This game is so large it’s not an MMO. There are 18,446,744,073,709,551,616 planets in the game so imagine how many players you would need in order to even have a chance of meeting one person.
No Man’s Sky isn’t random either. Maths and universal laws govern the planets – for example, you need the right distance from the local sun in order to get life. Most planets are therefore empty. Planets can be toxic too.
There’s no story to follow, no cut scenes or characters but there is a goal; get to the centre of the universe. As you approach that goal space gets busier, the NPCs get more active, and the game adapts.
This feels like old Elite done anew to me. I backed Elite Dangerous and still haven’t played in. That’s partly due to lack of time but partly because I don’t fancy being Johnny-come-lately to an MMO. Unless Santa brings a PlayStation 4 for Christmas (note: it’s due out on PC too) I’ll be a Johnny-come-lately should I ever get my hands on No Man’s Sky but won’t have the same problem. I could decide to play as a space trader, upgrading his ship for cargo, or as a pirate upgrading his ship for attack. I won’t have to be playing catchup.
The idea of flying between planets and actually landing on them (a bit of Mass Effect in there) to explore and chart appeals.
Been a while since I game caught my attention like this. There’s a ton of big titles due out with Fallout 4, Halo 5 and the likes on the way. I wonder if No Man’s Sky is good enough to be a sleeper hit.
- You can Pre-order No Man’s Sky from Amazon.
