Sony-sponsored No Man's Sky is just months away from release, but many gamers know more about their expectations of space exploration game than what to actually expect. However, 15 minutes of newly released footage may tilt those scales the other way.
The bearded face of Hello Games, Sean Murray, recently sat down with PlayStation's Anthony Carboni to detail some of the concepts the indie studio has revealed so far about how No Man's Sky will play and what gamers will actually do on their way to the center a universe procedurally populated with 18 quintillion planets.
Murray, serving at Carboni's guide and controller holder, showed off what any given player's planet-side pit stop might look like.
"Each planet has its own sort of set of rules, so you're learning what is what," Murray says.
After recharging by taking a nap next to a monolith and learning a touch of the local lingo, Murray decides to get his player character out of the cold and bores a hole in the side of a hill to warm up inside of its insulated belly.
Later, Murray guides the player character to an outpost where they have a brief interaction with an alien. That visit taught the player character a new word, but it would have taken a lot more alone time with one of those monoliths to have a real conversation with the alien.
"Another important part of sci-fi is to be able to find new life and to try to talk to them. And what's real about that is you being able to talk to them in their language."
The ability to parlay like a paragon with alien beings has the potential to reward the player with whatever that entity chooses to offer. And it raises the player's standing with that entity's race.
From there, Carboni wrenches the gamepad away from Murray and things go sideways. After blasting holes in the ground and wildlife alike, Carboni learns that Murray had been holding something back.
"Whoa, I gotta jet pack on -- you didn't say that," exclaimed Carboni. "You were just walking around!"
No Man's Sky launches on PC and PlayStation 4 on June 21. For more on what to expect in of one of the most ambitious games in the history of video games, check out the full video below:
