In the past few years we have been teased by studio Hello Games with this amazing looking space adventure. Hello Games promised players a game that would allow one to travel through a procedurally generated galaxy and do an infinite amount of exploration. The infinite span of the game would cause the player to fight and survive in the vast openness of a galaxy while collecting exotic resources. No Man’s Sky takes players on a journey to find their inner gaming selves in order to define their own definition of fun. If your not prepared to spend time searching for items to craft or plants to research then stop reading this review. This is not some kind of Call of Duty in space, No Man’s Sky is far beyond that and provides more than that type of game.
Story
This is the start of No Man’s Sky. Players awake on a  planet with a broken ship. The tutorial will then begin by showing you how and what to collect. Once the ship is fixed players can finally start on a journey to explore the known galaxy. Along the journey players will discover more and more alien languages while on the look out for new worlds. Players will pick if they want to search for either planetary information or finding the center of the universe. This game doesn’t have a unified story at the start of the game and at one point or another that can get extremely annoying. Slowly players will start to pick up pieces as they learn to craft items in order to get out and explore the galaxy. The game has no actual end and is most comparable with Minecraft.  The only true conclusion is reaching the center of the universe according to head developer Sean Murray. Hopefully the story will be something that actually becomes more tangible as players dive deeper into the game because after two weeks of playtime, it’s near non existent.
Graphics
No Man’s Sky is a procedurally generated game that looks amazing at certain times.  Players will find one graphical problem, when your descending into a planets atmosphere the ground won’t look fully developed. In order to disguise this issue the game needs a minute to catch up and render your location. This game won’t win everyone over with the way it looks. No Man’s Sky uses bright colors in a way that makes each planet more unique even if they all feel the same after a while.
It is insane to see some of the creatures that are created in this game.  Some of these creatures could never be created by someone looking to develop a game. The duck legged dinosaur that I witnessed on one of my excursions was a site to behold.
Audio
No Man’s Sky music is on a whole different level. Most games that have a development team this size usually don’t have music of this quality. The band 65daysofstatic has created a mixture of electronic music that causes you to open your ears and listen to the music. The track Supermoon is one of the best in the game and most people will know it from the moment they hear it. If you sit back and listen to the music of this game it all blends together in a way that doesn’t make for any uncomfortable moments.
The dynamic music means the perfect song will hit at the right moment. If your out exploring a planet or your about to fight a few starships the music will kick in and deliver a energetic burst into the gameplay experience. This music in this game is something special that I can’t believe all get to listen to while can play.
Aside from the amazing soundtrack, No Man’s Sky has some sounds design issues for animals. An audio issue I did notice was at times I didn’t know if something was truly going to attack me; The sounds just echo around you as your exploring. Not only that but most animals have similar grunts. A little disappointing for a game that is intent in showing you infinite possibilities. Other than that, the audio for the game was perfectly adequate.
Gameplay
The game is extremely easy to learn. It will only take maybe about ten minutes to get used to the controller layout on the PS4. That being said, the game is not something you want to take lightly as players can get into a kind of comfort zone that may cause a quick death on a different planet.  The weapon of choice is the mining gun, a wonderful laser weapon that can either save your life by killing some nasty creature or collect important materials.
As you progress through the game, each planet will have new upgrades that you need to look for. These upgrades can help either your ship or weapons. You really need to get these upgrades as some planets are just basically a new Hell. One thing to carefully look out for is that all the guns will overheat and need to be charged constantly. The micro managing makes the game a little more challenging by forcing you to save some plutonium for your ships thrusters and your gun.
Flying around in space is something I enjoyed more then anything. Controlling the ship is actually easier then I thought it would be. The only problem I see with the gameplay is the inability to recharge either your shields or weapons easily during battle.  No Man’s Sky is full of depth when it comes to grinding for resources. Certain planets will have some of the materials you need. This makes exploring even more critical than you would want.
Verdict
Some games can bring people together in new ways. Look at how Pokemon Go has become this insanely popular mobile game. Most of the people that play it have fallen in love with it. That won’t be the case for this game. I know most of the players who call it boring have a right too. At times this game can just drag on way past anything we have played before. This is a whole new style of gaming that most players are not ready for. Sitting around and looking for items to craft for a single Warp Cell is not going to win people over.
No Man’s Sky is not your Halo, Call of Duty, Minecraft, or Destiny. Players need to realize that at times this game will be boring. Searching for items to craft is not the most exciting time. It’s just one of those things that you have to do in this game to get to the good parts. That could be the main objective of the game. Finding better parts in order to upgrade your items. In writing that may sound like a drag but when it comes down to it mostly every game now a days follows that same point of retention.
Currently the game is only playable on the PS4 until August 12th when it will be released on PC. Let me know how you feel about this review in the comment section below.
