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4.8

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 5473 Ratings

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  1. Aug 10, 2016
    4
    I've tried finding good in this game and the only way I can is the concept; the emphasis was on exploration, but predominantly it seems survival is the main focus. So many things you must keep active and recharge just to survive. And because of this, it takes away from the fun factor of exploration.

    The best way I could describe the feeling is that it feels like a 'play to play' game
    I've tried finding good in this game and the only way I can is the concept; the emphasis was on exploration, but predominantly it seems survival is the main focus. So many things you must keep active and recharge just to survive. And because of this, it takes away from the fun factor of exploration.

    The best way I could describe the feeling is that it feels like a 'play to play' game ... you are forced to play this game and mine materials and do exactly how the game wants you to or else you're out of luck and can't advance at all even if you just wish to roam the planet looking for stuff.

    This game isn't for the majority of people. The fact that Sean Murray said it has 'hundreds of hours' of gameplay and I barely made it to 2, makes me question just what they were doing when they made this. If you enjoy this game, good for you, but the repetition for many will set in early, and if you're like me, you'll see the non-vibrant planets and the non-intelligent creatures that just feels tacked on and for all intents and purposes, falls flat.
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  2. Aug 9, 2016
    4
    For the first hour or so, the game is amazing, and it is fun, But listen to me :
    After around 5 hours, this game become... Mundane.
    With the extreme vastness, it is great, don't get me wrong, But the game give this vibe "We don't want to work on the fun thing that can be done, lets just make it in space, so that we can fill the space with nothing but, Space!" It becomes amazingly
    For the first hour or so, the game is amazing, and it is fun, But listen to me :
    After around 5 hours, this game become... Mundane.
    With the extreme vastness, it is great, don't get me wrong, But the game give this vibe "We don't want to work on the fun thing that can be done, lets just make it in space, so that we can fill the space with nothing but, Space!"

    It becomes amazingly mundane sadly
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  3. Aug 15, 2016
    4
    This game is meh I mean the graphics are beautiful and it does have appeal but it doesn't appeal to me and the game left me unsatisfied cause of how boring and cliche it is.
  4. Aug 23, 2016
    4
    One Man's Lie - No Man's Buy.

    This is supposed to be the game they showed us at E3??? I won't even mention all the stuff which is missing from what they had promised....All planets feels the same after you visit a few and there is nothing to do! Biggest slap right in the face is that mystery in the center of the galaxy....I really wanted to like it - but no, NO way. All in all it's
    One Man's Lie - No Man's Buy.

    This is supposed to be the game they showed us at E3??? I won't even mention all the stuff which is missing from what they had promised....All planets feels the same after you visit a few and there is nothing to do! Biggest slap right in the face is that mystery in the center of the galaxy....I really wanted to like it - but no, NO way.

    All in all it's not entertaining - just boring
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  5. Aug 14, 2016
    4
    OK when you first get into No Man's Sky it can be breath taking but after hours of gameplay It got repetitive. Planets and life on the planets are just slight variations of the planet you were on. On 5 different planets, 2 were from one system and 3 from another I encountered life that had the same spider legs or they looked almost identical except for color.

    They should have done 100
    OK when you first get into No Man's Sky it can be breath taking but after hours of gameplay It got repetitive. Planets and life on the planets are just slight variations of the planet you were on. On 5 different planets, 2 were from one system and 3 from another I encountered life that had the same spider legs or they looked almost identical except for color.

    They should have done 100 different legs, body, eyes, face, etc that way when the new planet with life you land on would have a greater chance on not looking the same. The same could be said about the planet generator as well.

    The big set back is there is no REAL multiplayer and Sean Murray is very contradicting with multiplayer. He said you would be able to meet other players but there's a extremely small chance but then says its not a multiplayer game. The game info on the game case, on steam, and on PSN all say 1 player. To top it off 2 players got to the exact same spot on a world yet they could not see each other like Sean Murray said they could.

    Verdict: 4/10 - Its a great game if you just want to relax and explore space in your spare time but there's lack of content and poor random generator. No multiplayer which could've added more hours of fun being able to explore with friends or a random person you come across.
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  6. Aug 10, 2016
    4
    After playing for 6 hours i am bored. Game play is repetitive. Controls that help you navigate are not mentioned except online.no apparent auto navigation on planet even if you've ben there before have to take 10 minutes to fly there

    Planets are very similar. A big yawn
  7. Aug 18, 2016
    4
    No Man's Sky is the epitome of a one sided idea. It feels like the developer came up with a cool & unique engine, but had NO idea what to do with it. So they released what is inherently a tech demo of said engine, called in No Man's Sky, and are charging people $60 for it. The result is the most pretentious and dull gaming experiences you're likely to have, well, ever! Let me be veryNo Man's Sky is the epitome of a one sided idea. It feels like the developer came up with a cool & unique engine, but had NO idea what to do with it. So they released what is inherently a tech demo of said engine, called in No Man's Sky, and are charging people $60 for it. The result is the most pretentious and dull gaming experiences you're likely to have, well, ever! Let me be very specific and distinct here: THERE IS NO GAME. It's the world's most elaborate screensaver. If you're interest in the game is unwavering, at least do your wallet a solid and wait until the game can be picked up for $20 used at your local Gamestop. I couldn't possibly recommend this title to any serious gamer, unless you're suffering from insomnia. In that case, have at it! Otherwise...just go back to The Witcher 3. There is nothing here to see. Expand
  8. Mar 17, 2020
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. While I appreciate that they have vastly improved the game over the last 3 years, it is only now approaching what was promised at launch. The game's base concepts are just not good enough to hold my attention or make me feel like I would rather be playing this than something else, which is a shame. The worst part of all of this is that they feel that they are still sensible in charging $59.99 for this, which is absolutely obscene.

    My advice is that if you want some good fun with randomly generated stuff (including space) then go pick up Spore for a third of the price (or cheaper if you can find it on sale). Also, I have about 35-40 hours but I originally bought the game when it launched from the GOG store.
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  9. Jan 15, 2017
    4
    No Mans Sky is an embarrassment to video games and just media in general. It hurts me to write this review. This game would have much better if we weren't lied to us and if we were given the same information and game play as the game really looked like it would have gotten much more praise.

    The universe is huge but what makes it good? Thats it, its just "Big". Travelling through out the
    No Mans Sky is an embarrassment to video games and just media in general. It hurts me to write this review. This game would have much better if we weren't lied to us and if we were given the same information and game play as the game really looked like it would have gotten much more praise.

    The universe is huge but what makes it good? Thats it, its just "Big". Travelling through out the entire universe is boring and just going from one planet to another is just a chore and just feels like it takes too long. There is no story and no real goal for this game, so overall you just feel useless and underpowered. You start off trying to fix your ship but it gets overly boring from there. There is no multiplayer (Which was a huge selling point for the game). There was no caves to explore, no customizable FOV and best of all. The graphics looked like it was straight barf! In the gameplay trailers we were shown huge beautiful worlds. But in No Mans Sky we are just given an optimization pile of trash. There was no interest in the game and it wasn't difficult or have any difficulty in it at all. Atleast the game is playable ill give it that. And it did feature the main theme. But what good is the main theme if you cant do anything interesting. Overall I give No Mans Sky a 4/10. Do not buy this game. Maybe if it was free, maybe...

    Cons:
    No multiplayer.
    No mountains.
    No deep caves.
    No deep sea exploration.
    No forests.
    No customizable FOV.
    No challenge.
    No interesting NPC.
    No story.
    No ending

    Pros:
    Atleast they tried (or did they..)
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  10. Aug 9, 2016
    4
    Honestly at first I was hooked, but then realized 4 hours later I was doing the same thing on another planet. Most animals don't do anything except for help drop the warm generic items that all help do the same thing. The only I can say for this game is that is was disappointing, it's like so much content but a lot of that content has very little depth. Also of course the framerate is badHonestly at first I was hooked, but then realized 4 hours later I was doing the same thing on another planet. Most animals don't do anything except for help drop the warm generic items that all help do the same thing. The only I can say for this game is that is was disappointing, it's like so much content but a lot of that content has very little depth. Also of course the framerate is bad in most fight scenes and the textures are pretty bad for a Ps4 game. Also the ship combat is a little dissatisfying and it seems like the game really doesn't want you to crash, even if you want to.

    It is almost like an ocean wide game that is only a pond deep.
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  11. Sep 23, 2016
    4
    It's one hell of a hot mess. I have a little sympathy for Hello Games, but they really didn't do themselves any favours with their vague pre-release claims and their almost complete silence since release.

    It wouldn't be so bad if it was £20.
  12. Aug 18, 2016
    4
    Well, I'm back. after initially giving this game an 8 after 2 hours, I'm back after I have put in 32 hours. I am now done with this game. I will be taking it back to GameStop so I can get some money back as it became overwhelmingly redundant after hour 10-15. The planets might have different fauna and textures but the actual terrain is exactly the same from planet to planet. There are onlyWell, I'm back. after initially giving this game an 8 after 2 hours, I'm back after I have put in 32 hours. I am now done with this game. I will be taking it back to GameStop so I can get some money back as it became overwhelmingly redundant after hour 10-15. The planets might have different fauna and textures but the actual terrain is exactly the same from planet to planet. There are only few different materials really to collect, as plutonium gives you everything to survive, move, and mine. Titanium, Iron and Zinc help with creating tech. And other than that you have a revolving door of "precious metals" to collect for no other reason than to make money, and are found and mined the same way. I'm frustrated as Sean Murray alluded that you can create things like minecraft, but in reality you have to find blue-prints and cannot use imagination to create things. Then again, there aren't enough different elements to make that challenge worth while. The caves are all built the same way. There are no rivers or anything that would break up a very patch-work environment. Everything in Space (planets, space stations, ships) is static except the pirates that seem to come after you much like spam ads hit you on the internet. The ships aren't even attackable or trade-able, they are their for background. For story, its very shallow text based experience. Understanding races languages does very little to change anything other than improving very boring dialog during trading stations that gives marginal benefits. I don't want to tell you too much about the end-game, but the game has a redundancy that extends beyond jumping system to system, but galaxy to galaxy that will make you want to pull your hair out. There is no sense that others are in the same galaxy. You are completely alone, as Sean Murray explained THE DAY BEFORE RELEASE. I personally do not believe we share the same universe, but share a multi-dimension universe where we are just uploading names of places. The game was an absolute joy for the first 10 hours..... but then, I started wondering what the damn point was. I did buy the game for a lot of reasons that Sean was talking about during the IGN first and videos prior. I did not realize that a lot of the ideas he was floating earlier would not make it into the final product as they just plainly ran out of time. Its a shame, because the game has an idea, and for a team of 14 people, pretty amazing..... but if it is not what was explained to people, it should not be a $60 AAA game. Some blame the gamer for the misunderstanding of the game. I don't, I blame the marketing of Sony and the numerous streams of Sean Murray for not being honest about the final build of the game. Anyway, I will return this game to Gamestop, pick up Uncharted 4 which I haven't played yet, and wait for the Nukaworld DLC for fallout 4 to drop..... Because this game was overwhelmingly disappointing. Expand
  13. Aug 9, 2016
    4
    This game is fun, it really is. The notable thing about this game is that it crashes which of course gets annoying. This game is random which can be a good thing. For some people the game can be very easy but for others the game can be one of the hardest things they have played in a while. After playing the game for around 5 hours it has already gotten repetitive, but like I said the gameThis game is fun, it really is. The notable thing about this game is that it crashes which of course gets annoying. This game is random which can be a good thing. For some people the game can be very easy but for others the game can be one of the hardest things they have played in a while. After playing the game for around 5 hours it has already gotten repetitive, but like I said the game is random. I think when you buy this game you are taking a gamble. I don't think it is worth the current price tag. This is just another game that was very over hyped. This game looks very pretty and is huge but the hugeness of this game can come at a cost of doing the same stuff over and over again. Expand
  14. Aug 9, 2016
    4
    I'll admit, I fell for the hype of No Man's Sky. How could a game with literally infinite possibilities go wrong? I wouldn't exactly say this game went wrong, it just failed to deliver. Discovering planets is fun for maybe the first three hours, after that nothing that you can find is really unique enough to be enjoyable. No Man's Sky is poetically ironic in this case, as the largestI'll admit, I fell for the hype of No Man's Sky. How could a game with literally infinite possibilities go wrong? I wouldn't exactly say this game went wrong, it just failed to deliver. Discovering planets is fun for maybe the first three hours, after that nothing that you can find is really unique enough to be enjoyable. No Man's Sky is poetically ironic in this case, as the largest gaming world of all time feels almost empty and repetitive. The dev team made way, way too many promises and failed to deliver.

    Just a note: Yes, people are brigading this page with bad reviews, but if you are giving this game a 10 just because of that, you are just as bad as the bridagers. Think about what you're doing and rate the game honestly.
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  15. Aug 9, 2016
    4
    Wow this is not even worth 20$,is basically farming materials forever and visiting dead ass planets with barely anything interesting to do. Most of the monster you find are just ugly and super random with deform bodies and there is no reason to revisit planets or to think in names for them since they are infinite and a random mess. If you are willing to waste money in this wait for it toWow this is not even worth 20$,is basically farming materials forever and visiting dead ass planets with barely anything interesting to do. Most of the monster you find are just ugly and super random with deform bodies and there is no reason to revisit planets or to think in names for them since they are infinite and a random mess. If you are willing to waste money in this wait for it to drop to 10$ or below on a steam/pstore sale, otherwise you will end up feeling like you got scammed for the absurd price they are asking for this space farmville simulator. Expand
  16. Aug 9, 2016
    4
    I honestly expected more from this game. I got bored after 5 hours into it. It gets very repetitive, mine resources -> craft/upgrade something -> go to another planet -> mine resources to craft something again. Sure NMS is huge, but planets are boring, there is nothing to do except scanning creatures and mining or mindlessly wonder around. Game is absolutely stunning at first, but you soonI honestly expected more from this game. I got bored after 5 hours into it. It gets very repetitive, mine resources -> craft/upgrade something -> go to another planet -> mine resources to craft something again. Sure NMS is huge, but planets are boring, there is nothing to do except scanning creatures and mining or mindlessly wonder around. Game is absolutely stunning at first, but you soon realize there is not much to it. I honestly regret spending money on it. Expand
  17. Aug 9, 2016
    4
    This is one of the worst next gen games I've ever played on PS4. I feel like the developers chose quantity over quality. The idea of visiting an infinite number of randomly generated planets is cool, but realize that they aren't goanna spend the time making each of them interesting. After visiting a few planets, I realized that the planets were very similar in landscape, plants, elements,This is one of the worst next gen games I've ever played on PS4. I feel like the developers chose quantity over quality. The idea of visiting an infinite number of randomly generated planets is cool, but realize that they aren't goanna spend the time making each of them interesting. After visiting a few planets, I realized that the planets were very similar in landscape, plants, elements, and animals. The humanoid life forms I ran into do nothing but sell or trade. The game doesn't have a story line or multi-player. The idea of this game is for you to visit and explore these randomly generated planets. It won't take long for you to realize how repetitive this game is and how plain the design of the landscape is. I recommend to stay away from this game and save your money. Expand
  18. Aug 10, 2016
    4
    The game looks very nice, and also makes quite fun, but 60Euro / Doller are too much!
    As the game like other Survival games and makes nothing new but the other games only cost 20-30 euros / Doller.
    The NPCs are lifeless and have little animations the world is very empty and the space is still empty!
    I say for because price is a 4/10 and is not worth 60 Euro / Doller.
  19. Aug 10, 2016
    4
    No Man's Sky is an average game, at best. But it will win a fair few of the end of year GOTY awards, the technical ones especially. How do I know this? Because the hype train for this game was speeding along so fast, so unerringly, it was hurtling towards only Editor's Picks and great reviews.
    The gimmick of the procedurally generated planets wears thin soon, and shockingly the game does
    No Man's Sky is an average game, at best. But it will win a fair few of the end of year GOTY awards, the technical ones especially. How do I know this? Because the hype train for this game was speeding along so fast, so unerringly, it was hurtling towards only Editor's Picks and great reviews.
    The gimmick of the procedurally generated planets wears thin soon, and shockingly the game does not have anything to base itself upon that beyond that.
    It's as if a comedian told his best joke at the beginning of open mic night and then proceeded to regale the eager crowd with a story of his favorite shoe color.
    The survival and FPS gameplay is arduous at best and frustrating at worst. The Sentinel robots begin to try one's nerves after the sixth millionth time you've encountered them in the same galaxy.

    Inventory management is an absolute shambles as well. Micromanaging the small inventory space really starts to grind soon. I know there will be many free updates (and no paid DLC) to this game, but even if they gave me infinite space I still wouldn't like an inventory where resources and upgrades go together.

    The only thing that can be said in the game's favor is that the procedurally generated planets are a technical marvel, and should be appreciated for the sheer audacity of the idea.

    But I think they chose the wrong gimmick to hype up, and they should have spent more time on polishing the other elements. Fair play to Hello, but I think I have 18 quadrillion other games to play instead.
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  20. Sep 2, 2016
    4
    There is a perfect foundation for an incredible game in No Man's Sky; however, with Hello Games being the shady group paving the way for the game's future- that future seems bleak. I'm in an awkward spot: should I return the game because of Hello Games' lies? Or should I hold on to it so that the developer will pull themselves together, right their wrongs and maybe the game will have aThere is a perfect foundation for an incredible game in No Man's Sky; however, with Hello Games being the shady group paving the way for the game's future- that future seems bleak. I'm in an awkward spot: should I return the game because of Hello Games' lies? Or should I hold on to it so that the developer will pull themselves together, right their wrongs and maybe the game will have a chance to one day be the game everyone wanted it to be? History tends to repeat itself, and so I have little faith Hello Games will pull through. Because of their trickery, they blew the one chance they had; and so I think it's time to say goodbye to Hello Games. Sean Murray, I hope the money was worth it-I'd hate to be you right now. Expand
  21. May 2, 2017
    4
    This one really is going to divide opinion. If you're one of the people over the last 12 months asking "but what do you actually **do** in No Man's Sky?", then this game is not for you. In fact, a lot of the stuff you're suggested to do in the game was really only added at a late stage, when the developers decided to try and market the game for a large audience.

    In terms of gameplay,
    This one really is going to divide opinion. If you're one of the people over the last 12 months asking "but what do you actually **do** in No Man's Sky?", then this game is not for you. In fact, a lot of the stuff you're suggested to do in the game was really only added at a late stage, when the developers decided to try and market the game for a large audience.

    In terms of gameplay, think Minecraft, but without actually building (just the mining and crafting part). The discovery and scanning parts (and the general aesthetic) feel to me rather like Metroid Prime. And the broad concept (i.e. exploring a massive and realistically scaled universe) is pure Elite. You will get out of this game precisely what you put into it... there's nothing helping you along. There are a couple of ways in which you could theoretically "finish" the game... to be honest, I'm not in the least bit interested in that. In fact, I will actively seek to avoid it. I'm quite happy pursuing my own quest to translate the local alien dialect of the area in which my game started out, and getting the necessary keys to unlock some of the locked areas.

    It really helps if you understand (and I mean **really** understand) just what the developers have achieved too... this will help you overlook the fact that the graphics are quite basic, and draw distances (when flying close to planets at speed) are frequently compromised by a weird dithering effect.

    Also, you have to be forgiving where the developers have compromised real physics in favour of playability. Docking/landing your ship is basically done for you; gravity is depicted as per Hollywood movies (i.e. not related to the mass of objects), some of the "things" from which you get "elements" are quite illogical and space itself is bizarrely blue & pink... never black. This is very much SciFi with the emphasis on "Fiction".

    So... not realistic enough for anyone expecting Elite; way too open-ended for the majority of video game players. Who is this going to appeal to exactly? The answer is right here in the Metcritic reviews.
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  22. Aug 11, 2016
    4
    Have been waiting for ever for this game and am a total fan of the genre going back to Elite on my Commodore 64 lol. I have to admit I was really enjoying the first hour or two, it still felt like it was going to deliver. Every time I went to a new area I thought, this is going to be it, this is when it starts....but it just never did. I think the developers have built a fantastic universeHave been waiting for ever for this game and am a total fan of the genre going back to Elite on my Commodore 64 lol. I have to admit I was really enjoying the first hour or two, it still felt like it was going to deliver. Every time I went to a new area I thought, this is going to be it, this is when it starts....but it just never did. I think the developers have built a fantastic universe but ran out of time to actually put a game into it. Hopefully a few patches over the next few months takes care of that and I will come back again with a higher score. Expand
  23. Aug 12, 2016
    4
    The idea was actually really good, but it wasn't simple making work. The execution is basically poor, it's not that interesting travel through all this procedural planets, without a purpose and find that many of these planets are actually empty, very boring to explore, in the most of them there's literally nothing to see and to do. I would have preferred a non procedural game, with farThe idea was actually really good, but it wasn't simple making work. The execution is basically poor, it's not that interesting travel through all this procedural planets, without a purpose and find that many of these planets are actually empty, very boring to explore, in the most of them there's literally nothing to see and to do. I would have preferred a non procedural game, with far less planets to explore but with much more variety between them and the game would have also benefit in fun which is actually simply not funny at all. I would have given 5 to this game, but I prefer to low the score at 4 since i think the price is too high for what is a clearly indie game that could be sold for much less. Expand
  24. Aug 26, 2016
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This is my second review and after playing it for sometime and watching videos of all the promises of what was supposed to be in the game I am doing a new one. I realised when watching said video why I was so hyped for the game as all the things Shawn said would be included, the list is far too big to mention here but watch one of the many 'NO MANS LIES' videos on Youtube or Angry Joes review. Not to mention that but also the ending which was a total pisstake. Luckily Amazon have been good enough to refund me my money and let me send the game back (got to love Amazon!) so I have no ordered Deus Ex! I heard that Hello Games were being sued for the use of the generation system the game uses, maybe this was why so many features were left out? Maybe Sony pushed to release it quickly? Maybe they run out of money to add all the features? I dont know but what I do know is by watching Angry Joes review it reminded me of all that was promised and that is not the game I received. If anyone saw any of the gameplay demos with lush planets and amazing creatures flying in the air or huge Dinosaurs and so on, none of this is anything like what I saw when I visited these barren, dry and bleak planets. All the animals looked fairly alike and it was just boring. Unfortunately this game is not worth £60 and even at a price of £20 you are going to get bored very quickly only to find out that if you do make it to the center of the galaxy you will find there is no pay off, like none at all, like there isnt anything there so all the grinding is for nothing. I am so happy I found that out before going there myself as I had make sure I stayed clear from spoilers but Angry Joes reviews made me need to find out what was at the center. I stuck up for this game as they were a small indie outfit who was getting lots of bad press and reviews but they deserve it because they lied to us about everything. The game is a shell of what was promised and if I hadnt been able to get my refund I would be very upset. That being said the first time you fly out from the planet you start from it is something special, after that however the monotony sets in. Such a shame as this could of gone down as one of the best games ever! Expand
  25. Aug 12, 2016
    4
    Let's see, you start off on a planet looking for parts for your ship, which got repetitive after the first few seconds. You run out of breath too fast which got annoying, also there's too much of the same element like iron ect..
  26. Aug 13, 2016
    4
    Crafting simulator. No plot. Sorry for the money spent. After a day of games get bored of the monotony. Price for such a game should byat twice below.
  27. Aug 14, 2016
    4
    If you are looking for well a huge sandbox this is the game for you! It is painfully repeatable. Also the i5-4460 and Msi Gtx 1060 gaming x (O.C.ed +140/ +700) maxing well almost every single game on 1080p atm had fps drops, spikes. Graphics looks quite good but it doesn't make up for empty planets (come on 10 npc met in 2 hours of exploring?). Only thing that does go for me is that IIf you are looking for well a huge sandbox this is the game for you! It is painfully repeatable. Also the i5-4460 and Msi Gtx 1060 gaming x (O.C.ed +140/ +700) maxing well almost every single game on 1080p atm had fps drops, spikes. Graphics looks quite good but it doesn't make up for empty planets (come on 10 npc met in 2 hours of exploring?). Only thing that does go for me is that I wanted to see what is going to be further in the galaxy but even before reaching Atlas (?) I gave up exploring. 4/10 Expand
  28. Aug 15, 2016
    4
    Defenders of the came keep saying that critics don't like it because they misunderstand the game. I didn't misunderstand the game. I knew that it was survival based. I knew that it was a slow paced game where exploration, gathering, and trading would be key. I get all that. The reason why No Man Sky is a dud for me is because Hello Games promised a gigantic universe to explore butDefenders of the came keep saying that critics don't like it because they misunderstand the game. I didn't misunderstand the game. I knew that it was survival based. I knew that it was a slow paced game where exploration, gathering, and trading would be key. I get all that. The reason why No Man Sky is a dud for me is because Hello Games promised a gigantic universe to explore but only has about 1000 or so core assets - meaning this "huge" universe start to look the same within the first few hours.

    My excitement dropped immensely when I landed on just my second planet and found the SAME flora asset that just had the name changed. The the SAME rock/Iron asset, again with just the name changed. Then the SAME minerals and crystals. The creatures looked almost identical, with variation so small I couldn't actually notice the difference (though to be fair, I saw more variation in creatures eventually.)

    The first 10 planets I explored I saw repeats of the same assets over and over again, so I'm using my scanner to make this "new" discovery, and its just the same exact plant I've already seen 20 times, just with a different name.

    THAT, friends, sucks. That is cause for legitimate disappointment. It doesn't matter how enormous the game world is if only 10% or so of it feels truly unique. After a while I starts to feel like basically "ah this is the green planet, that's the red planet, here's the blue planet -- where everything on it looks more or less the same.

    Guess what's worse? The structures for every alien race, every outpost, every shelter that I visited in my 30 hours of gameplay use the SAME damn models. Talk about immediately killing any sense of vastness or difference or exploration.

    The Sentinels on planets is also a let down. Every planet I've visited has them. Sometimes they are more aggressive, sometimes they aren't - but I never got to a planet where I truly felt like I was the FIRST to explore. Someone's always been there before me. It is also annoying has hell to have sentinels constantly interfering with your efforts to do the most basic things like harvest a mineral. And talk about repetitive. Sentinels follow the exact same script, in the exact same way, on every single planet I've been to so far.

    I don't feel like I was confused about what kind of game this is. I feel like the execution on what the game aspired to be is unfortunately quite poor.
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  29. Aug 15, 2016
    4
    I was so excited about this game and I was watching the progress about 2 years. I expected huge open world with various activities and live universe. After few hours of play I realised that the scale of the game is just about visage. You will see many places like no other, but in the end.... they are all the same.. There are no new cultures, no different planets - with society or else.I was so excited about this game and I was watching the progress about 2 years. I expected huge open world with various activities and live universe. After few hours of play I realised that the scale of the game is just about visage. You will see many places like no other, but in the end.... they are all the same.. There are no new cultures, no different planets - with society or else. Alien activities are all the same around the universe and everything is just the same as at the start of the game. Such a disappointment :-( Expand
  30. Aug 16, 2016
    4
    I played the game for about 15 hours and read many reviews here and i think the people who gave it a mediocre score are the ones with a more realistic view on the true nature of this game. The concept of this game is very interesting and that's the reason i pushed my playtime a little more, despite i was already bored with it.There's absolutely nothing to do in the world(s) of No Man'sI played the game for about 15 hours and read many reviews here and i think the people who gave it a mediocre score are the ones with a more realistic view on the true nature of this game. The concept of this game is very interesting and that's the reason i pushed my playtime a little more, despite i was already bored with it.There's absolutely nothing to do in the world(s) of No Man's Sky. Only thing you do is grind, grind, grind to get better stuff. I like to grind in games but i don't want to play a game that has nothing to offer besides grinding. It has to be a less prominent role in a game. This game is behind the interesting idea (on paper) so shallow and thin that it is almost unbelievable this game had a green light for a release. It's not a finished product. Maybe this game was better suited for something like a demo, a promotion thing of a game producer. To show what can be done with nowadays technology, because this game is missing it's core: Gameplay.
    It's an unripe apple, plucked from the tree too soon.
    Expand
Metascore
71

Mixed or average reviews - based on 96 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 41 out of 96
  2. Negative: 1 out of 96
  1. 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.
  2. 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!
  3. 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.