No Man's Sky Reviews: 10 Early Reactions You Need To Know

9. It's A Survival Game, Through And Through

"From the confusing outset, where you’re thrown onto a planet with a crashed ship and told only to gather the resources needed to repair the ship, it’s all about hunting down various minerals and isotopes needed to live."

"I’m almost out of carbon, which means I need to wander over to some local plant life and slowly cut it down with my mining tool. Damn, I’m ready to leave this planet but my thrusters are low on power; time to wander mindlessly until I happen across some plutonium." - Philip Kollar, Polygon.

If there was one thing the guys over at Hello Games have been stressing recently - or that came from any hands-on footage like IGN's sizeable playthrough - it's that No Man's Sky is first and foremost, a survival game.

You've got oxygen and atmosphere meters to keep track of, resources to gather, crafting components to assemble. Think Fallout 4's scrap-based Settlement mechanic on the biggest scale imaginable, as you won't be doing anything (even breathing, as that requires a top-up of a particular element) if you're not hunting and gathering constantly.

It's understandable that this aspect may have slipped by those who thought the game's appeal was routed entirely in flying from planet to planet in quick succession, but No Man's Sky wants you to earn those space-miles. Hello Games want you to feel a huge sense of relief and reward when leaving a planet to venture into the great, black beyond.

This is the "Final Frontier" as thought of in the most pure Star Trek mould, not some fly-by-night action game with quick thrills up front.