No Man's Sky PC Review: Gameplay And Performance Explored


No Man's Sky: Our Opinions & The Wrap Up

No Man's Sky is grand and epic in scale. It spans numerous galaxies with countless worlds and promises near-endless gameplay with its procedurally generated content. What it lacks severely, however, is a cohesive plot to stitch together all of the excessive roaming, resources management, and item acquisition. It can leave some players overwhelmed with all of the possibilities and there is little direction on where to begin. Yet, NMS is all about freedom and exploration--that is until its not.

no man's sky 8
More intelligent life to interact with please.

The procedurally generated content at the heart of the game engine kicks out endless locales, yet most are distinctly empty. Sure, there is wildlife and a few store clerks hanging out in the middle of nowhere. While on a planet's surface, you will also see other ships occasionally fly overhead. You can pursue and shoot them down to suck up some resources. Yet there are no cities or towns full of intelligent life that we've come across. While the game makes good on its promise to put the player in the boots of a wide-eyed space explorer, there are no new cultures to experience, which makes each galaxy feel a bit cold despite the atmospheric conditions. 

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Many worlds to explore for the patient and meticulous.

This type of game is not everyone. No Man's Sky is not an action-packed game. Hello Games says they have much planned for NMS, including multiple content updates and patches. We hope some of these will include more advanced intelligent life to encounter and engage. As it stands today, No Man's Sky offers countless hours of exploration across many star systems and worlds. Its a unique experience for anyone who loves gameplay that hinges on strict survival and exploration.
hothardware recommended
hotnot
  • Immersive and immense in scale
  • Countless star systems and worlds to explore 
  • Truly feel like a would-be space explorer
  • Strict survival and exploration gameplay
  • A technical achievement in scope and fidelity
  • Scales well across hardware (when it's running well)
  • Various performance issues
  • AMD owners should heed all patch notes
  • Worlds feel empty/bereft of intelligent life/communities
  • Gameplay can get repetitive


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