Can I let you in on a little secret? I’ve paid essentially no attention to No Man’s Sky. Why? Because I’m worried about a little thing called “expectation” ruining what might be one of the best experiences in modern gaming.
Seriously, step back for a second and consider the hype surrounding Hello Game’s open world, sorry, open universe title. It has been highly anticipated for years now – from its announcement back at E3 2014, right through until now, the week of its release.
Will it live up to the incredibly high expectations placed on it by excited gamers? I truly hope so, but I somehow doubt it. Don’t get me wrong, I think the space exploration and such is going to be epic, I just fear that many are setting themselves up for disappointment.
With that in mind, I predict that No Man’s Sky will yield an average score of around 7.5 from critics. My reasoning is simple really. The premise and promise of having a whole universe (and every planet in it) as your playground sounds great on paper, but I do wonder if No Man’s Sky will have the power to keep players hooked in the long run. At what point will planets all start to look the same? Is their a ceiling where one will run out of things to do? What about bugs? It sure sounds like there is room for many!
And let’s not forget that hype train. Expectations are sky high, which I feel will hurt the overall score critics hand out.
That’s just my opinion though. Here’s what the rest of the Lazygamer staff have predicted:
- Geoff – 7.5
- Darryn – 8.5
- Zoe – 7.5
- Alessandro – 8.0
- Kyle – 8.0
- Gavin – 7.0
- Marco – 7.0
It’s interesting that right off the bat, none of us think that No Man’s Sky will score higher than 9. The general consensus is that it’s going to be a rather polarising title – some will love and swear by it, while others condemn it with ridiculously low scores. Will we be right? We’ll just have to wait for reviews to roll in this week and next to find out.
No Man’s Sky is out on the PlayStation 4 on the 10th of August, and PC on the 12th. Will you be getting it? How do you think it’ll score?
Last Updated: August 8, 2016
HvR
August 8, 2016 at 13:34
They should make a game trailer using a Queen song
Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0
August 8, 2016 at 13:53
?
Alien Emperor Trevor
August 8, 2016 at 14:09
Well played 😀
Pariah
August 8, 2016 at 13:39
I think it’ll get about a 7. It’s not the kind of game that’ll appeal to everyone, and as such on average, I think the scores will reflect that.
I’m keen, certainly. But the hype isn’t why. I’m simply looking for some exploration. Nothing more. And on that front, NMS WILL deliver. Everything else is just icing on the cake.
Alien Emperor Trevor
August 8, 2016 at 13:40
Why are the 8’s given as 8.0 and the 7’s as only 7? Are you trying to say Gavin & Marco’s opinions, and coincidentally the lowest scores, are less scientific than the others? I see through you, cabbage.
Pariah
August 8, 2016 at 13:41
I think it was just laziness. Have you seen how he’s reduced the Good, Bad & Ugly to just bullet points instead of well-written, clever paragraphs?
hairyknees
August 8, 2016 at 14:28
Psh, bullet points because I can actually fit more news into the wrap 😛
Pariah
August 8, 2016 at 14:41
Go away with your logic.
hairyknees
August 8, 2016 at 14:27
I didnt even notice that xD will fix!
HvR
August 8, 2016 at 15:10
“Because there is only 7, full 7 no 7 and a half” – Llew
Ottokie
August 8, 2016 at 13:49
It will receive a 7.5 (for the first month)
Alien Emperor Trevor
August 8, 2016 at 13:52
You know what they should do? Have some kind of mini-game for when you’re walking around on a planet and you can throw these… balls… at creatures to catch them, and you can train them.
Ottokie
August 8, 2016 at 13:53
http://2.media.dorkly.cvcdn.com/18/49/f03419cbbc0062a363efcdb388aaf2cb.gif
Alien Emperor Trevor
August 8, 2016 at 13:55
It’ll be in the day-two patch.
Ottokie
August 8, 2016 at 13:56
On planet “8=====D” ?
Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0
August 8, 2016 at 13:53
4.2
Pariah
August 8, 2016 at 14:00
*4.20
Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0
August 8, 2016 at 14:02
times 10
Pariah
August 8, 2016 at 14:03
I… I finally get it.
Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0
August 8, 2016 at 14:06
XD
DragonSpirit009
August 8, 2016 at 13:55
For some reason I feel like it will be around 7. I don’t why…. just a feeling.
Dane
August 8, 2016 at 14:07
6.9
😎
HairyEwok
August 8, 2016 at 14:12
6-8 is like the safe zone for any critic…
Dawid Eduard Roestorf
August 8, 2016 at 14:19
I expect it to get average to high (so yeah, 7.5) ratings. That being said, if reviews have told me anything. The games lately that got ratings of 8.5 or above, and who the reviewers have loved, and raved about, those are the games to avoid. Most of those games tend to be great, for about 3 hours and then you never want to touch them again with a 10foot pole. The games reviewers have blasted, and have a 7, are the ones where you just keep playing (here’s looking at Destiny as an example)
So lets hope it gets that 7, as at least that will mean it is a good game
Jose Francisco Arroyo-Velez
August 8, 2016 at 14:21
I think that regardless of score, this game will have it’s own galla of pointless “let’s play” videos like Minecraft and a fan base that will play this game until the shadow of the moon covers the sun and all the fish die. I do think that the variety will be limited by those who see the same looking planets as boring but it will be great for those who see the smaller details of it. This game will have a decent crowd.
Zaki
August 8, 2016 at 14:36
AAA titles need to hang their heads in shame if this game turns out to be everything we want. Hello Games deserve all the praise they can get.
Ps : No man’s sky on PC is 52$ right now http://bit.do/b7xCk.
DukeAJuke ??????
August 8, 2016 at 14:46
Since we all have different expectations, I would say the chances of it not leading up to at least one person’s expectations is about 99.99999992%
Sageville
August 8, 2016 at 15:05
“The longer you ride the hype train, the harder it is to get off…”
Kyle
August 8, 2016 at 15:41
I think for a dev team of 15 throwing out 5 years of hard work in the form of a AAA title, is a pivotable point in gaming. Hope it inspires more people to make use of procedural generation and getting some interesting stuff out.
Kaihaku
August 8, 2016 at 16:18
Probably not… It’s looking like an incredible game but the hype is too great.
Sliquid
August 8, 2016 at 17:19
that pic is hilarious…hype is Always going to win no matter the game or how great it is..
Zaki
August 8, 2016 at 19:08
AAA titles need to hang their heads in shame if this game turns out to be everything we want. Hello Games deserve all the praise they can get.
Ps : No man’s sky on PC is 52$ right now http://bit.do/b7xCk.
BacchusZA
August 10, 2016 at 09:25
And it’s $44 for us here in Sunny South Africa if you buy it from Steam…….
konfab
August 8, 2016 at 21:52
I wonder what would be good enough for a game to reach that all important high review?
Would the ability to 3D print procedurally generated cabbages help?
The Order of the Banana
August 9, 2016 at 00:13
You forgot to add lazygamer’s greatest reviewer and commentator/troll/banana. My prediction is a solid 9.
Gavin Mannion
November 28, 2016 at 12:51
Wow my low ball 7/10 was still too high