Kinetic Void
- November 21, 2014
- Badland Studio
- 14h median play time
Get on Steam"Kinetic Void" is a sandbox-style space simulation game that allows players to build and customize their own spaceships while exploring the universe. The game features a dynamic economy, interactive ship components, and multiple factions to interact with. Players can engage in combat, trade, or diplomacy as they navigate the open world of "Kinetic Void".
Reviews
- The ship building mechanics are robust and allow for a high degree of customization.
- The game has a lot of potential and could be enjoyable for players who appreciate ship design.
- The graphics and sound design create an immersive atmosphere.
- The game feels unfinished and lacks meaningful content beyond ship building.
- There are numerous bugs and performance issues that hinder gameplay.
- The developers have abandoned the game, leaving it in a state of disrepair with no updates.
- story105 mentions
- 6 % positive mentions
- 79 % neutral mentions
- 15 % negative mentions
The game's story aspect is largely criticized for its lack of depth and direction, with many players noting that there is no coherent narrative or meaningful missions to engage with. While the shipbuilding mechanics are praised, the absence of a compelling storyline or structured gameplay leaves the universe feeling empty and uninviting. Overall, players express disappointment over the game's failure to deliver on promised content, resulting in a repetitive experience devoid of a significant story arc.
“I loved this game, and at times I would just spend hours designing the perfect ship of my dreams, giving each module a story and a purpose.”
“Though I haven't played it very much, the potential for expandability, custom missions, and the like is very impressive.”
“It was taught well as you were contributing to the story and felt a sense of accomplishment through it as you got your first weapons, and always wanted to know who would live or die and what would happen next.”
“There's no story arc, just supposedly randomly generated missions, (of which I never found).”
“There is no storyline, no introduction to any story or anything worth of a game.”
“Absolute freedom, but absolutely no story or direction.”
- gameplay103 mentions
- 17 % positive mentions
- 70 % neutral mentions
- 13 % negative mentions
The gameplay of Kinetic Void is widely criticized for being shallow, unpolished, and lacking meaningful content beyond its ship-building mechanics. Players report numerous bugs, a clunky interface, and a lack of engaging missions or story elements, leading to a tedious experience that feels more like a tech demo than a complete game. While the ship-building aspect shows potential, the overall gameplay is considered incomplete and unsatisfying, leaving many players disappointed.
“The shipyard, where you build your vessels, is almost at completion (I think they mentioned more parts were to be added), but mechanically it's there and it's very robust.”
“This game shows great potential; who knows, it could become something great. The building mechanics are brilliant and the detail is really nice.”
“If you like space games and building games, because the ship building mechanic is really fun by itself, it is probably something you are into.”
“The gameplay is largely shallow and unfinished.”
“Actual gameplay is barely implemented and what's there didn't seem to be any fun.”
“The game is void of content, void of gameplay, and void of meaningful updates.”
- graphics57 mentions
- 32 % positive mentions
- 54 % neutral mentions
- 14 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game have received overwhelmingly negative feedback, with many users describing them as primitive, sub-standard, and poorly executed. While some players noted occasional decent visuals, the overall consensus is that the graphics are buggy, lack detail, and fail to meet modern standards, leading to a frustrating experience. Many reviews highlight that the game's aesthetic appeal is overshadowed by technical issues and a lack of polish, making it difficult to enjoy the gameplay.
“The ship building process was fun, and the graphics for the universe around you truly made you gaze in awe at the world around you.”
“Graphics are good (better than in the video above), gameplay is great, customization is great as well!”
“Graphical aesthetics are great and match with the atmosphere.”
“The graphics are vaguely passable but primitive.”
“After redownloading on a brand new gaming PC, with graphics at ultra, it's an ugly, buggy, complicated mess of a game, with all the fun of a custom spaceship builder nowhere to be found.”
“I don't even know how you miss that, forgetting to finish the graphics engine shows itself with spontaneous blooms of light filling the screen, weird looking planets (their textures do not increase in detail with proximity, and they lack atmospheric effects for color emissions) and very poor performance.”
- stability27 mentions
- 11 % positive mentions
- -7 % neutral mentions
- 96 % negative mentions
The game's stability is widely criticized, with numerous users reporting significant bugs, glitches, and overall instability that hinder gameplay. Many players express frustration over the game's unfinished state and lack of development support, leading to a perception that it is abandoned. Despite these issues, some players still find enjoyment in the game, particularly for its potential and creative aspects, though they acknowledge the challenges posed by its current instability.
“The game has made significant improvements in ship construction, making it much more functional and less buggy than when I first started playing.”
“Great strides have been made in stability, making the gameplay experience much more enjoyable and approachable.”
“The enhancements in stability have really transformed the game, allowing for smoother gameplay and a more immersive experience.”
“This game is broken, buggy, and content incomplete.”
“The game is riddled with bugs and glitches.”
“Unfinished, buggy, and abandoned.”
- music18 mentions
- 56 % positive mentions
- 28 % neutral mentions
- 17 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players praising the soundtrack as catchy and epic, while others find it generic and repetitive due to a limited number of tracks. Although the music is often described as a redeeming quality, many users feel it becomes tiresome quickly and does not compensate for the game's other shortcomings. Overall, while the soundtrack has its moments, it lacks variety and depth, leading to a less favorable impression over time.
“The soundtracks are perfect for inducing that soothing yet unsettling feel of colossal space.”
“In sum, based on a couple of hours of gameplay; a fantastic ship builder and gorgeous soundtrack make me think this may join my list of all-time favorite games.”
“At times it was like a living, ethereal journey through space with nice music (and if you shut off the HUD it was like a living screensaver).”
“The music is generic and shitty, the devs are actually mentally handicapped, and the community stopped producing content 2 years ago.”
“Music gets old really fast.”
“The soundtrack is so annoying, the devs abandoned the game; it feels like a scam!”
- optimization16 mentions
- 19 % positive mentions
- 63 % neutral mentions
- 19 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's optimization is widely criticized, with users reporting significant performance issues, bugs, and a lack of polish. Many feel that the game is still in an alpha state, suffering from awkward controls and unoptimized graphics that detract from the experience. While some aspects, like the shipbuilding mechanics, show potential, the overall execution leaves much to be desired, leading to frustration among players.
“For clarification, alpha as in the pre-beta stage, beta meaning the game is feature complete and only requires bug fixing, optimization, and testing.”
“To complicate matters, the ship construction designs are done impressively free, able to freely rotate and adjust segments in any combination you desire without distance restrictions or locking points - but it comes back to bite the design mechanic in how overuse of too many blocks can kill the gameplay performance.”
“Both content and performance-wise, the game is improving, but I personally will require more real gameplay to be added before I am prepared to recommend this game.”
“It's just sad to see someone give up for no reason, without saying anything and leaving an unfinished, unoptimized, confusing pile of... yeah.”
“Awkward controls, poor performance, lack of polish, lack of features (still only two ship templates, otherwise I'm on my own?) have convinced me to not try to explore this title any further.”
“I don't even know how you miss that, forgetting to finish the graphics engine shows itself with spontaneous blooms of light filling the screen, weird looking planets (their textures do not increase in detail with proximity, and they lack atmospheric effects for color emissions) and very poor performance (runs fine at full settings on my computer, but considering how dull the graphics are at max settings, that's no excuse for it to be generating a lot of heat or be unplayable with my old graphics card).”
- monetization9 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The monetization aspect of the game is heavily criticized, with users labeling it a "cash grab" due to a lack of updates and unfulfilled promises regarding features. Many feel deceived by misleading advertisements and express frustration over the game's abandonment, suggesting that it is not worth the investment.
“Was fun way back in the day when it received the odd update or two, now, it hasn't had an update in 3 years and is all but abandoned. Don't waste your money; this game is literally a cash grab that I wish Steam would let us who did buy it, at least get some sort of refund.”
“Project abandoned, total cash grab, super jerk move.”
“The developer literally lies to your face about features (at least when I bought it) by advertising that they're in the game already, when it turns out that these important and advertised features are yet to be added.”
- atmosphere6 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 17 % neutral mentions
- 33 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is described as inconsistent, with some players noting a lack of content and immersion due to technical issues like poor performance and unrefined graphics. While some aspects, such as the vibrant sci-fi aesthetic and the ability to explore planetary atmospheres, are praised, the overall experience is marred by simplified flight mechanics and graphical shortcomings that detract from the intended scale and depth of the universe.
“Graphical aesthetics are great and match with the atmosphere.”
“Planets, and that vibrant, atmospheric sci-fi feel.”
“The problems started when I left the station; not only did my FPS drop to around 4, but there is a complete lack of content and atmosphere.”
“Planets lack a vibrant, atmospheric sci-fi feel.”
- grinding4 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and monotonous, particularly in the basic career mode where progression feels slow and repetitive. While the sandbox mode offers a more enjoyable experience by allowing players to bypass grinding and focus on creative ship-building, the overall gameplay can still feel laborious, especially when adding modules that often lack functionality.
“In the basic career mode, you start with a small ship and grind up, but you can just kick off in sandbox to build whatever and fly faster without the tedious grinding spree to build up to the big ship.”
“The only clear selling point to this game is the creative ship-building one can do, but outside that realm, the gameplay gets tedious and monotonous.”
“While there are plenty of parts and they look lovely, adding modules is very tedious, and most of them don't even do anything yet.”
- humor3 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is perceived as inconsistent, with some players finding it amusing during specific gameplay elements, like flying, while others feel the overall presentation is so poorly executed that it detracts from the experience.
“Interesting in the building part, funny to fly.”
