No Man’s Sky is finally here and the game has the entire world excited. This is easily the most anticipated title of the year if not the generation. The hype for the game is partly due to the unique and smart programming, which allows a vast space to explore that too with a relatively small file size. More importantly, players seem dissatisfied with the game and are voicing their concerns on the Internet — so we are a bit hesitant to purchase the game.
Survival Beats Exploration
When Hello Games first revealed No Man’s Sky we were ecstatic. What we saw was a peaceful exploration game, with lush beautiful environments and the freedom to casually roam the galaxy in our very own space ship. It was too good to be true.
Now, we love survival elements in games, and No Man’s Sky is no different, but Philip Kollar of Kotaku is unhappy. He is unable to figure out what genre the game should belong to based on his first impressions. He adds that most of the time is spent collecting certain elements or isotopes, with little inventory space leading to multiple monotonous trips and a lot of micromanagement. Although the game gets a little easier as you upgrade your ship and get more inventory slots, for example, but it is still a concern for those looking for a casual galaxy adventure.
Players Unable to Meet
There is a potentially serious concern pointed out by two players who tried unsuccessfully to meet each other in No Man’s Sky. A player by the name of TheGalacticCactus discovered a planet that had been found by another player called Psytokat, and the two decided to meet, both simultaneously streaming on Twitch.
Not only did the two fail to meet, it seemed like they were on separate servers entirely. They followed the exact paths, stopped at the same locations meeting the same people, but just did not run into each other. They noticed that while it was day time on the planet for one of them, the other stood at the same spot in the dark of night.
Sprint Button is Off
The last concern is that of the sprint button, (yes you can sprint) which is mapped to R3 instead of L3 that is more common. While not a major concern, this particular issue has caused much commotion and many players are forced to switch the functionality of their Dual Shock 4 buttons from the PlayStation menu.
In related news, Hello Games released the Day One Patch (also called the Day Zero Patch), which essentially wipes out any player files and resets the world. This was done so that anyone who has illegally procured a copy before launch, is not given an unfair advantage over the others, and all players start from scratch. The purpose of the patch was also to add a few new features, the first being multiple endings, and the fact that players can choose one of three distinct paths that impact the game. Although the game now has a scanning feature which makes it easier to find other players.
No Man’s Sky provides the opportunity to freely explore an entire universe full of procedurally generated planets, something which has not been seen or heard in other titles. The sheer size of the game and the amount of space to explore is unbelievably vast. No other game has boasted a size of this magnitude, and the game world is just impossible for one single person to fully explore.
The best part about No Man’s Sky is the incredibly smart way it has been created. Each and every rock, creature, structure and object that you will encounter in the game has been procedurally generated through the game’s code itself. In fact, the entire file size of No Man’s Sky is only 3.69GB, which is quite a marvel.
That’s all for now gamers! Let us know what you think about No Man’s Sky and whether you will be interested in the game or not. Watch this space for all your gaming news and updates. And stay tuned for our impressions and a complete review of No Man’s Sky.