No Man's Sky

No Man's Sky is a production on the border of two seemingly completely different genres. The title allows us both to explore the vast galaxy with the help of a ship, as in the classic space simulators, and to explore the surface of the planets straight from the action adventure games with a dash of survival. The project was developed by Hello Games, an independent studio, which has previously become known thanks to the Joe Danger series. It is not only the most ambitious work of this team, but also an impressive example of using the possibilities of procedural generation.

Despite the fact that the discussed item initially was not too warmly received by players and reviewers, because the creators' pre-release announcements eventually mismatched with what they gave us, the authors quickly rolled up their sleeves and began to expand it with various updates introducing new content. As a result, over time No Man's Sky began not only to "grow", but also to gain a larger and larger group of fans.

The action of No Man's Sky takes place in a gigantic galaxy consisting of over eighteen trillion celestial bodies. During the game we play as an explorer whose task is to reach its center and discover what is there. The case is not simple, because we start our journey on a randomly selected planet located at the edge of the star system. Of course, we're not alone in space - we can meet representatives of various races both on the planets and on the decks of huge stations and in space.

Although initially the journey to the center of the galaxy was the engine of the game, over time the authors enriched it with additional story lines introduced in subsequent updates, within which we have to complete various tasks.

In No Man's Sky we can observe the action from a first person perspective (FPP) or a third person perspective (TPP). The game world is fully open, which means that we can move freely both in space and on celestial bodies (on their surface or under water). We travel through interstellar space on board of various ships. In addition to the technologically advanced ships there are unusual animals that can live in vacuum, in the interiors of which we explore the space (which is why they are known as "Living Ships"). Planets and moons are explored on foot or with the help of vehicles; apart from that, we can use mecha, a huge powered armor protecting us against extreme conditions.

Our possibilities of exploration are largely limited by the equipment we have, purchased from merchants or created thanks to an extensive crafting system. The latter requires resources, which we obtain with the so-called multi-tool, both from rocks and from encountered plants and animals characteristic of the planet or the moon. We use the resources to produce new pieces of equipment and improve the ones we already have, or even to build our own base. With time we even gain the ability to construct our own fleet of frigates and send them on various missions. At the merchants we can not only supply ourselves with new items, but also get rid of unwanted equipment and resources. It's worth remembering that they represent various parties, and if we clash with their allies, they won't be too cooperative (and, for example, will refuse to sell us the most advanced technologies). We can improve relations with particular groups by performing various missions for them.

As hostile creatures (either representatives of intelligent races or aggressive animals) often stand on our way, the mentioned multi-tool serves us both for work, as well as for defense or attack. But be careful with the latter, because the galaxy is patrolled by the Guardians, the robots that guard the balance of the cosmos. If we get under their skin, they will not rest until we are dead. We also fight in space (for example with pirates), using weapons installed on board our ship.

The game can be played in one of three modes. In addition to the standard one, the creative variant, in which we enjoy unlimited amount of resources and immortality, as well as the survival module, where the enemies are stronger and the amount of resources is reduced, are waiting to be checked. There's also an optional permadeath mechanic, which makes it necessary to start over after death.

In No Man's Sky you can play alone or in multiplayer mode. While console players can play in a group of 8 people, PC users can have 32-player battles. The community hub is the Space Anomaly, where we can meet up with other players at any time.

No Man's Sky is based on Hello Games' proprietary technology. After numerous updates, the graphic design of this production may appeal. Thanks to the use of procedural generation planets are diverse, as are the organisms living on them. The atmospheric soundtrack deserves praise as well, behind which stands the ambient performer Paul Wier and the British post-rock band 65daysofstatic. An interesting fact is that selected elements of the audio layer are procedurally generated. In addition, on PC and PlayStation 4 the game makes use of virtual reality sets.