Elite was amazing back in the day. I mean the original wireframe one. The one out now is pretty good, too, I guess. But it hasn’t been back in the day for, oh, I don’t know, at least ten years? Maybe twenty? Vast, open, and mostly empty universes aren’t so amazing anymore. Open universes need stuff in them. They need content. They need gameplay. They need interlocking gameplay systems. They probably need to compress time and distance with some hoo-ha about hyperlight warp subspace drives. They also probably need trading, combat, faction rep, upgrades, and a story. And, these days, a game can’t very well be a game without crafting.
Within two hours, I realized I had wasted my money on this. I gave the game four more hours, and my opinion hadn’t changed. It’s too bad, because I feel like the art and tech is pretty good.
What really did it for me was the realization that beyond the music and unified art style, I had already played better Steam early access survival crafting games. Like Tom, I was pretty jazzed about my first couple of planets, but once it sunk in for me that this was it for the rest of the game, I was done. Past that first impression, there’s only some really simplistic crafting gameplay holding things together.
All the drama and discussion around the game is more interesting to me than the game itself.
Oddly enough, I think there are things about it you would likely appreciate.
I think the key quote is this:
And Tom is absolutely right about this. This was my chief concern before the game came out. While I actually have enjoyed scouring planets for resources and such, it is true that (as far as I know) there is nothing you are going to find on Zaphod IX that you aren’t going to find on millions/billions of other planets.
I was so looking forward to this game. I’m glad I haven’t purchased it yet but I’m still holding out hope that they might turn it in to something great eventually. I bought Empyrion: Galactic Survival instead and have been playing it non-stop.
Well, I’m enjoying No Man’s Sky (at least so far). I understand exactly why Tom didn’t enjoy it because he’s an excellent writer/reviewer, and I’m always curious to see what his experience was, to compare it with my own.
And that’s the key thing here - those experiences can be widely different, because different people have different drives and expectations. Some things that are too little to keep Tom motivated are enough to keep me motivated. Some things that bother Tom don’t bother me at all. And that’s fine. Like I said, different people.
Anyway, I’m just rambling. That was another excellent review, Tom. Well done!
The cool thing about finishing the review is now I can find out why some folks really like this. I’ve steered clear of discussions so far, but I look forward to reading what folks who like the game have to say.
Yes! Infinitely this. And that’s why I can’t be bothered with procedural content generation as a vector for exploration. Because all there is to discover is a slightly different output of the same algorithm. If it’s a good enough algorithm maybe you’ll occasionally find some chance combination of building blocks that make something memorable and exciting, and I guess I can understand how some people might find this accidental assembly more impressive because it wasn’t authored…but I don’t. And ultimately all you’re getting is a pretty screenshot. The discoveries that actually thrill me tell stories, give me unique avenues for gameplay, or at the very least provide a meaningful and distinct boost in my ability to deal with the challenges of the game. You don’t get any of that without a designer putting it there.
Well, I’m still very early, but it’s one hell of a tech demo. But there’s very little pushing forward aside from my own curiosity. I’be started the Atlas path, but aside from reaching the first marker and getting a new one a few systems away, not much has happened.
My suit is up to 25 slots, which is nice, and I’ve been making a lot more upgrades. I’ve kind of been focusing more on that, since I don’t have to worry about moving to a new one later.
I’ve learned over two hundred words now, which is pretty cool. I seem to be making steady progress with the factions, but aside from a different dialog option here and there, not sure what else that does.
I can’t help but think how cool it would be to take a small slice of this massive universe and convert it into something more along the lines of Escape Velocity with more story and interaction between the factions.
I’m enjoying it, and it’s exactly what I suspected, but I totally get why it wouldn’t appeal to a lot of people.
I love that front page content automatically appears here now. It definitely draws me to those articles more readily.
Great review. I haven’t played it but plan to pick it up when I get a new PC because I think my daughters will really enjoy the different worlds and creatures.
Do you mean that it is in the Games category? I find it odd that this is in Games instead of Front Page. Regardless, I enjoyed the review and glad I didn’t have time to play, so I didn’t pick it up.
I like the game alot as well. And there is alot to criticize about the game. I actually think it wouldnt take much to make the game more playable. They just need to add more stuff to do. whether its building and defending a base, making money, or exploring more complex planets. also,they could make the combat alot more deep with a deep tech tree PLUS more random spacecraft (I love how some of the spacecraft looks)
As is, I think this is the perfect game for the type of people who can spend hours just wasting on Google Maps… a somewhat passive imaginative experience.
The Front Page category I think was just a migration target for historic stuff. I believe Tom’s intent was that all future front page posts will go into their relevant forum category - Games, Movies, etc.
I hope this is true. I’m as good about visiting the Front Page category as I am the front page itself, so having things go to the right spot will force me to do so.
