When comparing No Man's Sky vs World of Goo, the Slant community recommends World of Goo for most people. In the question“What are the best indie games on Steam?” World of Goo is ranked 4th while No Man's Sky is ranked 82nd. The most important reason people chose World of Goo is:
A lot of attention has been put into creating interesting levels with great pacing and variety throughout the game.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Endless procedural generation
This game procedurally generates almost everything. Your spaceships are procedurally generated, so are the planets, moons, every animal on these planets, the resource nodes, trade routes, languages, etc. When discovering new species or planets, players get to rename these and leave their mark on the galaxy.
Pro Good graphics
The art style of this game is very colorful and saturated and uses hues in a way that it gives you an otherworldly feel. Graphics like these tend to remain good for a much longer time than classic 3D graphics.
Pro Massive galaxy to explore
Thanks to the fact that the entire galaxy of No Man's Sky is procedurally generated, the amount of planets to explore is almost endless. The number of planets would be 18,446,744,073,709,551,616. However, the fact that 2 players managed to find each other in game on the first day, seems to make this number quite questionable.
Pro Seamless space to planetary flight
Pro Freedom to choose how you want to play
Ally with factions, trade or just be a pirate. When trading with NPC aliens, you build up a positive reputation with the faction they belong to. Alternatively you can also be hostile and attack trade ships, or even be attacked by NPC pirate spaceships. Both can be ways to get what you need, so do whatever suits your play style.
Pro Great variety in puzzles
A lot of attention has been put into creating interesting levels with great pacing and variety throughout the game.
Pro Beautiful visual style
World of Goo is pleasing to look at. Most of the time it's very colorful and joyful, but it changes from time to time to reflect different parts of the world. Nevertheless, it is stylistically well presented throughout the game.
Pro A twisted tale
As you start playing there doesn't seem to be much of a story. A few philosophical messages left behind by the Sign Painter and a cut-scene here or there. But as you progress through the game you unearth different details about a slightly disturbing world.
Pro Good, funny music
Each level has good and very funny music.
Pro Excellent physics engine
Physics in-game take into account gravity, wind, weight of different goo-balls, structural integrity of your architectural solutions to create an addictive, "let me try this one more time"-type of gameplay.
Cons
Con No clearly defined missions
The objective of the game is to ultimately reach the center of the galaxy. However, the player is completely free and unguided from the beginning. You figure it out for yourself as you start mining, crafting and upgrading your ship and gear. This game doesn't have a big story to tell.
Con Expensive
No Man's Sky is a pretty big production for an indie game as the team of devs and artists consisted of 14 people in the later stages of development. The game stands out above most indie games in size, features, technology and graphics. Along with the amount of enthusiasm from the gaming community, this has allowed the studio to set the launch price at $60 (or €60).
Con No co-op mode
The PC version does not include the co-op mode that was included in the Wii Ware version.