Platform: Playstation 4
Developer: Hello Games
Publisher: Hello Games
Release Date: August 9th, 2016
Genre: Action-Adventure, Survival
Nerd Rating: 7/10
Reviewed by Rhutsczar
*Long Exasperated Sigh*
Alright everyone, after a bit of a hiatus from the Bacon I am back and I’d figure I would come back in a mighty swing. I have wanted to write this listicle for quite some time now, as I could say I have an interesting and not well-supported perspective on our subject on the chopping block…No Man’s Sky. As one of probably many, oh so many few, I actually did enjoy my time in the vanilla version of the game, it is actually my first platinum trophy in my collection. Feel free to check out my full review here for vanilla No Man’s Sky.
However Hello Games, the developers behind No Man’s Sky, took gamers’ initial outrage with stride and have been working tirelessly to evolve the game into what it was initially advertised and should have been the original final product. For that alone, I support you Hello Games. Thank you for not scrapping No Man’s Sky the instant it was thrown into a burning trash heap.
#10 Planets Are Now Even More Gorgeous
Alright, we need to start this off with a relatively easy one. By far my favorite part playing No Man’s Sky was flying through the cosmos in search of my perfect planet…the one where I would eventually call home. While I would come to settle on a lively planet with a regular surface temperature of 185 Fahrenheit, I came across many planets that were just bland wastelands. Many of these “oases” were not worth wasting my time to even explore, as it would just be a quick resource gathering mission and nothing more.
However, in the most recent NEXT update, wastelands have become much more uncommon. While I did have to leave my own personal inferno of a planet due to the change (it had become a beautiful temperate paradise) I immediately found that my travels continued and I actually enjoyed the planets I had discovered. The wind seemed realistic while the flora swayed with ease and the fauna enjoyed their own version of paradise. While it is definitely an improvement on the original PlayStation 4, it is even more ridiculous and beautiful on the PlayStation 4 Pro.
#9 A Revamped Creative Mode Along With a Dose of Permadeath
During all of the free time that Hello Games had right after the disastrous launch of No Man’s Sky, they caught themselves wondering on what they could add to entice the remaining players who waded through the trash heap trying to find gold.
In updates that followed, Foundation and NEXT, Hello decided to new game modes. First off is the lovely and ever-so not frustrating “Permadeath Mode” which offers the player a challenge and it is exactly how it sounds. Can you make it to the center of the universe without dying once? I sure as hell couldn’t, 14 generations of characters have already died in my struggle. The second mode is a creative mode, which was rather limited at launch. Over the multiple updates, the creative mode has been tweaked and enhanced beckoning players to come and play in their universe sandbox.
#8 Now With More Customization and a 3rd-Person Perspective
Hello Games really did a number for themselves on the NEXT update, as it seems that it was everything that fans had been complaining about for years. With the inclusion of multiplayer (finally), there had to be a way to differentiate everyone right? Well, Hello Games includes a decent color palette and body modification customization module so you can create your explorer…within limits.
Now that your character is customizable, the developers also included a 3rd person perspective so you can actually see your character and those around you! While it was initially a weird feeling since I have logged too many hours in vanilla via 1st person, I have come around to love it quite quickly. It actually adds a thin veneer of fear and chaos when you can actually see your character running through a space storm. I almost feel bad…(not really).
#7 Snag Your Own Pair of Wheels to Explore More Quickly
Now, this has been available since the first major update to No Man’s Sky, but it wasn’t enough as a whole to bring many disappointed players back. Since one of the biggest drawbacks for vanilla No Man’s Sky was that it was boring and time-consuming to traverse planets on foot, the addition of vehicles was no surprise. Taking center stage is the Path Finder update!
Path Finder was a huge step in the right direction, assuring some fans that Hello Games had not given up hope on our space journey. With the addition of Exocrafts, players were finally able to pick up the pace and explore more quickly. Not to mention, each vehicle, depending on size, added additional inventory for the player to easily use! Believe me, it was necessary, just like it was necessary to treat my exocraft as a dune buggy and careen off of cliffs with it.
#6 Keep Yourself Busy With the New Mission Board
I know that this won’t entice everyone to return on there own, but this was a solid feature added in the Atlas Rising update. In the vanilla version, once you went through the repair of your first ship you are tasked with two options. You can either:
- Follow the way of Atlas.
- Wander aimlessly and explore the galaxy without a guided path.
That’s it. So in an effort to combat the completely valid gripe that there was no direction, the mission board was conceived. This board exists on most satellite outposts in every galaxy, allowing players easy one-off tasks to keep the player busy when they don’t want to play the main quest. The mere fact that this was included allowed players to quickly gather the necessary resources that weren’t there before.
#5 A Healthy Amount of Faction Warfare
When you first touched down on your first planet with extra-terrestrial life forms, you actually don’t learn much about the life-form’s race and culture. This is because No Man’s Sky prides itself on exploration, so in order to understand new lifeforms that you discover you have to learn their language. This apparently “increased your standing” with that particular race of aliens, yet that never impeded your progress in the main game.
One of the finest additions in the Atlas Rising update, however, is that your standing finally matters. Using your main star guide will now explain each race’s varying ideologies and technology focuses, so you can choose who to ally yourself with. Now that the main governments of said factions actually have options to fight each other over, be wary when you warp into a new galaxy. You can easily warp into an all-out war.
#4 Freedom to Build to Your Heart’s Content
Now, I know that base building has been around since the Foundation update, which was the first major update to the game. The idea was interesting and could have worked tremendously if the planets were vibrant and the game’s own processes didn’t limit you. In the Foundation era, the player was allowed to build bases only at abandoned outposts on a few planets. The spawn rate was so low that it would often be only one option per star system.
However, now it has been improved for the NEXT generation. While many of the core building mechanics are still lurking around, the limiting metric for the base building is finally gone. Feel free to build your home anywhere your heart desires. Since the developers also decided to completely revamp the resource system, the ideas and uses for a home base have never been clearer. Do you want to completely cover up a beautiful lake on a distant star? Go right ahead. Just watch for the over-active sentries.
#3 Long Lost Space Battles That We Were Promised
Hello Games learned this lesson the hard way. You can’t make a limitless space exploration game and not have any large-scale space battles, especially after they are advertised extensively. On launch what players originally received were just mere dog-fights with thieves looking to plunder our valuables. While it was initially fun for the first few times, that meager amount of fun dried up quickly.
After taking the first step with the introduction of factions in Atlas Rising, the developers took it another step further and added freighter warfare. Yes, it is as epic as it sounds. How you approach each battle is entirely up to you, will you try to snake in and steal the goods? Will you come out unscathed? Probably not, but at least the slightly refined combat system will make sure you at least have an exciting fighting chance to try and not blow up completely.
#2 An Actual Campaign
That is right! You finally have SOMETHING TO DO in No Man’s Sky. Yes, I know, what are the chances? After multiple updates and patches, Atlas Rising came around and players finally had a solid single-player campaign to follow so you don’t just have to wander aimlessly throughout the cosmos. While Hello Games decided to take the amnesiac protagonist approach, once you start up your first spaceship and listen to a few logs pieces will start to fall into place.
When you enter into a world that is as endless as No Man’s Sky, you will quickly discover how difficult it is to craft a story that will encompass that much of the world. However, the pace that Hello Games decided on feels organic and not like a stranglehold on the player’s need for just pure exploration.
#1 There is Multiplayer and it Isn’t Horrible
YES! What gamers were advertised many eons ago (at least it feels like it) has finally arrived. The most-awaited feature in the NEXT update, the multiplayer mode was finally added so you can explore the universe with a friend! What is impressive is that the multiplayer mode actually feels like they put the effort into it, as it is a full experience and not just some shoddy addition. It is clear that Hello Games geniunely wanted to provide players with the experience they were promised.
Before the finalization of this listicle, multiplayer was going to be placed much higher as it was rather buggy when the NEXT update launched. For example, one of our technicians in our home base was glithed through the floor, so the only way we could speak with him was to swim under the nearby lake. However, in follow-up updates the majority of the bugs have been patched.
DHM: NEXT Update Will Reset Your Prior Technology
For a quick reason against returning for your next space ballad, I would like to direct your eyes to exhibit A. If you had completed what existed in No Man’s Sky circa vanilla, the latest NEXT update renders plenty of your previous equipment as ancient and unusable. I’m definitely not taken aback and spiteful against Hello Games for this move…definitely wasn’t 90% of my fantastic technology. I’m not salty whatsoever…I’m FINE.
Are planning to dive back into No Man’s Sky? Let us know in the comments!
Written by Rhutsczar
Widget not in any sidebars
Hello everybody! Thanks for reaching the end of whatever my newest/current addiction is above me. If you haven’t had enough of my thoughts yet, I also run Media in Review, a website dedicated to movies and music. I also do casual YouTube videos over at the Media in Review and Senor con queso channels, so follow and subscribe@ Anyway if you like what you read and would like to check out more, follow the links below. Also be sure to check out the RBG over on Beyond Bacon!.
