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Backlash over 'No Man's Sky' as - like 'Star Trek V' - it fails to find God

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In the very awful Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Capt. Kirk and friends are led by a fast-talking Vulcan to the centre of the galaxy, where they’re told they’ll see the face of God. Instead, they find a deceptive alien entity that tries to steal from them and hurt them.

In No Man’s Sky, one of this year’s – or any year’s – most anticipated video games, players also journey to the centre of the galaxy. And to hear some of them tell it, the parallels with Kirk’s voyage are shockingly similar: Broken promises. Theft. And a whole lot of pain.

In the many years I’ve been writing about digital diversions, I don’t think I’ve ever seen backlash against a game quite as venomous and wide-reaching as what No Man’s Sky and its U.K.-based development studio, Hello Games, are experiencing right now.

Released a few weeks ago for the PlayStation 4 and Windows PCs, No Man’s Sky gives players an uncharted galaxy to explore, with literally millions – technically, quintillions – of potential planets to visit. There are alien life forms to catalogue, minerals to mine, space stations to trade at. The whole thing is absolutely vast.

There are no real set goals in the game – other than eventually reaching the centre of the galaxy by warping from star system to star system, if you choose to do that – which means players are free to tool around and do what they like. Scan crazy alien animals, collect and sell valuable resources, attack other spaceships and steal their goods… it’s a big digital toy that’s fun to play with for an hour or two at a time.

It’s not, however, the game that was shown off to salivating fans through YouTube videos, TV show segments (including Hello Games co-founder Sean Murray’s appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert) and events, such as the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles.

And that’s the problem.

Disappointed gamers have been very vocal in their displeasure, to put it mildly. Online comment sections are ablaze with detailed lists of features the developers said would be in the game but are missing in the final product, while also railing against bugs, crashes and general design flaws.

And it really sucks. For everyone involved.

It sucks that Hello Games – and, more crucially, whatever entities were behind the promotion of the game – overreached with their promises in a way they had to know would feel deceptive. Even simply saying, “Here’s what we hope the game will be, if we can meet our ambitions” would have gone a long way towards reducing the ire we see now.

It sucks that gamers hoped to get a massive, rich, detailed space simulator, and paid money for something that’s occasionally glitchy, often clumsy and considerably more shallow. (According to online anecdotes, some retailers are now softening their refund policies to help disappointed players get their money back.)

It sucks that Murray – who is being vilified online by some of the game’s frothier detractors – is being personally attacked. He’s certainly not blameless, but I don’t believe he deliberately set out to deceive people for monetary gain. There are many factors at work here, some which are surely beyond his control.

And it sucks that once again we’re seeing such a gaping gulf between promotional campaigns for video games and the final product because it ultimately makes the gamers who want to support these titles mistrustful and less likely to buy them. (And yes, I realize people like me are part of that problem. Lessons are being learned all around.)

No Man’s Sky isn’t a bad game. Had it been quietly marketed as a weird little $30 indie title that lets people chill out and explore a procedurally generated galaxy, with some thin combat and resource-management mechanics layered on top, I suspect people would be loving it. Forums would be filled with folks sharing secrets, tips and discoveries.

But despite the game’s early financial success – and the presumably large number of people who are enjoying it quietly, without the need to advertise that fact online – it’s in danger of being remembered as the Star Trek V of video games. And for those of us who aren’t Vulcans, that simply feels kind of sad.

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