Really Big Sky
- February 23, 2012
- Boss Baddie
- 6h median play time
Get on Steam"Really Big Sky" is a fast-paced, twin-stick shooter set in space, where you must defend your planet from waves of alien invaders. With 12 game modes, 17 enemy types, and dynamic bosses, the game offers adaptive and addictive gameplay. Its procedural generation system based on your playstyle ensures a unique experience every time. The game also features power-ups, perks, and a friendly mothership to assist you, along with a comprehensive statistics system to track your progress.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- Visually stunning with vibrant colors and a captivating soundtrack.
- Offers a variety of game modes and upgrades, providing good replayability.
- Fast-paced and chaotic gameplay that keeps players engaged.
- Overly flashy effects can make it difficult to see what's happening on screen.
- Lacks a proper tutorial, leading to confusion about mechanics and objectives.
- Performance issues and limited resolution options detract from the overall experience.
- music168 mentions
- 71 % positive mentions
- 27 % neutral mentions
- 2 % negative mentions
The music in the game is widely praised for its energetic and captivating quality, enhancing the overall gameplay experience. Reviewers highlight the soundtrack as a key reason for their enjoyment, describing it as fitting perfectly with the game's chaotic visuals and fast-paced action. While some mention that the music can become repetitive, the majority agree that it significantly elevates the game's appeal, making it a standout feature.
“Old as time itself, this game immediately captivates with its stunning musical atmosphere and visual splendor.”
“The aesthetics though... God, I can't get enough of the soundtrack.”
“The music really fits with the game, so you are going to love it more.”
“The music is all technoish and the flashing lights are reminiscent of a rave, but it still seems very muted somehow.”
“The soundtrack gets repetitive but you could always mute it and play your own music.”
“Best thing would be to see if you can find the soundtrack separately and not bother with the game at all.”
- graphics133 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 42 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The graphics of "Really Big Sky" are characterized by vibrant, flashy visuals and a neon art style that many players find appealing, contributing to an engaging audiovisual experience. However, the overwhelming amount of particle effects and chaotic design can obscure gameplay, making it difficult for players to track important elements, which detracts from the overall experience. While some appreciate the aesthetic and detail, others criticize the lack of clarity and the need for a graphical overhaul to improve visibility.
“The art style is pretty nice; full of vibrant colors and some really good effects.”
“Amazing graphics and really gives you a retro feel!”
“Fantastically trippy graphics and a thumping soundtrack make for a relaxing, easy-to-consume side-scrolling shooter.”
“Visuals need a major overhaul.”
“The graphics are extremely buggy, and you cannot play the game in fullscreen at 1080p.”
“Gameplay suffers from an interface and graphics soaked in overexcess, throwing visual clarity out the window in favor of edginess.”
- gameplay115 mentions
- 30 % positive mentions
- 61 % neutral mentions
- 10 % negative mentions
The gameplay of the game is characterized by its fast-paced, twin-stick shooter mechanics, offering a mix of addictive fun and chaotic visuals that can sometimes overwhelm players. While the procedurally generated levels and unique drilling mechanic add variety and replayability, many users find the lack of clear explanations for certain mechanics and the cluttered interface detract from the overall experience. Despite these issues, the engaging soundtrack and simple controls contribute to a generally enjoyable gameplay experience, though it may frustrate some players with its trial-and-error nature and technical flaws.
“With its procedurally generated levels and dynamic gameplay, it provides endless replayability and excitement.”
“Great music, great gameplay, can't stop playing it.”
“The gameplay is a lot of fun and keeps you guessing what is going to happen next.”
“Gameplay suffers from an interface and graphics soaked in overexcess, throwing visual clarity out the window in favor of edginess.”
“Really big sky's gameplay is completely incoherent and this is not helped by the scorchingly bright and blurry visuals.”
“Gameplay is random, trial and error (mostly error) and more frustrating than fun.”
- humor23 mentions
- 96 % positive mentions
- -9 % neutral mentions
- 13 % negative mentions
The humor in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players enjoying the random and quirky elements, particularly praising the British narrator's comedic style and the hidden easter eggs. However, others find the humor invasive or self-aware to the point of being unfunny, suggesting that it detracts from the gameplay experience. Overall, while many appreciate the comedic aspects, opinions vary significantly on their effectiveness.
“The announcer in this game has an awesome sense of humor.”
“Its random, hard, funny and I feel it's worth getting if on sale. This is one of those games where you might be confused at first, but once you get into it, the game is hard to pull away from... plus there is a British guy who rambles hilarious stuff while you play, which makes the game even better if you ask me.”
“Not to mention the humor within the game really livens the mood and just adds to that already really rewarding and fun playing experience.”
“It isn't worth it, guys. Even playing with friends, it's not funny.”
“The jokes fall flat and feel forced throughout the game.”
“I expected a lot more laughs, but the humor just misses the mark.”
- optimization17 mentions
- 18 % positive mentions
- 59 % neutral mentions
- 24 % negative mentions
The game's optimization has received significant criticism, with many players reporting performance issues, particularly during intense action sequences and when particle effects are abundant. Despite some positive remarks about in-game performance, users consistently note that the game struggles on higher settings and resolutions, often resulting in frustrating frame rate drops. Overall, it appears that the game is not well-optimized for PC, leading to a subpar experience even on capable machines.
“The game also had pretty good performance in-game.”
“The game looks really good, although most of the time your screen will be covered in shiny bright particles and lasers, and this does bring some performance issues.”
“Performance can dive into the 10's and 20's when lots of action is on-screen; higher resolutions are limited to 1280x720 and 1920x1080, and you may have to tweak some Windows settings for your controller to be properly detected.”
“If there's one thing I have to criticize the game for, it'd be its optimization.”
“The only lack is the amount of bosses and how at some parts the game drops a ton of fps due to bad optimization.”
“I did have many performance problems with this game (slowdown), including on lower settings (resolution and quality).”
- replayability14 mentions
- 64 % positive mentions
- 14 % neutral mentions
- 21 % negative mentions
The game boasts exceptional replayability due to its procedurally generated levels, diverse game modes, and dynamic gameplay mechanics, ensuring players can enjoy countless hours of fun. Users appreciate the solid controls, engaging soundtrack, and variety of enemies and challenges, making it easy to jump back in for quick sessions or extended play. Overall, the combination of randomization and multiple playstyles contributes to a highly replayable experience.
“With its procedurally generated levels and dynamic gameplay, it provides endless replayability and excitement.”
“It's simple - not rage-inducing - random level generation and different game modes keep replay value for hours of fun.”
“Upsides include everything else, including the soundtrack, the oh-so-British silly voice acting, the infinitely replayable gameplay, the ease at which you can just load this up for a quick blast when you're short on time, the simple controls, the wonderful array of enemies and bosses to fight and learn how to beat, the drill/vortex mechanic, and the range of different play modes to increase (or decrease in one case) your challenge.”
“Massive replayability, delicious art design, fast-paced frenetic twin-stick gameplay, glorious techno soundtrack and an enlightening cheeky narrator fight with the game's massive flaws (is it so hard to ask for fullscreen 1080p and XInput support that doesn't go off to the top?) and the lack of a pause button.”
“I was instantly sold when I found out that the proper strategy when flying straight at a planet is to equip your drill and blaze right through it, because 'going around is for chumps!' Lots of game modes, a nice progression mechanic and a 'library' of info on the game to unlock mean plenty of replay value.”
“I can think of at least one space shooter I've been putting my time into that could honestly learn from this game on how to properly do a space shooter that feels replayable.”
- stability12 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game suffers from significant stability issues, with numerous reports of bugs affecting graphics, resolution, and gameplay functionality. Players have experienced freezing during menu navigation and problems with specific achievements, making the overall experience frustrating despite some enjoyable elements. Overall, the game's stability is a major drawback, detracting from its potential enjoyment.
“The graphics are extremely buggy, and you cannot play the game in fullscreen at 1080p.”
“Horrible game, extremely buggy.”
“What a horrible and buggy affair this game is.”
- story10 mentions
- 10 % positive mentions
- 60 % neutral mentions
- 30 % negative mentions
The game lacks a traditional story mode or clear narrative, focusing instead on gameplay mechanics and personal score improvement. While some players speculate about a potential backstory, the consensus is that there is no significant storyline or sense of progression, making the experience primarily about action rather than storytelling.
“I am not sure if there is any backstory, but to be honest, I'm not sure it needs one.”
“It doesn't really have a story mode; you don't get to 'win' the game; it's all about surpassing your best score.”
“There is no story or real sense of progression.”
“I honestly have no idea what the storyline is in this game, but you just kill everything in your path.”
- atmosphere8 mentions
- 38 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 38 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its stunning visuals and captivating musical elements, creating a rich and immersive experience. However, some players find the atmosphere can be distracting, making it difficult to navigate at times. Overall, the atmosphere is described as trippy and engaging, though it may be better suited for controller use rather than keyboard play.
“Old as time itself, this game immediately captivates with its stunning musical atmosphere and visual splendor.”
“Love the giant atmosphere feel this game gives!”
“Atmosphere is a bit distracting and becomes really hard to see, which is a bit frustrating.”
“I'm sure if you have a controller it could be much more fun, but for the PC gaming that promotes more of a keyboard atmosphere type of play, I can't recommend anyone to play it!”
“The atmosphere of the game is incredibly trippy.”
- grinding7 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Reviews on grinding in the game are mixed; while some players find it easy and rewarding due to quick credit accumulation and enjoyable mechanics, others describe it as tedious and repetitive, leading to a loss of momentum after initial excitement. Overall, the grinding experience can be fun for a limited time but may become monotonous as gameplay progresses.
“Overall, I found the game incredibly tedious and unrewarding.”
“After that, with scores broken, it loses momentum and gets grindy and repetitive.”
“I enjoyed the 2 hours of play I got out of the game before it became a little tedious, but still overall an enjoyable couple of hours.”
- emotional3 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game is largely criticized, with players feeling disconnected and unmotivated, as the gameplay fails to evoke excitement or a sense of urgency. Technical issues, such as menu navigation problems, further detract from the overall emotional engagement.
