An Update review of No Man’s Sky.
I’m going to start
off by saying I fully support the NMS being not guilty of miss leading. Sorry everyone but you created your own hype
and look in the mirror to see whose fault it is.
I did read the
list that got sent off as “complaints” and let’s have a little look shall we –
·
We
saw big dinosaurs in the release video – where are they?
They exist, I
know because I’ve seen them.
·
Where
is the big water world or the lush green planet?
They exist, I
know because I’ve seen them.
·
Factions,
What? Where and how?
Again the factions
exist and you gain influence on each one.
·
Ship
customisation
You do have
“customisation” just not on the level you wanted.
·
No
animal behaviour
It’s there it’s
simply basic, some attack you – some don’t.
Some will run in fear if you go near them while others will ignore you.
·
A
trade fleet being attacked
One last time –
I’ve seen it. I once witnessed almost 20
fighters taking on a trade fleet. Was
actually fun to get involved with – got torn apart.
Now that
comment is the issue “not on the level you wanted”. You don’t get to see as many water worlds,
lush green planets or giant dinosaurs that are like “wow” as often as you
want. In fact that is the problem. The systems created in NMS are not as complicated
or detailed as people wanted and again that reiterates the “hype train” people
dreamed up.
The faction
system is very simple and basic. The
dinosaurs, planets and systems all work under an algorithm which although is
really good that one system is rarely too similar it creates a possibility that
you may never see what you want to see.
And that is where the problem lies because people didn’t see it they
immediately thought “it doesn’t exist“ or simply wasn’t complex enough.
The result? You
created your own hype train and I have little sympathy.
So the recent update:
On one side I’m
hugely disappointed because it feels like they’ve rewritten the algorithm and
it’s really noticeable on a lot of small things. Straight away the scanner doesn’t tell you
everything. You also find certain
minerals are rare to find while others don’t exist on a planet.
You will find
some really good changes though before I even get to the big one. Fleet engagements seem to be much more
impressive and I’m also witnessing a larger difference in capital ships. Your own trade ship is a fantastic addition
to the storage woes most people were fed-up with. You will also find it a bit more punishing if
you decide to shoot some innocent ships docking in to the space stations. The scanner now tells you what minerals
exists on planets (plus there is quite a few little touches here and there).
Base building – This is simply started off by a quest
system.
I’ve got to say
if this was released from day 1 we may have seen a lot less crying. Not only can you build a base, bring NPCs to
give you more quests and advice but you also get a huge amount of storage which
you can take it all with you somewhere else.
Although you can’t actually carry it once you place those base parts on
another planet you will find your NPCs and storage items tucked nicely in the
new base. Lovely.
I’ve barely
scratched the surface of this, I only just finished building a wall with gates
around my base with 4 NPCs or is it 5.
I’ve got multi levels on a base building which goes quite high but..
it’s becoming a bit of a mess. Gathering
the resources to create the basics is easy, but it’s collecting all the extras
that becomes the nightmare. Plus to earn
the schematics for future constructs or material access you’ve got to do more
quests. Which involve traveling to
other systems in search of that NPC or resource to take back to your own NPCs.
Another nice
touch is the instant travel from the Starbase to your base (your ship will be
sent too). You still find a struggle for
holding a lot of resources to support yourself and now with certain minerals
being rare it becomes a bit annoying.
You can create a new game which has no survival factor – which to be
honest I’m tempted to do just to build and have fun.
I’ve barely scratched the surface
That’s the
honest part, there is much more for me to build and learn regarding this
update. Which is a very positive
thing. There’s also a way to gain tons
of money in a short easy space of time regarding lubricant. When I get to that point anyway.
One to watch
out for if you have the money – Trade ship Star Destroyer which can be
yours. Okay it looks like Star
Destroyer.
So the final note is this really is a very good
update. Remember this is a small team
making this and they’ve probably been working on this segment for 8 months if
not more. Give them a break. You’ve not just purchased a game it appears
you’ve also purchased the updates.
Considering how many games give you 20 hours of play time at £40 while
still charging £20 for DLC for another 2 hours’ worth of content. I don’t think people can complain at all
about the cost of No Man’s Sky. This
game is not Minecraft which has gain fundamental basics but allows you to build
whatever you want – where you want. In
fact Minecraft is now years old and still the content itself from the original
game is basic. It’s the modders and
custom servers that have created the majority of content for this game.
I’ll also add
that the only thing I still have a problem regarding the team is their lack of
information being sent to their customers or twitter followers. Working in my current job I keep all staff in
the loop of any new changes or possible developments. I’ve even got a list of what changes I
want/hope to make in the coming 2-3 years.
