No Man's Sky (PS4, PC) - It shouldn't be this way

By Gemma @ Juicy Game Reviews / TheGebs24

No Man's Sky was destined for greatness and instead Hello Games were wishing they were in space

No Man’s Sky has not been without scandal. Is scandal the right word to use? Right now I am starting to think that No Man’s Sky is a big fat satchel of lies. Lies that have been uncovered by hundreds of very angry gamers since it was released less than one month ago. I’m very guilty of something though: I like No Man’s Sky. I’d go as fat to say that I really enjoy the hell out of No Man’s Sky. No Man’s Sky forces me in to a state of relaxation, contentment and gives me an odd sense of achievement. No Man’s Sky is a huge break away from the frantic First Person Shooter genre or the over stimulated, unjulating, pulse popping maps of a Call of Duty game. It is empty, it is solitary and it is captivating. No Man’s Sky is simple. It’s beautiful. It’s ambient. It’s peaceful. I never know what I am truly going to get when I pick up my PS4 controller and slap on my PlaySonic 3 headset. All I know is that when I dive in to No Man’s Sky I feel content. It’s certainly a thriving and rewarding experience albeit with gritted teeth. 

I adore the distinction No Man’s Sky has given me. So why are fans so angry at Hello Games and in particular Sean Murray? It’s simple: He lied. He outright lied about gameplay features and mechanics. In an interview with Game Informer shown here Sean Murray was asked “will you be able to play with your friends?” He replied “yeah”. There were a ton of questions asked by the Game Informer editor Jeff Cork in which Murray’s answers were seemingly untrue. You cannot play with your friends and you cannot war with factions. You cannot join factions and nobody has found any mechs. What is going on?

I went in to No Man’s Sky without following the hype. I missed every interview Sean Murray gave and it was not until the final hour that I started to feel the excitement. I knew what I wanted to know about the game and I can honestly report that I am enjoying the experience this far in. Like many of you I was upset when No Man’s Sky got delayed and like many fans I put out a video to air my thoughts over certain Indie Developers feeling as though they can take the cake. There’s always a theme when our beloved video games get pushed back and it goes along the lines of we want more time to make the game as good as possible for the fans. Unfortunately this cannot be said for the now infamous No Man’s Sky. Sean Murray’s baby is getting ripped to shreds in the Twitter feed of Hello Games. On a blog post released by Murray on the No Man’s Sky website he liked the following:

Here is what No Man’s Sky definitely is:
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• - Exploring a universe of pretty procedurally generated worlds, with beautiful       creatures
• - Trading with NPCs
• - Combat against robots/mechs and cool space battles

So far there are no planets with sand despite being shown - No Man's Sky

So far we cannot join factions and battle in wars despite it being shown - No Man's Sky

‘Combat against robots/mechs and cool space battles?’ Nope not in No Man’s Sky. He later wrote that base building and freighters  were coming. Why were freighters and cool space battles not available from day one? I dread to think what would have been in No Man’s Sky had been released in June as it was originally planned. Some have even questioned the price point of No Man’s Sky. Should it have been a £50 / $60 game? Perhaps not. 

What the future holds?
Sean Murray promises future patches to alleviate the disastrous experiences some players are having. It seems like their intent is to iron out most flaws before working further promised features such as base building. When that day comes, we can only hope that Hello Games don’t thwart their chances. Have Hello Games burnt their bridges with Sony? Have they burnt they bridges with the fans? These are questions that I feel are important to consider. For now I will continue to play No Man's Sky and watch the developments carefully. No Man’s Sky could have had such a positive community too… 

Fire your Mining Beam in to this... I dare you...