There are a lot of ways to describe No Man’s Sky. And it’s nowhere near measurable that’s for sure. No Man’s Sky is (as what most people shall have it) a survival, action-adventure game that is set in a procedurally generated environment that allows players to be immersed in a variety of settings. This was released way back August 9, 2016 by an indie studio – Hello Games for PS4 and Microsoft Windows.
In here you get a chance to visit at least a million planets all with unique flora and fauna of its own. It’s an unimaginably huge game where the possibilities of what a player can do is endless. It boasts a vast amount of stunning sceneries where one cannot hope to see all of it in just one sitting (hell, reaching the end part eats up tons of hours to begin with let alone hoping to explore all the planets collated in the game!). The exploration the player is encouraged (or obliged) to do sucks up time just by cruising through space and mining materials for upgrade and/or exchange (this is for both the player’s suit and ship). You also get to record your adventures (and misadventures) as you go along. Everything that happens during your interplanetary visits are permanent. Your wins, loses… EVERYTHING. There are no second takes. You may choose to stay and take time to make a mark on one planet or breeze through them and collect only what’s necessary and move on. The decision is yours.
With so many solar systems to explore and conquer, it’s not a question as to why NMS was awarded as the ‘The Game Award for Most Anticipated Game’.
What I like about the game is it’s never ending nooks and crannies that tickles the adventurer in me. I’m one for open world games (preferably in the third person setting though, but I’m beginning to appreciate FPS recently) and a sucker for themes where one is required to explore and get lost amongst the greatness of it all. The more hassle it seems to complete the game, the higher my gusto is to finish it. You start the game by being spawned in a random planet where you are required to mine various minerals to fix and upgrade your ship for you to kick-off your adventure.
The minerals are located all over the planet itself – some are just about anywhere, while others need to be uncovered first before it can be acquired. Recipes for crafting are also a thing in this game which is awesome since it challenges me (and my brain cells) to think what is needed and how much I need to get to jump-start the creation of an item that I need. The planets that I’ve visited so far were spellbinding from the barren wasteland-like setting of one planet to the desolate oceans of an aquatic one. Plus, there’s no loading screen! You know you expect to see loading screens in most open world games due to its magnanimous detail but for NMS it’s just coursing through one planet and landing to another. I tell you this game’s quite a find if you’re with me with its gameplay!
Though as I coursed deeper into NMS, I noticed that there was not much of a backstory to go on. It’s just merely collecting/farming/upgrading/mining stuff which became a routine even on the very first day I played the game (for hours if I may add).
Not to complain, but it could’ve been better if a backbone of a story was put into place to further encourage the player to see everything through from beginning to the end; and not stop halfway thinking it’s all never-ending grinding from here on out. Good if the player is like me who just adores wasting his/her time by farming materials, which he/she is not sure as to when he/she will be using it. But how about those who are all into the drama and the mystery of why we have to go visit all those planets and collect large amounts of ingredients to upgrade our gear with. Another is, yeah there’s the tutorial to help you get on your feet but for me it felt somewhat lacking (sorry, my learning curve is kinda slow) so it was kind of hard for me to navigate and get used to the controls and how to handle NMS better.
Preparation of what’s to come (may it be clear or not) is key to this game. In order for you to actually survive, anticipating the things you need is paramount. Meaning, the more you hoard the better are your chances of creating better gear right off the bat. I’d rate this game a solid eight for its complexities and a promise to us gamers that this game will provide total entertainment hours at a time!
This review is based on a review copy provided by the developers/publisher.
