I was late to the NMS party. I had heard of this game back around launch time, I heard people said it was bad, but other than knowing it was a space game, I knew nothing about it or who Sean Murray even was. Somehow I missed the hype entirely...and I'm glad I did. Now keep in mind, before I get started on this review, I just want to say that this review is for the Atlas Rises update, which is the most current update in early 2018, so I have no idea what this game was like on launch. I am reviewing this game as it is at the time of writing this review. I'm not going to get into the whole "did Sean Murray lie" thing, because I feel like that is irrelevant. A game should be judged on how good or bad it is in general, not by what people's expectations are. If you're looking for a non biased, non emotional review, this is it.
Ok, so after hearing everything about NMS recently I simply had to buy it. I watched videos on it and I'll admit, I got sucked into the whole "this game seems like my dream" thing, and despite hearing nothing but negativity on it, I went ahead and bought it. I thought (like everyone else did in 2016), how could this NOT be amazing?
So far I have put about 10 hours into this game. My experience went from "this is amazing" to "it kind of sucks" to "this is amazing again". I'm about to explain why, because this is a very interesting game unlike anything I have ever played before.
When the game starts you will be put on a random planet at the edge of the first galaxy. Your job is to repair your ship by mining resources that you find. This game does not hand hold ou in any way, so you'll be a bit overwhelmed at first, struggling between marveling at the beauty of the planet you're on and trying to figure out how to play the game. There was certai element that I could not find for about 2 hours and had to walk 10 minutes in one direction to find it. The journey was incredible, I really felt the immersion that the game wants you to feel. Quickly you will realize that you have to constantly collect resources in order to keep yourself alive. Whether you have to refuel your hazard protection (radiation, weather) or your life support, you will have to constantly be micromanaging yourself. These things drain constantly. While exploring you may might animals or plants that you can scan and add them to your Discoveries. Trying to collect all the animals is fun, but it was never really my primary focus. Eventually you will collect enough resources to repair your ship and set off into space.
However, you may want to explor your first planet some more. On each planet there are many things that you can reach and explore. Drop Pods, Monoliths, Abandoned Buildings, Way Points, Outposts, etc...some of them have items, shops, blueprints to be able to craft new material, and even upgrades. However, if you try to walk on foot, you will not reach many places. You will need to fly your ship practically everywhere you want to go, which also requires micromanaging. Everything you do in this game requires micromanaging of resources. Everything.
When you set off into space and head to a new planet, you will find that, while the planet may look completely different, there isn't anything different to actually do. You will quickly find out that this game doesn't really have goals for you to complete, except to reach the center of the galaxy. Yes, you have your primary objective, as well as side objectives when you find them, they only require you to...farm resources, look for areas and buy things from shops. This IS the whole game.
The repetitiveness quickly wore on me. Eventually you will find that you can actually build your own base on a planet, where you can hire a scientist, an armorer, etc...and each of them will give you side missions to complete which gives you new tech and other cool stuff. But even that made me think...what's the point? What's the point if I am just going to get all this cool stuff to just...keep doing the same thing over and over again? Then you realize that inventory space becomes a HUGE problem. Even though your suit and the ship has its own inventory slots, you will still run out of space ALL THE TIME. I even built a storage box on my base which can hold...5 items, and even that didn't really help. In a way this game feels very similar to the old school survival horror games like Resident Evil on PS1. You will constantly be making room in your inventory.
The next thing I want to talk about is space traveling. This...was the one thing that started to make me dislike the game. Even though once you get the hyperdrive and you can get from planet to lanet in a few minutes at a time...it still takes too long, and you have to FARM RESOURCES IN SPACE in order to fuel your ship to even get there. You might receive a mission to go to another planet just to gather one resource and it all just becomes a very tedious grind.
I should also mention that each star system (solar system) has a space station where you can trade with aliens, get items, buy stuff, learn their language (you can also do this by finding stones on planets), hire aliens for your base, but again it's tedious to do all of this. Eventually you will be able to travel to different star systems, and the game really opens up from there. But again, you may be asking...what's the point? What's the point in doing anything?
Well...remember when I said I started to love this game? It was maybe about 5 hours in. I stopped thinking of this game as "something to beat" like Farcry or Bloodborne, and I started thinking of it as a very relaxing, beautiful experience. And that's really what you have to think of it as. Your mindset will determine whether you like this game or not. As far as I'm concerned I am not any closer to beating the game than I was when I started. I simply make my own tasks, and I roll with it. Right now I am still trying to increase the size of my base, learn about the planets that surround me, discover new life, meet the aliens, learn their language, micromanage my stuff, and just live in this beautiful world that they have created. Now...didn't I just say that all this stuff was tedious? Yes I did, but that's because I was thinking of it as a "game to beat". Once you relax yourself, and you realize that this is where you LIVE, that there are other players out there somewhere, and you think about the possibilities of being able to meet people and start a society...it really makes you enjoy every second of it. Sometimes this game brings a tear to my eye, because I think about the fact that I might play this for the next 50 years and never see a soul...or I can run into someone tomorrow. I left a message for another player on my starting planet, and it just made me really happy. So what is the point? The point is the experience, it's the journey. It's never about the destination or "where you have to go next". Just imagine yourself as the last man alive and you live each day thinking about if anyone will ever contact you. That is the feeling that I get when I play NMS now. The lack of inventory encourages you to keep moving, the random places to visit encourages you to see more of the worlds you're visiting...and it's all beautiful. I always have something to do, and I realize that I can lose myself for hours in this game and not even realize it. For a game where there's "nothing to do", it keeps me entertained the entire time.
I get it, not everyone will like this game. It's certainly not for everybody. But I love it. I give it 4 stars because it is far from perfect as a game. The things I like about it are certainly flaws. But like our own universe, everything in life has flaws. You know when you wake up in real life and say "ok, I want to get this done today and this done today"? Whether it's laundry, or reaching out to a family member you haven't spoke to in a while, or go grocery shopping? That's what it's like playing NMS. Life itself does not have an objective, you can't "beat" life. NMS is just like that, with the added benefits of being isolated in space and discovering things that nobody in the world has ever seen yet. Every time I play this game, I think to myself "what do I want to do today?" and I go do it. THAT is the beauty of NMS, and it's a game that is quite unlike anything I have ever played before.
This isn't a game that you kill 40 hours on in a weekend and try to beat. Not at all, and if you play it like that (like I did at first), you will hate it. It's the kind of game that you put on before you go to sleep for maybe an hour or two, relax, and basically just do whatever you want. Who knows? You may run into somebody.
If you're on the fence about this game, I would keep this in mind before buying it. Almost everything in this game is a flaw on a gameplay level, almost everything. However, once you change your mindset about it, everything just becomes amazing. The flaws become good things. As it stands right now, I wouldn't have this game any other way. It's far from my favrite game of all time, but that's because you just can't compare it to any other game. This is a game that don't see myself ever stop playing...whether I only play it once a week or whatever, I will always come back to this game. This is the kind of game that NMS is. If you are asking "what's the point?" then this game is not for you. There is an entire universe to explore...and I can't wait to see as much as I can of it. So get in your spacecraft...and explore. The universe is yours.
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From the manufacturer
No Man's Sky
An epic science fiction adventure set across an infinite universe. Explore never before visited worlds, discover unique lifeforms and trade, fight and survive on a galactic scale.
YOUR UNIVERSE AWAITS
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Explore a universe of possibilitiesWith over 18,446,744,073,709,551,616 (18 quintillion) possible planets, No Man’s Sky's procedurally generated galaxy gives players an unparalleled opportunity to explore worlds that no one has ever visited before. Exploration is entirely seamless, with no loading screens, whether you're flying from space to a planet's surface or even warping between solar systems. |
Share your discoveriesEveryone starts No Man’s Sky on the outer rim of the same unexplored galaxy. As you progress, you will come across countless undiscovered solar systems, planets, lifeforms and much more. You can choose to share your discoveries with other players, naming them and adding them to the Galactic Map, forever associated with your PSN ID. You may also share the amazing sights you encounter using the PlayStation 4 system’s share functions. |
Space combat on a grand scaleMake enemies and forge alliances by joining battles between the factions that occupy the galaxy. Take part in daring raids on trade convoys and audacious attacks on capital ships, claim bounties, and upgrade your weaponry. But be warned: helping one faction may make its enemies yours, too. |
EMBARK ON AN EPIC JOURNEY ACROSS AN INFINITE UNIVERSE
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Trade your way through the galaxyViolence is not the only route to success. Discovering rare resources and trading them where they are most valuable will help you amass a fortune you can exchange for upgrades and ships that can carry ever more cargo. The rewards will be great, but you'll run the risk of attracting the attention of ruthless space pirates. |
Prepare yourself for explorationBy upgrading your engines, you can travel further and faster, pushing at the frontiers of the known galaxy. Upgrading your suit will help protect you from radiation and extreme environments that would kill the unprepared. |
Discover a social galaxyThe galaxy is a living, breathing place, with trade convoys travelling between stars, pirates, police and military ships ever ready for action, and planets teeming with life. The same galaxy is also shared by every player of No Man's Sky. Perhaps you will see the results of their actions, as well as your own? |
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Customer reviews
I love this game after all the great updates. There is literally a million things to do and you could never visit every single planet that exists.
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