No Man's Sky

 PC
No Man's Sky Image
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61

Mixed or average reviews - based on 17 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
3.8

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 2617 Ratings

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  • Summary: No Man’s Sky is an exploration and survival game set in an infinite procedurally generated universe. Whether a distant mountain or a planet hanging low on the horizon, you can go forth there. You can fly seamlessly from the surface of a planet to another, and every star in the sky is a sunNo Man’s Sky is an exploration and survival game set in an infinite procedurally generated universe. Whether a distant mountain or a planet hanging low on the horizon, you can go forth there. You can fly seamlessly from the surface of a planet to another, and every star in the sky is a sun that you can visit. Where you’ll go and how fast you’ll make you way through this universe is your decision. Explore uncharted solar systems and catalog unique new forms of life. Every planet’s landscape is different from the next and populated by species never before encountered. Acquire ancient artifacts that may reveal the secrets behind the universe. Choose whether to share your discoveries with other players. You won’t see them, but they’re exploring the same universe in parallel; perhaps you’ll make your mark on their worlds as well as your own. Every solar system, planet, ocean and cave is filled with danger, and - make no mistake - you are vulnerable. Your ship and suit are fragile, and every encounter may test your skills to the limit. From dog-fighting in space to first-person combat on a planet’s surface, you will face foes ready to overwhelm you. One mistake could see you lose it all. In No Man’s Sky, every victory and every defeat is permanent. The voyage that stands before you cannot be taken lightly. You must prepare. Collect precious resources on the surfaces of planets and trade them for the ships, suits and equipment that will take you to your destiny in the stars.… Expand

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No Man's Sky - The Path Finder Update

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 17
  2. Mixed: 13 out of 17
  3. Negative: 2 out of 17
  1. GameWatcher
    Aug 29, 2016
    75
    No Man’s Sky has very clear problems. Its mechanics are insubstantial, with the crafting and inventory management systems being a particular exercise in tedium. Yet its scale and beauty is unmatched by any other game I’ve ever seen. It does things no other game ever has. It’s tempting to call No Man’s Sky “decent, but not great,” but that undersells both the game’s successes and its failures. No Man’s Sky is incredible, awe-inspiring, and profoundly disappointing.
  2. IGN Denmark
    Sep 20, 2016
    70
    No Man's Sky is not the fever dream I imagined when I saw the first trailer. However, it is still an amazing technical feat, even if it's still rather full of bugs.
  3. MMORPG.com
    Aug 18, 2016
    68
    Despite its missed opportunities and forgotten promises, I’m still glad I dropped the money to experience No Man’s Sky. It’s something unique in a world where most of what we get are sequels or off-shoots. Fortune favors the bold, and I hope this is just the beginning of the type of innovation we can expect to see from Hello Games. And frankly, I hope they take all the time they need with their next game.
  4. GameGrin
    Aug 21, 2016
    60
    An impressive piece of technology capable of generating some truly gorgeous vistas, the game layered on top however disappoints in almost every way and just has no depth. Planets are fun to wander around whilst gathering resources to move on but you won’t linger.
  5. PC PowerPlay
    Oct 2, 2016
    60
    It's partially broken, shallow, repetitive and aimless, but hang me, I still kind of love it. [Issue#255, p.56]
    All this publication's reviews
  6. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Sep 14, 2016
    60
    If you enjoy the game art and somewhat hypnotic aimlessness of wandering through generated universe, you could wander for another five or ten years. Otherwise, you leave the game after a few hours never to come back. [Issue#266]
    All this publication's reviews
  7. Quarter to Three
    Sep 1, 2016
    20
    Procedural generation is not an end. It is a means to an end. But there is no such end in No Man’s Sky. It’s endless randomness for the sake of endless randomness. It does what it does because it can, not because it should. I would describe it as procedural generation in search of a game, but it’s worse than that. It has found its game. And the game is hollow and awful.

See all 20 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 262 out of 803
  2. Mixed: 94 out of 803
  3. Negative: 447 out of 803
  1. vesperdem
    Aug 13, 2016
    10
    First off, I want to state that I am not having any of the problems that were reported minutes after the games release yesterday (8/12/2016).First off, I want to state that I am not having any of the problems that were reported minutes after the games release yesterday (8/12/2016). I am seeing a few stutters in the frame rate, but that's really about it.

    I love exploration games. Flight Simulator, Train Simulator, Minecraft, Creativerse, 7 Days to Die, Fallout 4 the GTA franchise even Starbound. I can spend hours just wandering around looking at what the game or developer generated for me to explore.

    No Man's Sky is pretty much the ultimate version of that type of game. With 18 Quintillion world in just one (of possibly many) galaxies, there is just no limit to my exploration bug.

    World generation is crazy, making Minecraft look tame, The creatures and plants that live on these worlds are straight out of 1960's SciFi book covers and comic books.

    There is even an underlying story to the four major races in the game (if there are four, I have only found one so far).

    If I had any complaints, it would be inventory management or the early lack of inventory space is a pain. However I could say the same for pretty much every game I mentioned above. You can fairly quickly start increasing those spaces by finding objects on the planets that will increase your suits inventory.

    A nit pick would be that planets usually don't bunch up together like they have here. There should be planets all around their star. I should have to fly past the star to get to planets that might be on the other side. Not the case here. They are all pretty much bunched up together. Physics wouldn't allow this, but hey. It's a game not a true simulator.

    That's really it. The fact that there is probably one one "hand drawn" object in the game, the main alien races mentioned earlier. Everything else is put together by the game, Ships, Multi-tool guns, plants, animals, planets, everything. So far, they all look fantastic.

    If you are into Minecraft, Creativerse, 7 Days to Die, you will be dropping those games in favor of No Man's Sky for quite some time. I absolutely recommend this one!    … Expand
  2. jesus045
    Oct 26, 2019
    10
    And I really liked the game even on the initial build, I do not care about multiplayer, it is a single-player adventure and endless game,And I really liked the game even on the initial build, I do not care about multiplayer, it is a single-player adventure and endless game, thanks to the developers.… Expand
  4. alan0n
    Aug 13, 2016
    8
    Running on a older i7 2600k, on xfired r9-290xs off a SSD and getting 50-60fps with a rare drop down to the 30s. Far cry from unplayable. AsRunning on a older i7 2600k, on xfired r9-290xs off a SSD and getting 50-60fps with a rare drop down to the 30s. Far cry from unplayable. As far as stability, after 6 straight hours I have had zero crashes. So from a technical standpoint this game doesn't strike me as bad.

    On to the game play the game plays exactly as it was billed. If you have been following the devs and not the hype train you are getting exactly what was promised. A sci-fi exploration game with some crafting. Much like Elite:Dangerous. If that game was not for you neither is this one.

    I dropped an 8, but that could easily go up if they increase the complexity of the crafting system. Currently it feels a bit on the shallow side, and the only upgrades are basically inventory upgrades that get chewed up by mods.

    Conclusion: If your looking for another DOOM your going to hate this game, if your looking for a sci-fi exploration game and don't mind some simple survival elements you will probably enjoy this.    … Expand
  5. Daeron1492
    Aug 12, 2016
    3
    The disappointment is the graphics i wished for an exploration game to have the WHOA exclamation for the graphics i was on ultra setting, noThe disappointment is the graphics i wished for an exploration game to have the WHOA exclamation for the graphics i was on ultra setting, no crisp and immersive graphics... well not the one i was expecting...i'm really disappointed... argh, waited too long for that game....… Expand
  6. Diksta
    Aug 12, 2016
    1
    It might be good, when it's finished. As it currently stands I would probably play this for an hour then uninstall if it was free to play.It might be good, when it's finished. As it currently stands I would probably play this for an hour then uninstall if it was free to play. Seeing as it costs £40 I am not impressed. One to watch, to see if they make a playable game out of this very basic starting point. My computer is a beast, and yet I can't even run this in my native resolution, and walking around/ flying is like swimming in tar.… Expand
  7. TwiTu
    Nov 30, 2021
    0
    I remember playing Privateer in the early 90s and being blown away by its size and diversity of planets and stations, etc. Back then I thoughtI remember playing Privateer in the early 90s and being blown away by its size and diversity of planets and stations, etc. Back then I thought that in a few decades games like that would be so massive that you cant even explore them anymore because you wouldnt be able to live long enough.
    No Mans Sky promised that. Instead of that we got... well we all know.
    I threw it away. But then after a few years suddenly reports of it having improved trickled in. That the devs are massively patching it and adding all that was promised.

    So I got it out again and after a few hours realized its still the same boring game that doesnt make sense in many ways, doesnt have a real story or a goal, still only has maybe 12 different planets that are spread across the galaxy in tiny variations, still feels dead and sterile, still has crappy space mechanics, still has intelligent life everywhere, yet you never see planets with cities or a civilization, AKA simply makes NO sense whatsoever.
    IDK why people say that and the ratings reflect that, because its still a very bad and uninteresting game. I dont know a single person who likes that game even in its current state, yet reviews are really good nowadays.
    Thats BS, and I think those reviews are bought.    … Expand
  8. Imnotaddicted
    Aug 13, 2016
    0
    It's not really a game, pretty much all you do is gather resources to upgrade your ship so you can go to other planets to gather resources.It's not really a game, pretty much all you do is gather resources to upgrade your ship so you can go to other planets to gather resources. Then at the end of the game, you get thrown onto a new planet to do the whole thing over again.

    It's just boring. 18 QUINTILLION planets and effectively nothing to do but grind and upgrade your ship. You can't even design your own ship. No quests, no adventures, drunk ships, no multiplayer, gimmick of naming plants and animals nobody will ever see or care about. Even FREE is too much for this glorified tech demo that isn't even good looking. Don't waste your time. If you like indie games, get mount & blade: warband instead.    … Expand

See all 803 User Reviews

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