The intriguing space sandbox is currently reduced on Steam and GOG, can suddenly be building game … and actually everything else you want from an Open World.
I can’t really do anything with sandbox games and I keep exactly one thing away from survival elements. And yet, for months now, I’ve been losing myself anew every week in the endless expanses of No Man’s Sky. How does that fit together?
Now is a great opportunity to explain it to you. On the one hand, No Man’s Sky is currently 50 per cent off at GOG.com and Steam, and on the other hand, an extensive update, Frontiers, was released on 1 September 2021. A final domino that caused the Steam reviews to tip into the positive for the first time after a completely screwed-up release and five years of unprecedented product maintenance.
And a good reason to give this in many ways amazing game a chance. For Game Pass subscribers, by the way, at no extra cost, because the game has been part of the line-up there since June 2020.
Table of Contents
What No Man’s Sky has always been
A voyage of discovery: At its core, No Man’s Sky plays relatively simply. In a seemingly endless, procedurally generated universe, I fly from planet to planet and mine resources, which I use to craft tons of stuff, which in turn enables cooler stuff.
However, what turned out to be dull occupational therapy after only a few hours at release has become a fascinating journey of discovery over the years, during which I still discover new things even after hundreds of hours of play.
A motivating but repetitive survival game: However, the amount of content cannot hide the fact that I repeat many steps thousands of times. Because I need oxygen for my spacesuit, building materials for my base, fuel for my spaceship, money for new technologies. But because there’s always a new space carrot dangling in front of my nose, this annoys me far less than in other survival games.
What No Man’s Sky has become
A graphics highlight: The fact that No Man’s Sky stages its entire universe as a gigantic open world was something I found extremely impressive right from the release. To this day, I can’t get enough of diving from space into the atmosphere of an unexplored planet without a loading pause.
Since the Prisms update in June 2021, at the latest, everything else about No Man’s Sky looks good enough to eat, because it gave the space game a general visual overhaul. In subterranean caves, fluorescent mushrooms conjure up chic lighting effects, spaceship and station surfaces have a wonderful metallic shine, forest and meadow planets invite you to picnic with dense grass growth, and thanks to new fur effects, the procedurally generated animal world is now also available in extra fluffy form.
A space Pokémon: Speaking of the animal world! Since the Companions update, I’m allowed to tame, feed, raise, play on, have treasure hunted, or even equip with mining lasers any peaceful creature in the universe. And yes, if my critter is big enough, I can even ride it, or fly it. If I can’t find a suitable companion on the planets, I simply Frankenstein my own creation from eggs and genetic material.
A fully-fledged MMO: At the time of release, I was still completely alone in space, but No Man’s Sky now offers countless ways for me to interact with other astronauts. Whether in co-op challenges with up to 32 fellow combatants or just visiting self-built planetary dwellings. But what I find most exciting are the expeditions introduced in March 2021. In these time-limited events, thousands start at the same point in space and have to reach certain goals together, which is not only motivating because of the special rewards, but also because of the new or rediscovery of the countless facets of No Man’s Sky.
A building game: The last update Frontiers added planetary settlements to No Man’s Sky at the beginning of September 2021. They not only make the planets … well … livelier, but even expand my odyssey with building game elements. If I earn the respect of the inhabitants of the settlements, I can become mayor and henceforth decide what is to be built next.
Or I focus on building my own base, which, with hundreds of components, really doesn’t limit my creativity any more – apart from the revised but still fiddly building menu.
What No Man’s Sky still isn’t
A good action game: I love thrilling space battles, and in theory No Man’s Sky actually brings it all with umpteen upgradeable ships, freighters, cruisers and weapon systems. In practice, however, it still never really feels dynamic, which is why I prefer to bring out an Everspace or Rebel Galaxy when I want to have a proper bang in space.
The shooter battles on the ground against the mysterious mechanoid Sentinels are also more annoying than they get the pulse racing. Those looking for gripping space action will probably never be truly happy with No Man’s Sky.
A good narrator: Yes, there is now a proper story campaign in No Man’s Sky that successively teaches you the most important game elements. Plus countless logs, mission descriptions, dialogues, you name it. But if you ask me what No Man’s Sky is actually about, I just shrug my shoulders. The whole thing is presented in such a text-heavy, uncharitable and convoluted way that only seconds after clicking away from a dialogue, I have already forgotten what was just said there.
What fascinates me about No Man’s Sky
The joke is: Despite its swashbuckling story, No Man’s Sky has given me some of the most enjoyable stories of my entire gaming life. But they’re just stories I’ve written myself.
Like the time I was just trying to mine some ore and discovered a river that I just had to swim through until it suddenly emptied into a gigantic underground lake full of bizarre water creatures. Or when I got my own space fleet after a quest, completely out of the blue. Or that one planet where I flew straight towards an erupting volcano when I entered the atmosphere. Or when one of the giant worms burst through the ground just a few metres from my base. Or or or.
Over the years,
No Man’s Sky has developed into a gigantic adventure playground where there is so much to discover and try out that it simply never gets boring – even or especially because you are rarely really challenged in terms of play. It turns childlike curiosity into a play principle in a fascinating way. The more you have been able to retain and the greater your desire to discover, the more you will enjoy No Man’s Sky.
