Empyrion: Galactic Survival

About

Empyrion: Galactic Survival is a space survival adventure game that lets players build and pilot their own space ships and stations. Explore, mine, and fight across procedurally generated planets and alien structures in a vast, open universe. Experience a mix of sandbox construction, survival, and combat gameplay, with a heavy emphasis on player freedom and creativity.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

79%

Audience ScoreBased on 20,303 reviews

gameplay601 positive mentions

stability1k negative mentions

The game offers a vast universe to explore with a high degree of creative freedom, blending space exploration, base building, and survival mechanics.
Players appreciate the immersive atmosphere, diverse planetary environments, and the thrill of exploration, which enhances the overall experience.
The game has exceptional replayability due to procedural generation, diverse gameplay options, and extensive mod support, keeping the experience fresh and engaging.

The story aspect of the game is underdeveloped and often buggy, with simplistic and repetitive quests that frustrate players.
The game suffers from significant performance issues, including bugs, glitches, and crashes, which detract from the overall experience.
Many players criticize the monetization practices, labeling it a 'cash grab' and expressing frustration over the game's unfinished state and reliance on microtransactions.

gameplay
2,450 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
66%
9%
The gameplay of Empyrion: Galactic Survival is characterized by a blend of space exploration, base building, and survival mechanics, offering players a vast universe to explore and a high degree of creative freedom. While many players appreciate the depth and variety of gameplay options, including crafting and combat, there are significant criticisms regarding the game's clunky mechanics, steep learning curve, and numerous bugs that can detract from the overall experience. Despite these issues, the game has a dedicated community and ongoing updates that aim to improve gameplay and address player feedback.
- “Flying from a planet into space without loading screens is really cool, and the survival mechanics keep things interesting.”
- “Overall, Empyrion may turn some off with its unrefined graphics and on-ground combat, but if you can get past that you will be rewarded with incredible gameplay depth and creative freedom to make it one of the most addictive survival crafters.”
- “Empyrion provides a complete gameplay experience that keeps you engaged all the way through.”
- “This isn't merely about low player numbers—it's a chaotic and unreliable online environment that ruins the gameplay.”
- “The beginning was exciting, but once the reality hits you of how you don't get any returns for progressing, and your progression doesn't unlock real capabilities, builds for ships aren't really diverse, and bases and planets are 100% useless, and the rest of the gameplay will be waiting for your ship to move, waiting to scan and waiting for a super slow action to finish, it's boring.”
- “The gameplay itself feels like some open alpha title.”
story
2,173 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
12%
80%
8%
The story aspect of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players noting that it feels underdeveloped and often buggy. While there are missions and a basic storyline that introduces players to the game world, the quests are frequently criticized for being simplistic, repetitive, and prone to glitches, leading to frustration. Some players appreciate the potential for exploration and creativity within the sandbox environment, but many express a desire for a more cohesive and engaging narrative experience. Overall, the game shows promise, but significant improvements in storytelling and quest functionality are needed to enhance player engagement.
- “The story lines are deep and awesome!”
- “The game has a learning curve to it but there is so much to do and if you love survival games but play alone well then this is the best game you could get as it has npcs, a full story and some really fun scenarios you can check out.”
- “The addition of a storyline is a real bonus for me, come for the hoth world survival, stay for the story.”
- “The story is still not well developed.”
- “The story is fair but neglected.”
- “And it just ends, leaving you on the biggest cliffhanger after setting up the plot of the game which you will never finish because it doesn't exist.”
graphics
2,017 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
58%
15%
The graphics of Empyrion: Galactic Survival have received mixed reviews, with many players noting that they feel outdated and do not meet modern standards, often comparing them to games from the early 2000s. While some appreciate the game's aesthetic charm and the depth of gameplay it offers, others criticize the poor optimization and significant performance issues, especially on lower-end systems. Despite these graphical shortcomings, many players find the gameplay engaging and rewarding, suggesting that the graphics, while lacking, do not detract significantly from the overall experience.
- “In terms of quality, the game runs smoothly with impressive graphics that enhance immersion.”
- “The graphics are stunning, the world(s) are enormous, and everything else is simply excellent.”
- “The graphics are great, the gameplay is fantastic, and the developers have put an absolutely overwhelming amount of work into the game.”
- “The graphics do not meet the modern standard; they are just okay.”
- “Whatever graphics settings you set, it will kill your FPS, eat your watts, overheat your GPU, and it will look the same, like crap.”
- “The graphics look and feel pretty bad and clunky; the POIs make the '7 Days to Die' POIs look like artistic masterpieces.”
stability
1,041 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
3%
97%
The game's stability is a significant concern among players, with numerous reports of bugs, glitches, and crashes that detract from the overall experience. Many users describe the game as a "buggy mess," highlighting issues such as unpredictable login failures, disappearing ships, and unresponsive AI. While some players find enjoyment in the gameplay despite these problems, the consensus is that the game requires substantial optimization and bug fixes to reach its full potential.
- “As of right now, it runs great on my Linux system.”
- “It even runs great (easily maintains >60fps) at 1080p, with everything maxed, on my backup/lan-server machine with only a 4th-gen i5, a GTX 770, and a 2nd-gen SATA SSD.”
- “For the price, I couldn't believe I spent over 300 hours in a month after buying the game... runs great, updates often, and has tons of room for potential!”
- “More critically, the system is a complete mess: one day you might log in smoothly, and the next, you could face unpredictable login failures, spawning glitches, or even lose access entirely.”
- “The vanilla game is buggy, mainly because the developer is a small and somewhat insular operation without the budget to fix everything.”
- “This game is a buggy nightmare.”
optimization
722 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17%
58%
25%
The optimization of Empyrion: Galactic Survival has been a persistent issue, with many players reporting significant performance problems, including stuttering and low frame rates even on high-end systems. Despite some improvements over time, the game remains poorly optimized, leading to frustration among users who expect better performance given its age and the resources it demands. Overall, while there are moments of good performance, the consensus is that substantial optimization work is still needed to enhance the gaming experience.
- “In terms of quality, the game runs smoothly with impressive graphics that enhance immersion.”
- “The game is regularly updated, improving both its visuals and performance.”
- “The developers actually went ahead and heavily optimized the game and that's a great thing!”
- “Even more frustrating is that, despite consuming a lot of your PC’s resources, the game's performance and visual quality are disappointing.”
- “Empyrion (2015) has bad performance since forever, is unpolished, and is highly unoptimized, inconsistent, clunky, and janky.”
- “The performance stutters even with high-end hardware.”
grinding
625 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
1%
3%
96%
The grinding aspect of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players noting that resource gathering, crafting, and building can be tedious and time-consuming. While some appreciate the depth and complexity it adds to gameplay, others find it overwhelming and frustrating, especially in solo play. Overall, the game is described as having a significant grind, particularly in the early stages, but it can become more manageable and rewarding as players progress and utilize better tools and systems.
- “The gameplay itself is fun at first, it's not too grindy; you can build lots of cool designs and fly them. Planets are a flat surface with a teleport at each side, which teleports you to the other side of the map if you cross it, giving the illusion of being on an actual planet.”
- “I enjoy that it's not too grindy, yet grindy at the same time.”
- “It's fun, it's not too grindy.”
- “I commend the dev's efforts; they obviously have a vision, it's just not something I can get on board with because of the jankiness and the requirement for grinding.”
- “The constant bugs and glitches are also very annoying, as is grinding for certain resources; because of course, this game needs to have a grind to it.”
- “The game is a tedious grind for extremely little reward.”
atmosphere
334 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
28%
69%
3%
The atmosphere in the game is widely praised for its immersive qualities, featuring diverse planetary environments, dynamic weather effects, and a sense of adventure that enhances exploration. Players enjoy the thrill of breaking through a planet's atmosphere into space, although some report technical issues like lag during transitions and limitations on ship weaponry in atmospheric conditions. Overall, the game's atmosphere is described as engaging and visually appealing, contributing significantly to the overall experience despite some mechanical shortcomings.
- “The immersive atmosphere draws players into a world filled with endless possibilities, where they can explore unknown territories, mine resources, and encounter unique challenges.”
- “The atmosphere of this game is really unique and outstanding.”
- “The visuals and atmosphere of this game are top tier, especially when it comes to lighting and celestial body effects.”
- “The transition from orbit to the atmosphere is just jarring and the ground seen from orbit does not match the ground when you enter the atmosphere.”
- “Random crashes, freezes, and issues when entering or exiting a planet's atmosphere can be frustrating.”
- “The atmosphere of the community itself is toxic to say the least.”
music
129 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
35%
55%
10%
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players praising its quality and atmospheric qualities, while others find it repetitive and lacking variety. Many appreciate the soundtrack's ability to enhance the gaming experience, particularly during exploration, but express frustration over the limited audio options and the overwhelming sound effects that can detract from immersion. Overall, while the music is often described as enjoyable, it is also noted that improvements are needed in sound design and the inclusion of more diverse tracks.
- “The music is fine and doesn't get in the way, and standing on a moon while you see a gas giant rise over the horizon is beautiful.”
- “To my absolute surprise, the music is actually damn good.”
- “The combination between the music (which is quite good) and the lighting just makes surface exploration feel oddly satisfying.”
- “The most intense, overblown soundtrack ever created meanwhile, nothing is happening.”
- “Music is annoying and repetitive.”
- “The soundtrack is bland and the sound effects feel very 1999.”
humor
125 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
95%
5%
The humor in the game is often derived from its numerous bugs and janky mechanics, leading to moments that players find amusing despite the game's unfinished state. While some dialogues and quests include clever puns, many players feel that the humor doesn't always land effectively, with the overall experience being a mix of funny and frustrating. The chaotic nature of gameplay, especially when shared with friends, adds to the comedic value, making it a source of laughter even amidst its flaws.
- “It was always hilarious watching these crazy crafts try and survive their first flights.”
- “The dialogues and quests are a bit lackluster but have some funny puns.”
- “I have had a lot of fun playing this game figuring things out, making my first ship from scratch and finding that it only flew upside down; then flipping around constantly was a disaster and funny as hell. I could not stop laughing at my newbish design flaws.”
- “The humor is clearly Russian and not funny, like: 'Oh no, there's a big rock in my cereal.' The tutorial is suffering from severe misspellings and grammatical errors.”
- “Game evolved into an unfunny, unstable mess over the last game versions.”
- “It's not funny; just jumping and looking without finding anything. The game was once good before they made the galaxy infinitely large. The fun of the game is completely gone, and you never see another player again.”
replayability
110 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
36%
61%
3%
The game is widely praised for its exceptional replayability, with many players noting its near-infinite potential due to procedural generation, diverse gameplay options, and extensive mod support. Users appreciate the freedom to build, explore, and engage in various play styles, which keeps the experience fresh and engaging over time. While some mention that replayability may diminish without new content, the overall consensus is that the game offers significant value for those who enjoy sandbox survival and exploration genres.
- “Almost limitless replayability with choices about everything along the way.”
- “This is definitely an experience with nearly infinite replayability to the point that restarting is a good thing when you choose to do so, and you can save what you build to easily build it later.”
- “The multiple possible paths to take, endless options, and replayability of Empyrion is well worth taking a look at.”
- “The replayability is getting thin for me and my friends.”
- “I don't think that this is, right now, a game with a lot of replay value but maybe they'll be adding more content to change that.”
- “Their latest experiments are even to replace random terrain generation with static maps for most planets, reducing the appeal of exploration and replayability.”
monetization
84 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
4%
23%
73%
The monetization aspect of the game has drawn significant criticism, with many users labeling it a "cash grab" due to its reliance on early access, poorly executed DLCs, and aggressive microtransaction strategies. Players express frustration over the game's unfinished state and the developers' focus on profit rather than quality, leading to a perception of exploitation within the gaming community. Overall, the sentiment is overwhelmingly negative, with calls to avoid the game unless significant changes are made to its monetization practices.
- “Bottom line, I rate this 10/10 due to its current state being fully playable & give the dev props for doing what the devs of Star Citizen promised without massive monetization schemes.”
- “You don't have to play on any server that charges microtransactions.”
- “Deserves donations/microtransactions [cosmetics].”
- “It's nothing but a rushed cash grab release; I'd say it looks hideously amateurish, but the amateur-led fan-based mods are actually quite good - wildly better than this release.”
- “Funcom is taking the same route as any other developer that has tried to introduce shady monetization options, and that route is down.”
- “Considering the blatant disregard for fixing many old bugs that have plagued this game for so long, poor design choices, both of which have no fix in the foreseeable future, and a shameless cash grab in the form of DLC, I can no longer recommend this 16 GB game.”
emotional
44 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
98%
2%
Players express a wide range of emotional experiences while engaging with the game, from profound moments of joy and accomplishment to feelings of heartbreak and frustration. Many highlight the emotional weight of building and losing creations, the thrill of exploration, and the impact of narrative elements, despite acknowledging the game's technical flaws. Overall, the emotional journey is a significant aspect of the gameplay, with players forming deep attachments to their in-game experiences and creations.
- “It made me cry.”
- “Never before in my whole life did I cry after finishing a game tutorial... it was very emotional... I really did laugh/cry at the end of it.”
- “Leaving the planet and entering space for the first time is an emotional experience.”
- “These new starter worlds have no real threats to keep players engaged, and a boring storyline that neither teaches nor engages players.”
character development
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
46%
27%
Overall, reviews indicate that character development in the game is lacking, with many players expressing a desire for more depth, individuality, and engaging progression systems. Critiques highlight poor character design and AI, as well as a need for enhanced itemization and crafting options. While the game is enjoyable, the consensus is that improvements in character development could elevate it to a top-tier experience.
- “This game is so good I would happily pay more for DLC, especially for character development and more hostile aliens.”
- “Great game, very fun; it's like Space Engineers but with more RPG content and player character development.”
- “The plot and character development system also really needs expansion in depth and purpose.”
- “There isn't near enough character development or itemization in the game.”
- “Character design is pathetic, needs to be better.”
- “The plot/character development system also really needs expansion in depth and purpose.”

Buy Empyrion: Galactic Survival

Empyrion - Galactic Survival
$7.99
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144h Median play time

531h Average play time

30-650h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 324 analyzed playthroughs

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