If you've been holding out for reviews of No Man's Sky before the game launches in less than a week, you may want to rethink your plans. In short, it's looking increasingly likely that publications aren't going to be sent review code before the space sim releases. Why this appears to be the case is up for debate, however.
Usually, when websites and magazines aren't given early review copies of upcoming titles, there's an air of doubt regarding the game's quality; perhaps the publisher isn't confident that the game will meet the expectations of critics, and would rather not have low-scoring reviews attached to the title before it becomes publicly available. There is, of course, a chance that this is the case with No Man's Sky, but we reckon that the actual reasoning doesn't have to be quite so sinister.
Regardless of whether Hello Games' ambitious project turns out to be good or not, it's worth remembering that the game will receive a day one patch that sounds rather hefty. Studio founder Sean Murray tweeted that the developer was wrapping up said patch in the early hours of the morning, and that it brings "lots of new features, balancing, and content". With that in mind, it could well be that review code has been put on hold until the update is available to download, which makes a lot of sense when you think about it.
In any case, with pre-launch reviews looking unlikely at this point, are you worried about No Man's Sky? Are you eager to get some insight into the game before you decide to buy? Explore a universe of possibilities in the comments section below.
[source neogaf.com, via twitter.com]
Comments 47
I hope the patch locates the guy who spent $1300 to obtain an illegal copy and is causing internet goofs to flip out and deletes all of his game progress.
This is an unknown entity. Dropping 50 pounds on it without any idea of quality seems a little foolish to me. Will wait for reviews. Not exactly starved for games at the moment.
Still getting it either way. From what I've heard it seems the unpatched game has a few fairly significant issues. What will be interesting is if any of the new content or fixes are reflective of the feedback.
Honestly, I do have a fairly bad feeling about NMS - my gut says there will be a lot of people disappointed in it. Personally I've had it in my head from day one that this was never going to be a perfect game. It's incredibly ambitious, developed by a tiny team, hyped beyond all belief and has been keeping itself almost purposefully vague since it was first announced.
BUT - it's a game I desperately want to play either way. The game at its very, very simplest is still something I want to try and for that reason I'm happy to give it a go. Whatever happens, I hope that this doesn't prove to be a disaster for Hello Games as they appear to be an extremely passionate and hard-working developer, and I'd love to see a sequel one day that has a bigger budget and team behind it, improving on some solid foundations and ideas.
No hesitation for me buying this. Not setting high expectation either just looks like type game me and couple of my friends who getting it will enjoy. The naming feature is one of the things where looking forward to as daft as it sounds
Not gonna lie...I'm a little worried and I would like to read some reviews before ordering the game.
@Neolit Well put, exactly what I hoped for when this was first announced and that's all I expect to justify my pre-order. Ordered the soundtrack too so I can pretend I'm still a badass space explorer when I'm driving around at night.
What @Neolit says pretty much sums it up for me.
One more week...
@Deadcow Sounds like you're upset that he could afford it. It's ok, not everyone has disposable income like that.
Got the day booked off & cant wait to get lost in it!
I feel sorry for those that might have been caught up in the hype around this game but yet still ask 'what do you do?'
The only review I am concerned with is my own. Bring it on!
I'm honestly not worried.... If the dude that bought it early for $1300 said he was enjoying it, I'm sure I will too...
Nope not worried, I've preordered and paid for my copy, I haven't looked/read any of the leaked footage, so rolling Wednesday yay.
For some reason I've always been skeptical about this game being good. Probably just because of the astronomical expectations it's had since the first reveal.
Really hope it's awesome though...
WUH OH
I actually think this is a really good thing with all this talk of spoilers. When Uncharted 4 was realesed I woke up the next morning to have the living room scene spoilt for me before the postman had even arrived by a major gaming site. At least I don't need to go on media blackout from day one now just so I can experiance the game spoiler free.
Usually there are reasons for not having a review up before release, there has only been a few games that have been any good which have done the same thing. Hopefully it turns out good.
I've seen enough of the $1300 guy's leaked footage to say that I'm a fan of the idea, and the core gameplay looks fun enough for my tastes, both of which are definitely points in the game's favour; so I'm still considering dropping £50 on the digital pre-order.
The patch, however, seems like it's probably needed. Achieving the core goal of the game in 20 hours seems to have been due to exploit in the way the game works, and I imagine other issues were encountered once the game went gold that the team either didn't have the time to fix, or hadn't even thought about prior to it, so getting a patch out in time for release is probably a good idea, as is asking reviewers to hold back reviews if said patch is a significant change either in how certain gameplay systems work, or the amount of content in the game.
@banacheck launch day review embargos are, sadly, the norm nowadays. Post-launch review embargos seem to be reserved for more online-focused titles (so reviewers have a chance to play on production servers with the general public), though I do not think this is a formal post-launch embargo, more the developer asking reviewers to be patient.
@Neolit agreed, NMS is the game ive been wanting to play ever since i played Elite on a bbc microcomputer a very long time ago. For arguments sake lets say that nms doesn't live up to its 3years worth of hype and isnt everything that hello games say it will be, it would still be a staggering achievement given how small HG are and then to go through what they did with flooding and stuff...will the game fly of the shelves and sell tons of copies? Maybe...will the game be something special? Yes it will, absolutely.
Let's not forget that Doom didn't have pre release reviews either and turned out alright. ABZU this week was another as well. Besides NMS is so unique in how it was made and set up up that I don't think it should be judged by the usual method of websites where they just want a review on the embargo deadline.
It's got all the markers if a huge disappointment.
@Mega-Gazz A massively overhyped audience with ridiculous expectations? Yup!
Going to snag it day one - not relying on any review. Like the guy who spent $1300 on it, I don't want spoil it and would rather jump into it blind.
I decided today to leave buying the game for a couple of weeks just when I had the spare cash to preorder. I have a feeling CEX and Game will have a million pre ordered copies returned within the week of release so will wait for the review and have a bash on elite instead.
To be fair, the guy who paid the 1300 for an early copy said it was a great game, and that is before this patch which is supposed to be fairly hefty. Hello games even tweeted that they added in more color variation in the patch, along with more content, bug fixing, etc, seems like the right thing to do if the patch is intended to straighten things up.
@teknium_ you can play Elite Dangerous, its absolutely stunning. My PC can just about handle it so its worth picking up even on a PC from 7 years ago (just about on low settings mostly). The base version is £8 or something ridiculously low and where as Elite was a bit crap on release with bugs, lack of missions and only space stations they've added a lot in the past 18 months and I would highly recommend it. If I had a sneaky £800 I would buy a better PC just for that one game.
I'm pretty impulsive but I like to think I'll hold off on buying this for a few days just to see what the general buzz is. If it sounds alright I'll get it on Friday and pull a late one! Tuesday is a rubbish day for games to release anyway!
I will wait till after the 18th to purchase, exams and all.
This is actually encouraging for me. With such a small team, I'm sure they're working extra hard to get the patch out in time for release so that some of the more glaring bugs can be smoothed over from the start. No wonder reviews are on hold.
Day one dudes, still reckon Mr Murray is an honourable bloke and that his vision will shine through in the game. It's great that the developer is working so hard on patches and content well after the golden master.
@kyleforrester87 I don't think I can trust the general buzz on this one. Having seen how generally misinformed people are about this game, and some of the ridiculous expectations, I don't think the buzz can get better than "Meh" and is more likely to be "Overhyped waste of time." If you're really concerned about it, maybe find a cheap rental to try it out. My local library lends video games for free, so I often try before I buy when I'm not sure. As for me, Neolit summed up how I feel about NMS perfectly, and the coming patch actually makes me less concerned overall.
If anyone is worried there is nothing wrong with waiting till after launch for reviews. This is a Space sim chances are it could be slow going at times. I love Elite Dangerous on PC! The new art style and playing this on PS4 is something I want to play just as much as Elite on PC.
@NoxAeturnus nahhh once it's out we'll know after a couple of days if the games worth it or not! I trust enough people on here to tell it like it is
That's a pretty big red flag. I think I'll give this a pass for now.
I think it'll be a fine game. I'm keen to play it but I'll definitely wait until I read some reviews.
My special edition or whatever its called is being packed, 90% certain I'll live this game, head towards the centre, ha, no, I'm off to explore dead planets.
WE'LL ALL KNOW IN A WEEK EEEEE
The day one patch is a really, really good thing.
That being said there's no way I'm touching this before reviews come in from multiple sources.
@kyleforrester87 - I was initially inclined the same way, but such is my desire to have a 'chilled, sci-fi' experience that the pre-order made sense, as I'm pretty sure my new PS4 gsming triumvirate will be Destiny, GTA Online and No Mans Sky......gaming nirvana methinks, with Bioshock Collection on the horizon 😎
I've always thought this game is ridiculously overhyped and that it will disappoint lots of people...this confirms my suspicions
@Shellcore Don't buy games from GAME. I'm assuming that's where it's £50? It's £45 most places online and only £40 on Simply Games.
Anyway, I've been wary of this game since I first saw them playing and describing it. While very expansive - understatement of the decade there - it's very shallow in terms of each of the systems in place. Comparing it to Elite Dangerous is like comparing Jetpack Joyride to Flight Sim. Yet that can be a strength as well; streamlined and accessible and immediately gratifying. I just don't have huge hopes for how long that'll last before you get tired of landing on generic planet 34564333 and seeing the purple seagulls with penis inspired names courtesy of xXNate420DrakeXx.
Yet even saying all that stuff, I'm still looking forward to trying it out.
Yeah, the leaked footage for this has raised my hype level even higher as there seems to be more to the game than I expected. So with the day one patch (probably getting rid of the atlas stones shortcut to the centre of the galaxy) and graphic improvements etc this SHOULD be the game I'm looking forward to....if you know what I mean arry.
@Matroska
Penisauraus' 4 life, bro; Keep it four-two-oh.
There are people streaming this already on PS Live. I'm not watching any, though. Last time, I watched a stream of somebody playing Fallout 4 before it was released and some douche spoilt the ending for everybody in the comments section.
@Neolit As a 45 year old Sci fi fan who also exercised his imagination via Elite; I'm with you all the way. If all I've seen is all there is, I'll be happy. Only crashes could spoil my preorder.
I'm trying hard to reel in my expectations as no game could possibly live up to the Ray Bradbury/Isaac Asimov fantasies I'm conjuring up! Lol
None of the know Bugs seem to be hard to fix ... I stay with my preorder
So $1,300 didn't even buy that guy a finished game? OK, that's funny.
Doesnt exactly fill you with enthusiasm that the version that went gold isnt being sent out of reviewers.
Surely gold means its ready to go and therefore no reason to not have it going out as review copys.. barring a few day1 bugs that arent game breaking.
Ill be surprised if No Mans Sky is more than a 7-8/10 game. Certainly no where near the hype that its generated and not a bad game by any means but far from being a console seller.
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