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REVIEW: NO-MAN'S SKY (PS4, PC - PS4 version tested)

15/8/2016

22 Comments

 
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Some years ago, I paid my first and only ever visit to Dublin.

I don't know what I was expecting - some sort of quaint Irish theme park of a city, in the same way that Americans expect London to be full of smog and people in bowler hats, and Jack the Rippers.

Unfortunately, I was rendered disappointed by how familiar it felt. Arriving in the city centre it was all the same shops I got back home, the same chains, the same high street brands. I could've been back in London, frankly, were it not for the accents and the Guinness factory. Which has an absurd restaurant where everything is made with Guinness, which is in no way a good idea.

I had much the same feeling of deja vu the first time I went back to America after a decade, and saw you could buy Cadbury's Creme Eggs. It made the country feel less special, made the world a smaller place than it is.

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with Dublin - there isn't. It's perfectly nice. It just felt incredibly familiar, and something of an unnecessary slog to get on a plane just to wander about and get drunk in the exact same sort of city I was all too familiar with back home.

No Man's Sky is the Dublin of video games.
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FLORA SPREAD
You begin No Man's Sky on a planet, next to your downed ship.

Armed with some loose instructions, and a device that is simultaneously weapon, mining tool, and - shortly - will allow you to scan (and name) the local flora and fauna, you have to repair your ship. And your spacesuit. And craft some other gear.

​I got lucky early on: the planet I appeared on was mostly benign - later worlds would batter me with radiation, extreme temperatures, and acid rain.

Stripping resources from the planet around you - providing you're not killed by the robotic sentinels which react to displays of aggression/mineral-theft, or the indigenous wildlife (I was killed in my first 10 minutes by octopus-crab things) -  you are able to refuel your ship, and leave the planet. It's a moment of awe, the first time you realise that you can visit every point in the night sky, with no visible loading.

Before that, however, you'll learn of something called Atlas... part of the game's deeper lore, and one of several different paths through the experience. 

Your likely first stop off-world will be a space station, where you'll meet an advanced alien lifeform, begin to learn languages, and start the buy/sell trade cycle which becomes the spine of the game. Pretty soon you'll realise the need to get a better ship which has more inventory slots, better protection from pilots, and an exosuit with more pockets. Storage space is horribly limited early on.

Initial objectives require you to build and fuel your ship's hyperdrive, and learn to use the map of the galaxy - which shows just how huge the game is (at least, geographically speaking). The chief aim - so we've been told - is to reach the centre of the universe... but there is at least one other path, and you also have the freedom to just fanny around the stars at your leisure.

You can learn languages by interacting with ancient alien structures, or become a would-be intergalactic Darwin, or a buccaneer. Everything you do can potentially earn you money to buy more technology, a better ship, or resources with which to upgrade your existing gear.
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THE FIRST 20
For the first 20 or so hours, every time I switched on No Man's Sky, something new would present itself.

​It might've been a distress beacon, or a ship under attack asking for my help, or a black hole which led to somewhere new, or a world which was dramatically different to all the others.

​However... there's no denying that the thrill of the new becomes replaced with repetition. Soon, worlds start to blur into one, and you come to realise that - for all their infinite, procedurally-generated, wonder - there are a limited number of varieties on offer.

Some are more jungle-like, others merely barren rocks, some are lush paradise worlds... and occasionally you'll stumble upon one with some truly bizarre topography. I thought I'd struck gold when I found a planet full of strange stone tendrils, and huge cube-like mountains... until I saw online that somebody else had found an almost identical world.

Space stations are all the same, aliens are all variations of one another, and the tasks you'll find yourself doing pretty much become rote.

At first, the relative loneliness you feel is refreshing, and offers a completely unique atmosphere. After a while, you might find yourself yearning for a city, or some other manner of variety. Instead of a high street with Primark and Boots, you'll want one with stalls selling fried scorpions, and octopus biltong.

Given that it has been put together by a tiny team - No Man's Sky is essentially an indie game, lest we forget - it's one hell of an achievement. Unfortunately, it's being promoted as a triple-A game, and sold at a triple-A price.

​Consequently, it's hard not to wonder what could've been achieved with a triple-A-sized team. How much more wonder could've been crammed in there, to stem the repetition that does, alas, set in after a few days play?

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DON'T GET ME WHAT?
Don't get me wrong: I really, really like No Man's Sky... but I also know that it isn't a game for everyone. Some will tire of it sooner than others, and hats off to anyone who ever manages to persevere to the centre of the universe.

I'm not bored of it yet, but the first feelings of lethargy are starting to set in. The repetition in locations, and plants, and animals actually pulls against the sense of it being a real universe - and that exploration of places where No One Had Gone Before was what I loved when everything in the game felt new.

Soon, it becomes very clear what the boundaries are - and this supposedly almost infinite universe begins to feel small. 

AND YET WHAT?
And yet... it's still kind of incredible. From the music, to the art design, to the looseness of the structure, to the strange and empty atmosphere (or lack of)... its idiosyncrasies often work in its favour.

It owes a debt to a lot of other games, yet manages to package it all as something unique. It kind of most reminded me of Journey in a lot of ways... but Journey works because it's a limited experience. If you expanded that to almost limitless, endless, size, it would also start to feel like you're trapped in a loop. 

And so No Man's Sky's ambition and scale is simultaneously the best thing about it, and the thing which brings it down. Perhaps the greatest accolade I can give it is that often when I was playing, I began to think about things it could be doing. Who knows? Maybe Hello Games will incorporate some of them into future updates.

I started to consider how cool it'd be if your ship showed visible signs of wear and tear, reflecting the trials of your exploration. I started to wonder about the possibility of visiting a bustling trader port, or meeting other players - something the game sorely needs (albeit still sparingly, lest an overpopulated universe spoil the atmosphere); their story and journey told to me by the items they offered for trade. I wondered about discovering rare treasures and objects, which could become legendary in their own way. I wanted more.

The sheer fact that No Man's Sky fired my imagination in so many ways, and that I'm still playing it despite feeling like I'm often going round in circles, suggests that, overall, it's a success.

​But it's a success that comes with the caveat that it won't be for everyone. 

SUMMARY: Infinitely huge, but ultimately limited in scale. It's Minecraft meets Elite meets Journey - but could've done with a little more of the human touch. You might love it... but you might not.
SCORE: Like... a lot out of infinity.
FROM THE ARCHIVE:
VIDEO GAMES AND THE HUMAN INSTINCT FOR EXPLORATION - BY MR BIFFO
​
VIDEO GAMES: A PRIMAL INSTINCT BY MR BIFFO
WILL YOU BE ABLE TO FINISH READING THIS REVIEW-IN-PROGRESS OF NO-MAN'S SKY (PS4)... OR WILL THE WINDOW-LICKING BABIES PUT YOU OFF?
22 Comments
Darcy
15/8/2016 12:26:17 pm

There's only so many times you can come across the crabs before all gets a little repetitive.

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Col. Asdasd
16/8/2016 09:47:55 pm

If you think it's bad for you, imagine how the crabs are feeling.

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DrDagless
15/8/2016 12:31:48 pm

I feel so conflicted about NMS.

I don't really have much money to throw around (and as such tend to just buy games I really, really want to play), but I'm starting to wonder if this will be worth it. My heart is telling me to get it because of the potential if nothing else, but my head is struggling to justify the massive price tag for what is, as you so quite rightly pointed out, an indie game.

Maybe I should hang back and see if any substantial updates are forthcoming?

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Clockwork Fool
15/8/2016 03:14:23 pm

They plan to continue adding content over time. Some quite major things suggested.

So really, if you think it could be more sensible to wait till it's a little more affordable, that's not honestly a bad plan because there will also be more game for your money as well.

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DrDagless
15/8/2016 04:10:39 pm

I reckon that's what I'll do then. It's good to know that they plan on adding some major new content at some point, thanks for the info!

Clockwork Fool
17/8/2016 05:45:39 pm

Plans are always subject to change, but waiting costs you nothing. It's all good.

Flangyman
15/8/2016 12:39:47 pm

Sounds about right as someone who lives in dublin and is playing it on ps4 i agree with all of the above

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Dr Kank
15/8/2016 12:45:54 pm

You know, I vaguely remember a Digitiser 2000 article criticising people who complained about the price of No Man's Sky...

I'm holding off buying in the hope that the game will follow the likes of Minecraft and Terraria with extra content every now and again to greatly improve the gameplay.

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Chris O'Regan link
15/8/2016 01:21:04 pm

I know I'm going to get vilified for saying this, but I'm going to anyway. From your review I can only assume you haven't played it for long enough. Everything you describe occurs at the foundation of the player's experience. It exists to act as a stark relief against which you compare the experiences you have yet to have.

No Man's Sky gives as much back as it receives; it just takes a long time going about it. This frustrates players in a time when games last 2-3 hours and are heralded for it. Attention spans continue to diminish and people do not want to commit the time and effort to get the most out of No Man's Sky. It is this fact that saddens me the most :(

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Mr Biffo
15/8/2016 03:05:05 pm

Hmm. As I said to someone else on Twitter earlier... this is an age-old debate: how long do you need to play a game for before you can formulate an opinion on it. I'm going to do this: write something about it!

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Darcy
15/8/2016 05:44:50 pm

How many hours are we talking about? I must have visited two dozen planets over as many hours by now, and it's only growing more and more repetitive. How, exactly, does the game open up?

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Meatballs-me-branch-me-do
15/8/2016 02:02:58 pm

Atlas? Dublin?

Gawd damn sploicers!

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Scott C
15/8/2016 11:10:49 pm

Would you kindly keep your niche homages and references to yourself? Thanks very much.

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Clockwork Fool
15/8/2016 03:22:37 pm

I got my start on an acidic hellworld. Toxic as all get out, with frequent deadly rain. Was pretty exhilarating, knowing I'd gotten a tricky start.

Had to scurry from cave to cave and back to the ship very carefully for a while as I tried to figure out what was going on or how I did anything.

No namby pamby garden-world for me!

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gaijintendo
15/8/2016 06:24:32 pm

The guy at the canteen said it was "immense" this morning. I misheard him say "a mess", and then proceed to laud it.

"So why is it a mess?" I asked, and he went on to tell me about day 1 patches, and two people not seeing each other.

The things I mishear, eh?

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robojamie link
15/8/2016 06:37:56 pm

I'm also about 5 hours in - in the 3rd system - and while I can see WHERE it will get repetitive, I still have that new player feeling of discovery.

The milestone progression suits my style of play, incremental improvement that's recognised, so I can see me trying to max all of those out.

There are a few annoyances - I was swearing at the lack of storage space initially, and the fact you need a spare slot to craft something even when the material is in your inventory.

Anyway, I'll keep playing for now.

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DirkRenegade
15/8/2016 06:48:22 pm

Being unable to detect and feel the differences between places like London and Dublin isn't their fault, that's something inside you. Everywhere I walk around London feels distinct to me, even areas right next to where I live. Dublin doesn't feel at all like London, the buildings are all different and are in different places, for a start. But if all you're basing it on is seeing a WH Smith or something then city travel just isn't your thing.

As for Creme Eggs being on sale in the US, they have other stuff that isn't on sale here. What exactly do you want to be different?

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timmypoos
15/8/2016 09:19:29 pm

I'm fairly sure the comparison was about the authors personal expectations of NMS, especially given the hype and lack of in-depth detail pertaining to the gameplay mechanics of NMS.

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Mr Biffo
16/8/2016 07:22:25 am

Dublin is nothing like London. Dublin is more like, y'know... Watford or Hemel or somewhere.

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Chris Wyatt
15/8/2016 09:38:13 pm

I had a penfriend from Dublin (female) that I met on Teletext of all places. I was probably about 8 at the time? I still have the letters (not in a creepy way; just never chuck things out). It was she that stopped corresponding and not I. She was a big Boyzone fan, and I think she stopped replying when I told her that I liked Prodigy, Leftfield, and whatever crap I was in to at the time. Actually I can't remember what I sent that made her go silent, but we couldn't have been more different I think.

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Gamerscribe link
17/8/2016 06:03:39 pm

Love this discussion. Can you visit Dublin in NMS? Maybe there is a planet with Guiness rain where you have to dash from Dunnes store to Dunnes store. I'm not paying more than £25 for NMS by the way despite your efforts to sell it Biff!

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Gaming Mill link
17/8/2016 06:47:03 pm

I pre-ordered No Man's Sky via Steam in Russia - it cost me about £21. I played it for 25 hours without any sleep on release day and thoroughly enjoyed it...but I think the price helped; I wouldn't have paid the full price of it in the UK.

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