No Man’s Sky – Atlas Rising
This isn’t really a review, more of a…I don’t know actually. “A heads up” doesn’t sound exactly right but it kind of works here.
Anyway, since NMS came out and was promised again and again and again as being the sci-fi space game that ends all sci-fi space games and we all know what happened after launch and if you don’t then here’s your simple answer: It was a big fat lie. Going on a talk show and basically saying “you will be able to play with friends” and the first thing that we find out is that there is no (proper) multiplayer, yeah that’s a lie. You can’t spin that any other way. The game was simply a lie at launch.
Now with that all out of the way (not gonna go back to that or throw more fuel on that fire, just a simple summary there) I was one of those people that wanted it. I wasn’t one of those “OMG BEST GAME EVER” before it was even released because it got the “Best Trailer at E3” award but since it was space and sci-fi I was interested but very “concerned” by the fact that all they kept doing was re-releasing the same trailer over and over again just re-cut differently. Should’ve been my first clue but I got it anyway, that and I could review (which I did here) but after the more or less 6-10 hours just trying to get off my starting planet, it obviously turned into what we all know and love: walk, walk, fly, fly, repeat again and again and again with no real point to it at all except to get to the center of the galaxy.
Long past the point of a Steam refund (Hell yes I wanted my f***ing $60 back) I had lost ALL urge to continue to playing but forced myself to keep going so I could get my “60 bucks” worth of it. Hoping for something to change, I Googled the story hoping that there would be a big pay off at the end of the story. SPOILERS: NOPE!!! Having your “universe” just reset and you start over…I…I can’t even finish my thought on how horrible that is. That makes Mass Effect 3 endings (okay ENDING, not plural, just different Instagram filters) look like they won an Emmy, an Oscar, and a BAFTA.
That’s right, I included a British Awards because unlike the other two, the BAFTA’s actually include video games in there awards show, big whoop, wanna fight about it? But I digress.
So you can understand upon finding that out I never wanted to touch the game again. Even when they added bases and rovers to the game I had no interest and didn’t touch it. I know that goes against the whole “You’re a game reviewer, you should let us know about it and whether or not it’s worth getting now.” But like basically everyone else, I was like “same game, no modes of transportation, while neat, doesn’t change the completely empty, pointlessness of the game. My original review still applies.”
To sum up since launch of NMS, Hello Games has basically gone Silent Running, only saying the bare minimum about the game (patch notes and some other minor things) and of course they’ve had to deal with all the haters attacking them everywhere so I can’t say I blame them. So when this new update showed up I was surprised because still a year later they’re making content even when on Steam there customer reviews is 88k, 56k of those being negative and it having an Overal score of “Mostly Negative.” So I guess they’re trying to make the game worth the $60 we all spent on it, which, regardless if you a like this game, or any game, is commendable. I always want to see devs making content for there games, especially when I don’t have to pay for it separately.
But with that in mind, I re-downloaded the game with the intention to try out this new content they added. And suffice it to say, because of the game the way it is, I could not find a planet that has an area where I could make a base nor could I find these new portals they added so I couldn’t try out the new “limited multiplayer”…yes you read right, actual multiplayer in the game. Had to go and look it up to find out (thanks reddit) but the limited multiplayer is simply floating balls of energy, that show other people around you, but with the added benefit that you can actually chat with them with VOIP but only up to 15 other people. So it’s not multiplayer as we’re use to but it’s a start I guess. Maybe someday they will actually have multiplayer we’re use to.
As for the base building, there is a game mode that allows you to make a base without (resource) restrictions and not die and I find those kinds of modes boring. Since I was in normal mode and I didn’t want to reset my save (as some on the internet suggested) I just wanted to try this new stuff out but with a no go.
Missions being added are a big help since just traveling around and just trying to get from A to B for no real reason other than it’s there is helpful. When you want to buy something but don’t have the credits it’s very helpful to have at least a little way to make money without having to scan everything in sight just for 10k credits and a ship you want costs 10 million.
New Scanner UI.
The UI got an update with a bit more information to share with you instead of just saying “you found ‘rock,’ you found ‘bird.’” It’s also helpful with space combat. I hate space flying simply because the ship responds better with a controller and not a mouse and you can’t do precise movement with a controller. So now the game now seems to “auto-aim” your guns on target. Before it felt like it never knew what it wanted to do, aim for you or not at all.
Missions are a nice touch.
I would still like them to take out the damn “hold down button/mouse click to engage” action with all the menus. Just let me click and go. If you want to make me confirm my action, ask me.
So this isn’t exactly a review, just an update on this game. It went from “don’t buy this unfinished game” game at launch to “it’s now beta-in-progress so you may or may not like it.” It’s up to you.
As for me? Well if I had never heard about this game and tried it now…maybe I’d get it. But the big problem here that is stopping me, and I feel stopping a lot of other people is this:
WHY IS IT STILL $60?
This is Call of Duty level of stubbornness. (CoD: BO2, Ghosts, AW Gold Edition, these were released between 2012-2014 for reference and still at $60 and I’m not including season passes which are another $50.)
http://store.steampowered.com/sale/cod/
If you’re charging that much for a game that isn’t finished, at least say what should’ve been said at the beginning: it’s a game in progress. That simple change might actually make it worth it then.
