Shattered Skies
- July 21, 2016
- Free Reign Entertainment
- 50h median play time
While offering a set of promises that would make any trigger-happy PVP addict excited, Shattered Skies fails to deliver a reason to keep coming back. While the concept sounds fun, the execution thus far has yielded a relatively lifeless world with a by-now stagnating population. Time will tell if the developers can shape their game into something more engaging post-launch.
"Shattered Skies" is a open-world, massively multiplayer looter-shooter game where players can also enjoy single-player mode. The game is set in a post-apocalyptic world after a comet impact causing meteor showers, leading to strange crystal formations with powerful energy. Surviving humans must confront aggressive monsters and harness the crystal energy while dealing with bugs and occasional annoying ads."
PC
Reviews
- The game has a fun concept with engaging PVP mechanics.
- Graphics are decent and the sound design adds to the atmosphere.
- Looting is abundant, making it easy to gear up quickly.
- The game suffers from significant bugs and performance issues, including crashes and low FPS.
- High-level players dominate new players, making it frustrating for beginners.
- The game lacks meaningful PVE content, with aliens spawning randomly and not providing a real challenge.
- graphics46 mentions
- 24 % positive mentions
- 57 % neutral mentions
- 20 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some players praising them as "outstanding" and "stunning" on high settings, while others criticize them as "bad," "unfinished," and reminiscent of older titles. Many users report issues with optimization, crashes when adjusting settings, and a lack of polish, leading to an overall perception that the graphics need significant improvement. Despite some positive remarks, the consensus leans towards disappointment, with several players feeling the graphics do not meet modern standards.
“The graphics are outstanding even on my 1050 Ti.”
“I love the graphics; the game is just stunning and smooth to play.”
“Nothing wrong with the graphics; I play on ultra and it still looks great even when I swap to lower settings.”
“The actual gameplay is nothing like what is shown in the pictures or videos; the graphics are bad, bad, bad, and haven't been updated since its release. It's a survival game with no base building?!”
“The graphics are really an eyesore.”
“The graphics look like something from 2008 and are not even average.”
- gameplay45 mentions
- 13 % positive mentions
- 67 % neutral mentions
- 20 % negative mentions
The gameplay of the game has received mixed to negative feedback, with many players criticizing the disconnect between promotional materials and the actual experience, particularly regarding graphics and mechanics. While some appreciate the decent shooting and loot systems, others find the gameplay repetitive, buggy, and lacking in survival elements, leading to a perception of it being more of an open-world PvP shooter than a true survival game. Overall, players express disappointment with the game's execution and a desire for more engaging content and features.
“The game takes most of the annoying parts of these survival-type games away and leaves you with a survival shooter with great mechanics.”
“Good gameplay at times; most gunplay is only effective at 20m or less due to the artificial damage falloff modifier, and nearly all my fights consist of spamming healing consumables until the other guy dies or getting killed in 1 second by a legendary.”
“Fun gameplay.”
“The actual gameplay is nothing like what is shown in the pictures or videos; the graphics are bad, and haven't been updated since its release. It's a survival game with no base building?”
“A survival game where you don't even starve to death when you run out of food and water is not a survival game; it has so many training wheel mechanics that it seems more like a tutorial for a survival game.”
“Simply stated, the gameplay is currently broken.”
- monetization20 mentions
- 15 % positive mentions
- 20 % neutral mentions
- 65 % negative mentions
The monetization aspect of the game has been heavily criticized, with many users labeling it a "cash grab" and expressing concerns about the developers' focus on profit over quality. While there are currently no microtransactions, players fear that future updates may introduce them, and those who purchase higher-tier editions may gain unfair advantages. Overall, the sentiment suggests a lack of trust in the developers' intentions, with many recommending against purchasing the game.
“Shattered Skies, in my opinion, is a great game. I'm not one to follow the hate train when it comes to the other related games that this company developed. About in-game purchases, you really aren't disadvantaged when it comes to your account level. For example, mine is the starter edition, and I get the loot bags every Shattered Skies player gets right from the start. I have 150 or so global vault slots to bank items found throughout the world, and as far as the extra experience you get, if you want to level that fast, I guess it's worth the higher editions, but I like the good old grind to get the most out of this game.”
“Of course, finally, there are no microtransactions. However, if you do buy the more expensive versions, you're going to get a severe advantage over all of the other players.”
“No microtransactions.”
“This is just another Sergey Titov cash grab.”
“If they cared about making a good game and not a cash grab, this game would be decent, but it's all for the money.”
“Honestly, what this game feels like is a quick cash grab trying to muscle in on Escape from Tarkov, which looks infinitely better.”
- stability17 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The stability of the game is heavily criticized, with users reporting frequent crashes, numerous glitches, and significant performance issues such as low frame rates and unresponsive controls. Many players feel that the game is not ready for release, likening it to an early access title due to its persistent bugs and lack of content. Overall, the game's stability detracts significantly from the gameplay experience, leading to frustration and calls for refunds.
“The game is unfair, buggy, and pay-to-win.”
“Good gameplay, but it crashes often and is buggy on startups. I'm going to have to uninstall it.”
“Frequent crashes and unjustified low FPS spikes; troubleshooting as much as possible leads to a playable game.”
- optimization12 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The optimization of the game has received overwhelmingly negative feedback, with users reporting severe issues such as lag, stuttering, and low frame rates even on mid-range systems. Many players express frustration over the game's performance, describing it as unplayable and in dire need of improvements before the full release. Overall, the consensus is that the current state of optimization is poor and requires significant attention from the developers.
“I can't wait for the full game to come out so it can be optimized.”
“This is a fun game and I hope the developers continue to improve the performance, graphics, and drop the promised free DLC/expansions.”
“If you do buy the game, consider that the animations, optimization, and the game's flaws will realistically never get better.”
“Awful optimization.”
“Nope nope nope.. optimization is bad as hell.. laggy, stutters, low frame rate even with mid-up specs (15-20 fps, are you kidding me)”
“The game is unplayable, I struggled to play for 55 minutes between freeze, stuttering, 5 minutes loadings, but in-game when everything finally loads I have 100 fps but it stutters like hell and loads things every 5 seconds so it freezes every 5 seconds for 1 second. This is not playable for me.”
- story9 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 67 % neutral mentions
- 33 % negative mentions
The game's story is virtually nonexistent, with players noting a complete lack of background or depth. Missions are repetitive and locked for extended periods, contributing to a sense of emptiness and frustration. Overall, the absence of a compelling narrative significantly detracts from the gaming experience.
“Absolutely no background or actual story or depth to the game.”
“As far as the storyline goes, there's none.”
“No background story.”
- grinding3 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game both time-consuming and rewarding, as it involves extensive farming to acquire powerful weapons and improve PvP performance. While it can lead to countless hours of gameplay, those who enjoy grinding often find it to be a fun and addictive experience.
“You'll spend countless hours of your life farming for sweet guns.”
“This is a really fun and addictive game if you like grinding.”
“I played this game back when there were about 8 servers; some were always full, and others were for farming so you could join the other servers and dominate PvP.”
- humor2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Users find the humor in the game's glitches and crashes, often laughing off the frequent runtime errors as part of the experience. The lighthearted attitude towards these issues suggests that players appreciate the comedic elements, even amidst technical difficulties.
“This is hilarious! Even with the big patch, it still crashes every twenty minutes or so with runtime errors.”
“Lol, that's funny! It's easy to change the hardware ID.”
- music1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
The music in the trailer is noted to be royalty-free, suggesting a lack of originality or distinctiveness in the soundtrack.
“The music feels generic and lacks any memorable hooks.”
“The soundtrack is repetitive and doesn't enhance the gameplay experience.”
“The background music is so bland that it becomes forgettable within minutes.”
- atmosphere1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Reviewers note that the game's atmosphere requires improvement, citing a lack of dynamic elements such as wind, wildlife, and weather effects, which contribute to a feeling of a lifeless world.
