E3 2014 turned out a whole lot better than anticipated if you ask me. Pretty much every major console provider and game publisher put forth a strong showing that has me more excited for the future than I have been in a while. That being said, a lot of what was shown was fairly safe and predictable. New Halo. New Tomb Raider. New Assassin’s Creed. New Uncharted. New Zelda. New Forza. New Fable. New LittleBigPlanet. I could go on listing off all the usual suspects practically forever.
Through all the predictability and familiarity, though, for me one game stood out above all others. That game was No Man’s Sky from Hello Games. Yes, a game from a 4-man indie studio beat out all the AAA blockbusters!
The funny thing is, I’m not entirely sure what type of game No Man’s Sky actually is. Obviously it’s a sci-fi space combat and exploration game set in a procedurally generated universe. A universe so expansive you can literally roam under the giant feet of dinosaurs through fields of neon orange grass on one planet, hop into a spaceship, blast through an asteroid field and a fleet of hostile spacecraft, and then enter the atmosphere of another planet full of entirely new dangers, mysteries and ecological life forms to discover. All without encountering a single load time. It’s pretty remarkable when you see how smoothly the game transitions from one environment to the next.
But what’s the goal of doing so? Is it just supposed to be a sandbox solar system to freely explore, or will there be some greater narrative or objective driving the game forward? I have no clue, I just know that I am dying to play it and find out.
No Man’s Sky will make its debut on PlayStation 4 at some point in the future whenever the game is finished, before eventually landing on other platforms further down the line. If you haven’t watched the gameplay reveal yet, go do so immediately. Here, I’ll help you out:
[nggallery id=3429]
The trailer looks amazing, but I want to see more minute to minute actual gameplay to get a better sense of what you will be doing in the game.