'No Man's Sky' is pretty, relaxing -- but maybe just a bit boring
No Man's Sky seems like a pretty good video game.
That's what you want to know, right? Is this absurdly hyped thing any good? I've spent roughly 10 hours with the final version of the game so far and I've found it to be very chill and relaxing, if a little dull at times.
The premise is pure wish fulfillment for outer space nerds: you start out stranded on an alien planet with a broken spaceship, a mining laser and your wits. Using the latter two, you fix your ship and fly off to wander a galaxy populated by quintillions of fully explorable planets.
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However -- and this is important -- No Man's Sky is not a game of pure exploration, as some of Sony's marketing has suggested. In truth, it is a systems-heavy survival game with its roots in predecessors like Don't Starve and Minecraft.
Seriously, folks. If the survival side of Minecraft never appealed to you, reconsider your excitement for No Man's Sky. Sony's marketed this game as something for everyone, but accessibility is not one of its virtues. This is a game-ass game.
That's not a value judgment, it's a statement of fact. The gameplay in No Man's Sky is built around a collection of complementary systems that you need to pay attention to and manage as you explore.
Life Support getting low? Find some Isotopes to recharge it. No more rocket fuel? Head to space and blast some asteroids to replenish your Thramium9.
Survival comes down to keeping your assortment of meters charged and running. Your space suit, your ship and your Multi-Tool -- a combination mining laser and space gun -- all have multiple resource needs.
This means that whatever you want to be in the game -- however you choose to play -- hunting down and keeping yourself flush with key resources is always a concern. Like I said before: survival game. That's how they work.
It's the grand scope that sets No Man's Sky apart. There's this seemingly infinite galaxy in front of you and the only thing preventing you from exploring every inch of it is the impossible amount of time it would take.
The knowledge of that impossibility is strangely freeing. It mitigates the pressure of having to push toward any singular goal and lets you focus instead on playing out your own outer space fantasy, whatever form that may take.
Bear in mind, this is all based on around 10 hours of play. That's a microscopic amount of time in No Man's Sky terms.
Looking ahead, I do have concerns about longevity. Even after 10 hours, I'm seeing a lot of repeated content in alien encounter dialogue and planetside points of interest.
No Man's Sky does alien environments very well, but has so far fallen short when it comes to populating those spaces with a diversity of things to do. The alien buildings and ancient ruins all look different, but they pull from the same seemingly limited pool of scenarios.
That said, there's something undeniably relaxing and meditative about soaring through this virtual cosmos, even with the occasional stress of survival game meter management. The most important resources are available in abundance, which makes survival more a thing you have to do than an actual challenge.
The real challenge with No Man's Sky is separating expectations brought on by three years of impossible hype from the reality of what the game actually is. That's what I'll be trying to do as I continue flying ever-forward toward the game's mysterious galactic core.
Topics Gaming
Adam Rosenberg is a Senior Games Reporter for Mashable, where he plays all the games. Every single one. From AAA blockbusters to indie darlings to mobile favorites and browser-based oddities, he consumes as much as he can, whenever he can.Adam brings more than a decade of experience working in the space to the Mashable Games team. He previously headed up all games coverage at Digital Trends, and prior to that was a long-time, full-time freelancer, writing for a diverse lineup of outlets that includes Rolling Stone, MTV, G4, Joystiq, IGN, Official Xbox Magazine, EGM, 1UP, UGO and others.Born and raised in the beautiful suburbs of New York, Adam has spent his life in and around the city. He's a New York University graduate with a double major in Journalism and Cinema Studios. He's also a certified audio engineer. Currently, Adam resides in Crown Heights with his dog and his partner's two cats. He's a lover of fine food, adorable animals, video games, all things geeky and shiny gadgets.
