One of my fondest sci-fi memories growing up was way back around 1992 when I first caught a glimpse of Star Trek: The Next Generation during its original TV airing (Christ I am old). Although I was only five at the time I recall being mystified (although not able to really make sense of any character or story progression) by a bunch of people exploring the universe and meeting weird and wonderful creatures. Captain Picard will always be my favourite space captain of all time, not only because he is played by the legendary Patrick Stewart but because it timed so perfectly with my age and when my brain was beginning to understand the world (and things outside of it). There is a sense of wonder about the great beyond I have carried through into my adult life that to this day when standing out on the quiet porch at night with a cigarette I stare at the stars and imagine what else is out there.
18 quintillion planets? make it so
Films, books and gaming have been a wonderful medium for all us budding space explorers out there who will probably never actually set foot off the Earth. A lot of my all-time favourite films are either sci-fi (Blade Runner) or have a reference to something within the genre (Mysterious Skin). I am drawn to those things we may not yet fully understand and the idea of what may be happening a trillion light years away will never cease to fascinate me. So when a title like No Man’s Sky comes along with all the adventure and exploration this kid at heart could ever want, it is time to board the hype train… or hype shuttle.
A little team of less than 20 developers make up Hello Games, and this small crew set themselves the task of creating one of the biggest games ever conceived in terms of sheer scope. Co-Founder Sean Murray, the director of the game, was much like me as a child being absolutely enthralled with all things space travel and the universe. The seed of the No Man’s Sky DNA was planted at an early age but it was only during production of Joe Danger 2 that the director decided he wanted to return to a project closest to his heart (and get out of an inevitable rut of simply making Joe Danger 3, 4, 5 etc.) and I am glad he did. What these talented peeps set out to do was create an entire life-sized universe (18 quintillion or so planets to be exact) that players could get lost in and explore. To unleash such a mammoth feat, the game uses a procedurally-generated mathematical super code that can render a trillion years’ worth of space travel on a disc under 6GB. See, maths can be useful out of school!
What excites me most about the project is No Man’s Sky looks to be the space exploration sim I have been waiting for, one that borrows elements of other great titles like Spore and EVE but perhaps isn’t as daunting. EVE Online was my previous attempt at a proper space exploration sim and although I have nothing but respect for the players who have had the time sink of hundreds of hours to get to grips with its incredibly deep, yet utterly confusing gameplay, I simply never had the time to invest. As such, I found myself at 20 hours in more unsure of what to do than when I started in the character customisation screen. No Man’s Sky looks to be the opposite, a title anybody can pick up and play with a focus on simply exploring, trading, battling and being a part of a universe not tied down to a thousand hours of tutorials on the correct methods of adjusting yaw and pitch in low gravity.
From the gameplay videos we have seen so far the title has certainly had an interesting reception thus far. This isn’t Mass Effect or Battlefront and a lot of the questions being raised ultimately allude to: “What do you actually do?” This is a fair and valid point for people interested in picking the game up and for those who have indeed been paying attention, you do what you want. A lot of players like to have a story to follow, I know I do a lot of the time in my single player titles. However, No Man’s Sky looks set to fill that void for gamers who would like to just follow the imagination and see where things take them. This was always going to be a niche title, and at this point being one of the most anticipated games on the radar right now could be both a good and bad thing. Sci-fi junkies and space sim enthusiasts will be right at home here from what we have seen, but the average Joe Blow however may need a little more substance and push to make this a title they can invest themselves in.
It remains to be seen just how the game will turn out, we have only seen a very small amount of what Hello Games have truly been up to, but the hype shuttle for me is far from slowing down as I prepare my jetpack and imagination for the journey that this kid has been waiting for his whole lifetime…even if it is only on a monitor screen (for now…).
No Man’s Sky will launch for PS4 on August 10th. The PC release is scheduled for August 12th.. hopefully.
Header artwork by Kuldar Leement
Although he has been gaming since the Sega Mega Drive launched in 1990, he still sucks at most games. When not being trash he watches French horror films, drinks herbal tea and secretly loves the music of Taylor Swift.
