Gaming Reviews -- No Man's Sky
Hey there everybody, and welcome to my review of, No Man's Sky. It's been a long time since I've been witness to a game that was so hyped up and anticipated, only to be torn apart by it's would be fans at it's launch. The story of No Man's Sky is almost more interesting than the game itself. It was developed by Hello Games, a largely unknown company. They came out of nowhere with this at E3 one year, showing off early gameplay footage. They talked about how the game was procedural generated, and how there were something like 14 quintillion planets. All of which could be fully explored in any way you wanted. Naturally people got incredibly excited about this notion, and the hype train was barreling down the tracks. I must admit I was really looking forward to this, but I've learned to keep my expectations in check over the years, where other people started to run wild with what this game would be.
Hello Games is a very small development company, barely over a dozen people. So when Shawn Murray started his string of interviews promoting the game before it came out, some of the things he claimed seemed hard to believe. A game seemingly infinite in size made by such a small team, was a tall order. But he got caught up in all the attention, and started talking about possible features that might be in the game. The way he said certain things made some people's imaginations run wild, creating impossible expectations. I always thought this was going to be a game that was big as an ocean, but shallow as a puddle, and that's exactly what it was. So I wasn't that disappointed when I got the game and played it. Others took some things that Murray said and ran with it, expecting a Mass Effect type game, with an infinite scope. Coming from a team of something like 15 people, I never though this was even possible. If Murray hadn't gotten carried away, and this game just quietly came out, I think most people would have loved it. It might have even been a cult classic.
In No Man's Sky, you start off on a random planet. Stranded with only a broken down ship, you must explore the planet, gathering resources until you can repair your space vehicle. Once you get airborne, you can go from planet to planet at will, in real time. You gather more resources until you can upgrade your ship and weapons, then you go to the next solar system, or anywhere you want really. But that's about all No Man's Sky has to offer. There's really no story of any kind, there's not really any other characters, all you do is explore, gather resources, so you can keep exploring, so you can gather more resources. Wide as an ocean, shallow as a puddle. I was alright with this type of game, it's very beautiful, and actually pretty fun and easy to play. Some people were not so forgiving though, and this game got dragged through the mud by fans and critics.
After it's launch, Hello Games went quiet, and most people were not happy with the game, especially for 60 dollars. But recently the game has received some major updates, adding to the overall quality of the experience. One of the things that was improved was the variety. From everything to the color palate, to animal types, to plants and rock formations. This is a big help since most of the game is exploration. Another update gives players the ability to build outposts. You can now build bases anywhere you want, as simple or complex as you want. All of which are connected by a shared inventory box and a portal. Another update brings the addition of vehicles you can drive on the planets, buggy's and hovercraft's. And finally, in the most recent update, they give you a story, different factions to join, and mission objectives, to actually give you something to do besides explore random planets.
A lot of mistakes were made at the launch of No Man's Sky, people felt mislead and lied to. I enjoyed the game at first, but quickly became bored. The main problem I had with it was the 60 dollar price tag. This was always an indie game, and should have been 30, 40 dollars at the most. If Shawn Murray didn't get so carried away, and this game just gracefully got released, I think it would of had a much better reception. But I have to commend Hello Games for sticking with it and continuing to release patches that improve upon the experience. If I had to score this back when it came out, it would have been a much lower score. But now with all the improvements, if you haven't tried No Man's Sky yet, now might be a good time to finally try it out. I give No Man's Sky a score of:
B+