the sentinels are extremly lame and unsatisfying. There could also have been some other cool interaction included with NPCs, like training them to help you gather resources for example. Or breed animals, crossing different kinds to make new cool animals. Maybe there could have been things the alien could have done with the animals? Etc etc. Forget all of that, the animals dont even have proper collison-boxes to stop you from jetpacking right through them. The combat system in space is extremly simplistic and boring, no strategies like placing a mine or upgrading your ship to be much more suited for air fight than your opponents etc. Just aim and shoot and hope your shield dosent run out. There is never any reason to visit anything, leaving you with the feeling that no planet is really important to visit. They coud have made it so some planets had a really worthwhile thing getting but it was well protected, but nope. You will get bored with this games gameplay loop, which is basically mine this item at planet A so you can go to planet B and then warp to next solarsystem closer to the centre, in like maximum 5 hours. There is no multiplayer component to enjoy either, except maybe read what some user named an animal to on a planet. No way for you to build anything on any of the planets, to leave some kind of mark. And even if there was, how is going to find your remote planet? Probably no one. I bet this game will be just as lonely and deserted as its game universe is in 2-4 months from now. Im seriously doubting that hellogame can even save this game with patches as is now, as there is just so much lacking in this game.
    Buy something else...    … Expand
  29. Ishuun
    Aug 13, 2016
    3
    I created an account just to review this game and give people a REAL idea of how this game is. My review will be non biased though i will throw my opinions in there for comparison.

    P.S To you 10s not everyone that hates this game likes CoD alright? get that idea out of your minds. This game, or should i say this "tech demo" is very very bare. In terms of content and stuff to do. If    I created an account just to review this game and give people a REAL idea of how this game is. My review will be non biased though i will throw my opinions in there for comparison.

    P.S To you 10s not everyone that hates this game likes CoD alright? get that idea out of your minds.

    This game, or should i say this "tech demo" is very very bare. In terms of content and stuff to do. If someone sold me this game at 30 dollars and told me it was early access id very much believe them. This game does not deserve any 10s. Please stop being over hyped and look at the game for what it is and not what you wanted to love.

    The basics:
    Here's a run down of what you will do in this game. Mine and Explore. That is it. With the rare occasion of a dogfight here or there. The actual gameplay, is essentially you walking/flying around till you find any of the "?" locations on your HUD. While in between those destinations you can choose to look at rocks, plants, or animals. (if there even are any on the planet you're on) The first few times, it's pretty awesome honestly. But it looses its appeal, VERY fast. Soon you realize that the planet you're on looks almost identical to the planet you were on yesterday. Most people don't seem to understand how procedural generation works. This game is a good example to how it works in a simple setting. (This planet is green with blue trees and red water) (Next planet will have red trees, green water and a blue atmosphere) And that basic idea is how they get the supposed 18 quintillion planets because they consider even the slightest change as a new planet.
    But i digress back to what you can "do" After finding outposts and alien artifacts and all that jazz. You can eventually upgrade your equipment. Your tool, your ship and your suit. Not with any cool tech or anything that's innovative.....its mostly just bigger inventory, with faster mining lasers and longer lasting life support.....to do what you were already doing but slightly more efficient. There is no reason to upgrade other than for the inventory slots. Nothing is saying " you can't mine this copper because your tool isnt powerful enough" you can mine everything regardless. So basically doing all the upgrades is mostly pointless.

    Graphics:
    Oh boy, this one is mostly due to opinion i believe, but personally i think this game can run on last gen consoles no problem. Graphically this game is nothing to marvel at. From afar things look pretty amazing then you get about 15 ft away and notice it looks no where near that good. Mostly everything looks really bland and color saturation isn't that well done. IMO

    Sound:
    The music is pretty generic, if youve seen interstellar, apollo 13, or any space based movie. You've probably heard some of the music.
    The ambient noises though are very well done if a bit misleading. There are times where you hear noises preseumably from animals. Yet there is nothing around for miles.

    Issues with fandom to address:
    "This game isnt for everyone its an exploration game! you CoD lovers dont get it!"
    No, they get it. You're the one who doesn't get it. You're so blinded by Hype you can't see what the game actually is.

    "18 Quintillion planets!? theres so much content in the game! so much to do!"
    No, there isn't. Walking around and looking at stuff isn't the content people normally refer to. They refer to the actions you can do in a game. Where No mans sky has no actions. You walk around mine and upgrade. That is your sole game play experience. As for the planets, once you've seen 10 planets, you've seen most of what this game will show you. A lot of it is pallet swaps, and actually pieces of monsters/plant life switched on to different bases and called a different species.

    "This game isn't for you don't vote it down because you don't like it!"
    This game is flawed. Very much so. If you can't understand that you cant review games. This game has been hyped so hard people literally deflect negative reviews just to force themselves to love this game.

    Overall:
    No Man's Sky, is not innovative, not entertaining, and not fun. It's sad to see a developer create a game in a genre where other games have succeeded in with little to no hype. Where this game falls flat on its face and hard.
    Give it a try if you get the chance, but i would not purchase this at full price. Its worth playing and seeing for yourself but odds are, you will tired of it within 3-8 hours.
    3/10    … Expand
  30. Deerjesus
    Aug 14, 2016
    3
    Most games have honeymoon periods before they drop off and the flaws begin to set in. No Man's Sky wasn't even courteous enough to give me this. Fundamental flaws plague this game every step of the way. Mouse flight is horrible. Controller flight is horrible. I immediately avoid all flight combat as quickly as I can because of how terrible flight is. On foot shooting is lifeless. Point inMost games have honeymoon periods before they drop off and the flaws begin to set in. No Man's Sky wasn't even courteous enough to give me this. Fundamental flaws plague this game every step of the way. Mouse flight is horrible. Controller flight is horrible. I immediately avoid all flight combat as quickly as I can because of how terrible flight is. On foot shooting is lifeless. Point in a direction and your shots auto home to your enemies. Crafting is annoying to understand at first and then horribly tedious to use once you figure it out. Creatures and sentinels spawn in magically after you are a specific distance away. You can kill thousands of them (both) and they'll keep respawning in the same area.

    However the worst part of the game is the exploration. This is what the game is being sold on. Exploration. There's nothing to explore. Every cave is the same. Every ocean is the same. Every outpost, every space station, every radio relay, the same. Creature generation is terrible. I've seen the same crab on about 10 planets already with a slightly different head. Graphically the game is horrible. Bland textures just about everywhere, even on highest settings. Pop in plagues this game. They tried to remedy it with what could be perceived as a powerpoint presentation transitional effect, but it just look ugly.

    It's very rare that I would consider a functioning game as being below average, but this game doesn't even warrant a 5/10.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

2
#2 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2016
2
#2 Most Shared PS4 Game of 2016

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
71

Mixed or average reviews - based on 96 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 41 out of 96
  2. Mixed: 54 out of 96
  3. Negative: 1 out of 96
  1. GameCritics
    May 8, 2020
    80
    While I’m sure developer Hello Games is still tweaking things and perhaps even creating more content for No Man’s Sky, the current state of affairs is a strong one. This galactic opus still offers an infinite amount of content for those who want to lose themselves among the stars, but now also contains a concrete throughline that will satisfy a wider array of players. It can be irritating at times, but it’s also full of stunning moments and the satisfaction of building a virtual life among the stars. Four years after launch, it’s finally a journey worth taking.
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  2. BaziCenter
    Feb 10, 2017
    60
    The world of No Man's Sky is insanely vast and beautiful, but there’s nothing to do in it! There’s no goal, no destination, no ending, nothing!
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  3. Easy Allies
    Dec 1, 2016
    60
    While No Man's Sky is engrossing for the first few hours, repetition starts to set in and the proceedings grow dull. The developers stated that they plan to add significant features such as base building which could dramatically change the game for the better. There's a promising foundation present, so it's possible to envision a more substantial game down the line. As it currently stands, though, our excitement to cross the universe faded sooner than we expected.
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