No Man's Sky

No Man’s Sky has sci-fi spectacle of strange new worlds on its side, but not much else. Its gameplay is underdeveloped and repetitive, and in my dozens of hours played it’s introduced very few new ideas to mix up its crafting, upgrades, combat, or universe. The promise of limitless exploration ended up working against it when I lost faith that it had any more meaningful things to show me no matter how far I traveled. This ambitious game reached for the stars, but its reach exceeded its grasp by light years.

No Man's Sky is a massive machine with broken and missing parts, but dig deep enough and you'll be moved in ways you never expected.

Hello Games' lush galactic odyssey is a unique work of engineering art - and an engrossing, if flawed, game.

Relaxing exploration and some lovely scenery coupled with repetitive systems, frustrating menus, and a lack of real discovery.

No Man's Sky is an impressive set of tools grafted onto a game with very little going on.

An inviting universe to explore and exploit, but not much story or gameplay backs up the unparalleled scope of the world

Hello Games has created a gorgeously realised, constantly regenerating universe for players to get lost in, where the incredible journey trumps the destination

Perhaps “No Man’s Sky” will, over time, evolve into something more interesting if players are given the tools to terraform planets and to make them more fulfilling sites for exploration. For now, this is a game whose concept is more interesting than its execution.

With Atlas Rises, it's worth returning to No Man's Sky

No Man's Sky isn't quite what I thought it would be. It's a fun sandbox game that's full of wonder, until it isn't. Unlike other similar titles, the magic fades over time, because 18 billion planets (sorry, 18 quintillion) don't matter if it feels like there's only truly 20 unique ones. I wouldn't recommend No Man's Sky if you don't like getting lost -- but for those of you who do, wander away.