What Do The Reviews Have To Say About No 'Man's Sky'?
For just over three years, we waited for Hello Games' No Man's Sky. It's a simple game that promises a lot: There are 18 quinrillion planets. Here is a spaceship. Go explore them. Such simplicity pared with an incomprehensible amount of depth led to No Man's Sky becoming one of the most highly-anticipated titles of 2016 — which is saying a lot given that both Doom and Overwatch came out earlier this year.
So, will you get lost in the near-infinite galaxy of No Man's Sky? Or will you find that this digital universe is empty, cold and rather boring? Here's what the critics have to say.
Update: It appears the PC port, which was released today, has numerous issues. So if you're looking to play on your computer this weekend… maybe wait until those are resolved. Or just play on PS4.
The First Few Hours Are Incredible
Predictably, the promise of an entirely unexplored universe, and the ability to near-seamlessly jump from planet to planet is intoxicating. And at first brush, No Man's Sky delivers exactly exactly what you think it does.
Polygon's Phillip Kollar was just floored by the sheer scale of things:
It is a complete technical marvel, to a degree that I cannot even begin to comprehend how it works. The rush of blasting off from a planet, zooming into space, aiming to another planet, rushing into its atmosphere and landing — all with no visible loading — is unmatched by anything I've ever experienced in another game. That's not hyperbole; the sense of scale is just amazing.
[Polygon]
Rock Paper Shotgun's John Walker also found that the core gameplay — flying around, looking at aliens and so on — delivers:
The process of going somewhere, the experience of approaching a new planet filled with new bonkers animals, is what grips. As you fly around a planet's surface you'll spot geologically interesting places, perhaps a glowing cave entrance, maybe the ruin of an ancient religious relic, or some hastily constructed metal buildings housing one of three alien races.
…And Then Things Start To Get Repetitive
To achieve their near-limitless universe, Hello Games relies on procedural generation — every planet, plant and animal you find along your travels is the product of an algorithm. It's an impressive feat, to be sure, but some critics found that after awhile, the excitement around exploring an endless universe begins to fade.
Gamespot's Peter Brown touches on the existential crisis that exploring an infinite cosmos presents:
Even a few hours in, however, there comes a point where the loop of seeking and acquiring gear begins to sag, and the vastness of the galaxy sinks in. With an unfathomable universe beckoning, and hundreds of thousands of light years separating you from the intended finish line at the center of the galaxy, it becomes far too easy to question the meaning of your pursuits. No Man's Sky is an impressive technical feat, but its enormity may come at a cost. What does it mean to be alive in a world where everything is driven by algorithms, and your existence is solitary?
[Gamespot]
And after exploring enough planets, the machinery powering No Man's Sky is laid bare, as Ars Technica's Sam Machkovech explains:
Wherever you go in NMS, you're expected to scan for and follow icons. Every planet may have a procedurally generated series of creatures, formations, and plants, but they all abide by a core assortment of about 12 elements, including basics like carbon, iron, plutonium, and heridium. Some have exclusive elements that others don't (gold here, aluminum there, emeril way out there), but because it's so difficult to read individual elements from high up in the sky or far off on a giant hill, NMS relies on shoving these icons in your face as your motivation, whether they're guiding you to inventory, to vocabulary monuments, to item sellers, or anything else.
And, in very bad news, NMS has already proven itself a major content recycler. Every planet I go to has the same "settlement" and "mural" structures, right down to the north-south-east-west positioning of iron-built buildings in a mountain's pit. The dynamic content generators have their limits, and it didn't take me long to find them.
But If You Like Exploring, You'll Still Have A Good Time
Enjoying No Man's Sky is all about managing expectations. It's easy to look at a game touting a vast universe in which you can't possibly see everything in your lifetime, and expect to get sucked in deep.
But No Man's Sky is still a video game, a product not of billions of years of cosmic evolution, but rather of years of work by human hands. In other words, there are going to be limitations.
Destructoid's Chris Carter sees No Man's Sky not as a whole new universe to get lost in, but rather something you should pop into once in awhile, taking a brief respite from our own reality:
I might not be all that impressed by the actual biomes, but even with the pop-in, it's a serene feeling to fly around in space or on-planet. I initially thought of No Man's Sky as something I'd want to get lost in for weeks on end like Minecraft, but I think it's more of an "every once in a while" type of thing. It's a chill time that's at-odds with so much of itself. No, it's not worth championing, nor is it worth rioting or fighting over.
And, as The New Yorker's Simon Parkin argues, the flaws within No Man's Sky aren't necessarily unique to it, video games or even the concept of exploration itself:
The game needles its way much closer to an answer to another conundrum: Why do we explore? There's the thrill of novelty, sure, but in some baser part of the brain, below the realm of language, the game demonstrates that we are also drawn to the promise of finding somewhere better. As No Man's Sky's design seems to suggest, we can never be satisfied. The grass is always greener, even when it's bluer.
TL;DR
Video games, like the universe, are governed by rules. If you expect No Man's Sky to break those rules, you're going to be disappointed. If you just want to get lost exploring the subtleties of endless cosmic dreamscape, No Man's Sky is for you.
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