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  • September 24, 2008

Naev

80%Game Brain Score
story, gameplay
grinding, stability
80% User Score Based on 288 reviews

Platforms

PCWindowsWindowsLinuxLinuxMac OSMac OS

About

Naev is a game about space exploration, trade and combat. Players travel the galaxy and earn money by trading, fighting and performing missions.

Naev screenshot
Naev screenshot
Naev screenshot
Naev screenshot
Naev screenshot
Naev screenshot
Naev screenshot
Naev screenshot
Naev screenshot
Naev screenshot
Naev screenshot
+6

80%
Audience ScoreBased on 288 reviews
story24 positive mentions
grinding12 negative mentions

  • A fun sci-fi game with plenty of potential, reminiscent of classic titles like Escape Velocity.
  • The game is free and offers a lot of content, including exploration, trading, and combat mechanics.
  • The developers are active and responsive to community feedback, continuously improving the game.
  • The game can be overly difficult, especially with frequent pirate encounters that can disrupt gameplay.
  • Many elements feel unbalanced and frustrating, particularly regarding ship upgrades and combat mechanics.
  • The user interface and controls can be clunky and unintuitive, making navigation and gameplay challenging.
  • story
    150 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's story is described as engaging yet incomplete, with players enjoying the exploration and various faction arcs, which offer around 20-40 hours of content. While the narrative includes humor and interesting backstories, many missions lack resolution and can be frustrating due to difficulty spikes and bugs. Overall, players appreciate the potential of the story but note that it requires further development and polish to fully realize its promise.

    • “I'm just here to vibe and enjoy the story.”
    • “The story, while not yet complete, is fun with a few laughs along the way. There's so much to do, plenty to explore - or even attempt to cross the Sol Nebula.”
    • “There are a couple of story threads to play through, and a large universe to explore with lots of interesting factions and backstory.”
    • “It's very buggy and full of typos; also, the combat sucks and there's no story.”
    • “The storyline is incomplete. What has been done is great, but it's less than 20% of the whole planned storyline.”
    • “Second major problem is that many mission chains kind of just end without resolution, investigating the Sol Nebula for example.”
  • gameplay
    38 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Gameplay in this game is a mixed bag, with some players finding it fun and addictive due to its engaging world and mechanics, while others criticize certain features as frustrating and detrimental to the overall experience. The ship customization and combat mechanics are generally well-received, though some aspects can feel overly complex or lead to a grinding halt in gameplay. Overall, while there are enjoyable elements and a variety of missions, technical issues and design choices may hinder the experience for some players.

    • “A fun simple game that I've found rather addicting. I love the world and lore, the soundtrack is really cool and suits the game, and gameplay itself is additionally quite fun, at least for me.”
    • “Overall, I really like the gameplay. There's an interesting twist on cargo missions, and asteroid mining is always fun, especially if it's a mini-game like in Galaxy on Fire 2. I haven't finished any campaign really except for one mission for the trade network for the empire, but it was a lot of just blasting pirates, and it was fun. Being stuck at home, this was a great way to spend time.”
    • “The mechanics such as combat are nice and well refined, and you soon learn not to bite off more than you can chew.”
    • “Lucky if you can string together 2-3 minutes of gameplay before it crashes at any time.”
    • “Gameplay is pretty simple.”
    • “Gameplay can take a fair bit of learning, but it doesn't hurt to give it a go.”
  • graphics
    32 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The graphics in the game are generally considered passable, with some users noting that while the art style is cute and the planet and star models are well-designed, the ship models fall short compared to other titles like EV Nova. Many reviewers feel that the visuals, while adequate for an indie and open-source game, could be significantly improved, especially in terms of readability and overall aesthetic appeal. Despite these shortcomings, some players still found enjoyment in the game, emphasizing that engaging gameplay is equally important as visuals.

    • “The art style is cute and it does show that it is an indie game, but regardless I really had a ton of fun.”
    • “The physics and controls are nice for a top-down simulator-like space game and the graphics, sounds, and music are pretty good for an open-source game.”
    • “The graphics are appealing.”
    • “I think the graphics could be a lot better, but like The Ur-Quan Masters, being a FOSS product excuses a lot of shortcomings that gamers shouldn't have to put up with from for-profit products.”
    • “It is both aesthetically kind of ugly, and it can be hard to read with a lot of small text.”
    • “While at the station outfitter in a macro view (all available), it’s poorly designed and cumbersome; the text is cut off and unreadable (poor wrapping), or similar outfits have the same exact graphic sprites requiring the player to cycle through the descriptions to figure out what is what.”
  • music
    18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music in the game has received high praise for its quality and suitability, with many players considering it one of the best soundtracks they've encountered, especially given that it features tracks donated by volunteers and composed by developers. However, some users noted that the soundtrack can become repetitive over time, and while it may not appeal to everyone, its presence adds to the overall experience. Overall, the soundtrack enhances the game's atmosphere and contributes to memorable gameplay moments.

    • “The soundtrack is one of the best game soundtracks I've ever heard (which is really impressive, given that all of the tracks were donated to the game by volunteers or composed by the developers).”
    • “There aren't many games I have (relatively) long term memories of, but cruising Sirius space in my phalanx, listening to the great soundtrack and trying to avoid being blown up by the FLF will for whatever reason always be in my mind, as will the moment I flew my first peacemaker filled with turbolasers.”
    • “A fun simple game that I've found rather addicting, I love the world and lore, the soundtrack is really cool and really suits the game, and gameplay itself is additionally quite fun, at least for me.”
    • “The soundtrack isn't my thing (I prefer listening to ambient djent music while I play), but it's cool that it has one.”
    • “The soundtrack gets repetitive over time, but a few pieces I liked.”
    • “The soundtrack isn't my thing (I prefer listening to ambient djent music while I play), but it's cool that it has one.”
  • grinding
    14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be a mixed experience; while some appreciate the necessity of grinding for progression, others find it tedious, especially when faced with repetitive challenges like being killed by pirates. The early game can feel particularly grindy, but many agree that the grinding is generally fair and tolerable, albeit sometimes hindered by mechanics that slow down gameplay. Overall, enjoyment of the game may depend on one's tolerance for grinding.

    • “It's just so tedious when you get killed for the 100th time by pirates you can't outrun or outgun.”
    • “Everything that's in this game will need to be achieved through grinding.”
    • “What I don’t understand is why some of these mechanics all seemingly drag the gameplay to a grinding halt.”
  • stability
    6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game is reported to be quite buggy, with numerous typos and issues affecting gameplay, particularly for laptop users who struggle with control settings like sticky keys. While it runs well on normal PCs, the overall stability is compromised by these bugs and control complexities.

    • “It's very buggy and full of typos. Also, the combat sucks and there's no story.”
    • “It's a bit buggy.”
  • replayability
    4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game offers significant replayability due to its abundant content and thoughtful design, featuring multiple choices that lead to different endings. Players appreciate the variety of options available, encouraging them to revisit the game for new experiences.

    • “So much content and replayability!”
    • “It is a thoughtful game with options that lead to different game endings, making for great replay value.”
  • monetization
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The monetization strategy of the game has drawn comparisons to the Galaxy on Fire series, particularly highlighting concerns about excessive microtransactions, especially in the third installment, which was criticized for its approach. Overall, players seem wary of potential monetization pitfalls affecting gameplay experience.

    • “Reminds me of the Galaxy on Fire series (1, 2; 3 was a disappointing game with microtransactions) for mobile.”
  • optimization
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game offers extensive optimization options, featuring over 1,000 planets or stations, 70 spaceships, 100 weapons, and 120 modifications and gadgets, allowing players to customize their gameplay and enhance battle performance significantly.

    • “There are more than 1000 planets or stations, 70 spaceships, 100 weapons, and 120 other modifications and gadgets that can be used to customize play style and tweak battle performance.”
  • atmosphere
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's atmosphere is characterized by a sense of emptiness that enhances its overall mood, though this can occasionally lead to feelings of desolation and lack of engagement.

    • “While the game being somewhat empty-feeling does add atmosphere, sometimes it makes the game feel a little, well, empty.”

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