BATMAN V. SUPERMAN: HOPES DASHER
Will No Man’s Sky Blow Because of Batman v. Superman’s Suckage? (Probably Not, But Here is My Fear)
Reviews by Justin T. Bowler
When I saw the No Man’s Sky presentation at E3 in 2015, I thought it looked phenomenal. It had a universe more expansive than I have ever seen before in a game, and technology being used in new ways to create the landscape of the video game. This was the game that I have been waiting for.
Check out the presentation here. (Notice, that it has over 1.1mil views.)
At the same time, I had been viewing the first released trailers of the upcoming Batman v. Superman movie. I thought, “It looks phenomenal”. It was a movie that promised a more expansive DC universe than I have ever seen before. It had gadgets and technology for Batman unlike I have ever seen before. This was the DC universe movie that I had been waiting for.
Check out the first trailer here. (Over 27 mil views)
Check out the second trailer here. (Over 27 mil views)
Now, the release of Batman v. Superman has come and gone. Sadly, I was greatly disappointed in the movie. And, of course, keeping with this parallel, it makes me fear for No Man’s Sky. Could it possibly be everything that we hope it will be? We could cite the pedigree of the names behind the game, as they would certainly offer us some hope. It has big idea guys with technological know-how who seem to have a clear vision. Sean Murray at Hello Games appears visionary in every interview. However, a few months ago, no one could deny the ability of Zack Snyder, especially when he was working with images from Frank Miller (but that didn’t turn out as well as I would have hoped).
So why am I so worried about this video game? It could be because I felt so let down by Batman v. Superman. Don’t get me wrong. Yes, there were some great parts to it: some beautiful visuals, the immersion into the world, etc. No doubt, I will love both of those parts of No Man’s Sky. But, the nuances of Superman and Batman were less than appealing. Both Batman and Superman were, well, for lack of a better term, just dicks. The greatest detective of all time and an investigative reporter can’t seem to find any common ground or research the other’s motive without trying to kill each other. That seems implausible. Worse than that, they don’t even attempt it. It’s kind of a major flaw that affects the entire movie. If you don’t buy into their idiocy and close-mindedness, then you really can’t appreciate the story at all. Thus, I look at No Man’s Sky. According to Wiki, “gameplay is built on four pillars: exploration, combat, survival, and trading”. Really? Trading? That’s right, think of all of those great commodities games where you get to buy, sell, and trade goods. Oh yes! I’m excited just thinking about all of the trading I will get to do. (that was sarcasm by the way). Is this the first chink in the armor? Sadly, it sounds like it to me.
But what about how expensive the game is supposed to be? Well, bigger isn’t always better. Will the servers be big enough? Will technology be good enough? For those of you that have been gaming since 2007, you may remember LAIR. It was a colossal failure, considered one of the biggest failures in video game history. Here’s a quick recap.
Lair ((2007) developed by big name game producers) was supposed to be an “enormous open world, Medieval-themed adventure game, featuring immersive battle scenes and gameplay, stunning graphics and an unforgettably intense, exciting experience.”
It was NOT.
“Reviews for the game were decidedly unimpressed, with gamers finding the battle sequences repetitive and uninspiring, much of the storyline tedious and predictable and exhibiting little enthusiasm for its online Remote Play function, which was supposed to be the first game to sync with the PlayStation Portable via the internet, but was so plagued with technical issues that the option wasn’t even fully available until a year after the game’s release.”
– thegamefreakshow.com
Hopefully, that won’t happen with No Man’s Sky, but many fear they can never live up to the hype. In addition, I personally worry that this game will be too big, too ambitious, and once again we will have our hopes dashed at someone trying to make something happen long before the technology is available. Not to mention, bigger isn’t always better. Will all of the planets be interesting? Will 5% of them be interesting? They boast thousands of planets. How could thousands the planets possibly be interesting? I don’t want to pooh-pooh this game before it has even come out, before I have even played, before it has even been beta tested (yes, I realize I may be with this article). But, I feel like I have to temper the bar that I have for this game. Based on the disappointment I have felt from Batman v. Superman (yes, I realize it is insane to base my expectations for a video game on a completely unrelated movie). But, for some reason, I see a dark cloud off in the distance getting ready to rain on my video game parade (on a side note, I would love to see an actual parade about video games). Only June 2016 will let us know for sure, or possibly July, since it could take me that long to visit so many of the planets to find out if they’re interesting or not. And get through the doldrums of “trading”.
In the meantime, I’m sure we will get a director’s cut of Batman v. Superman, that the marketing team will try to tell us is “sooooooo much better”.
Batman v. Superman: 2 out of 4 stars
No Man’s Sky anticipation: 3 out of 5 stars
Justin Bowler
IG: @IndyFilmTwittic or @JustinTBowler
Twitter: @JustinTBowler
