No Man’s Sky: Where no man has gone before
The expansive universe of “No Man’s Sky” has grabbed headlines since the game was announced three years ago at the 2013 Video Game Awards. The space exploration game features 18 quintillion planets, each with its own unique lifeforms, ecosystems and fauna for players to discover. To put that into perspective, there is virtually no way the game’s player base will ever see everything there is to discover in “No Man’s Sky.”
There has never been another video game like this one.
The Indie development team at Hello Games has crafted this world-clever programming that basically generates the game’s enormous universe as a player travels through it. The truly magic thing about the game: It’s not housed on a server. The massive system of planets is all held within the data on the game disc. It only requires an internet connection if players want to name planets and creatures, which is where most of the fun lies.
“No Man’s Sky” is an exploration simulation in its purest form. The game doesn’t frame the journey with an elaborate story with an unstoppable alien force, or some sort of doomsday device. The main character, who is never seen by the player, begins his or her journey wrecked on a planet. From there, the game is primarily focused on resource management and discovery.
The nomadian protagonist has a mining tool that can be used to gather materials found on a planet surface. Once the materials are gathered to fix the interplanetary spaceship, the star system is free to explore. Then travel expands to the game’s awe-inspiring universe.
With 18 quintillion planets to see, players will mostly be landing on and exploring worlds that have never been discovered by other players. If that player is the first to land on a planet, the player can then claim that planet by giving it a name. The same goes with any wildlife that is discovered there. Anyone else in the game who
then visits that planet or sees that creature will see the name you gave it.
“No Man’s Sky’s” player base discovered more than 10 million unique species in the game in its first 24 hours. That’s more species than have been discovered on Earth.
Everyone learns the stories of famous explorers such as Christopher Columbus and Lewis and Clark, but “No Man’s Sky” teaches that exploration is only as glamorous as the discovery. The game is at its best when the player finds something that nobody else has ever seen before. The traveling from a planet surface to space outpost to gather resources and acquire goods is not glamorous or particularly fun. It’s monotonous, boring and lonely. And don’t expect to run into any other players. It’s possible, but it’s unlikely. Players are alone with their thoughts and task ahead, whether that involves hoarding plutonium for hyperdrive fuel or saving credits for a larger, better spaceship.
“No Man’s Sky” suffers from some technical glitches, which can be attributed to both the scope of the game and the small team that made it. Players have complained of full game crashes since its launch on Tuesday. The game crashed several times during this review. These are problems that will likely be fixed in a post-launch update but currently hurt the experience.
“No Man’s Sky” is a modern marvel in game development. There has never been anything close to a game of this size or scope. But size doesn’t always translate to enjoyment. The game’s reach and beauty can only take players so far.