After months of hype and speculation the wait is finally over. No Man’s Sky is finally here.

I made no secret of being hugely excited about the possibilities 18 quintillion planets could offer, talking about it here and here.

However, I’ve been left somewhat mixed now I’ve finally got my hands on it.

All the big issues surrounding the launch on PC, including poor frame rates and repeated crashes, passed me by – likely because I religiously update my graphics card drivers and have a system which exceeds the minimum specs – which judging by lots of the comments on Steam was the most common cause of the difficulties.

The fact the developers acknowledged the issues straight away, releasing a patch to the 200,000 players  playing the game straight after it released,  does show they are aware and trying to solve the issues.

Let’s step away from the gripes and actually talk about the game for a minute.

No Man’s Sky looks stunning, the graphical direction is right up my street.

Each planet I’ve visited so far is vastly different. I’ve discovered icy nightmares, a radioactive hell and barren wastelands – each with its own unique flora and fauna.

The audio,  too, is well done.  One of my favourite bands, 65 Day’s of Static, have created an incredible soundscape for the game.

The basic idea of No Man’s Sky is brilliant. It really does offer exactly what Hello Games promised – a true sense of scale and the chance to explore.  If you want to circumnavigate a planet on foot it’s going to take a few days!

Exploring a solar system also has a much more massive feel to it than I expected with the time required to travel between planets falling into a nice Goldilocks zone.

And with a game this huge the story is still unfolding ahead of me as I make my way to the centre of the universe.

A No Man’s Sky promotional image.

You really get really a good feeling you’re the person to explore this area of the universe … until you bump into the same random set of structures with an alien trader inside.

The more I think about it, the more I struggle to find any real faults with No Man’s Sky.  Yet somehow I still feel underwhelmed by it all.

Yeah, the texture fade-in/pop on each of them has been slightly offputting and immersion breaking. But given the technical scale of what Hello Games have set out to achieve in this game I can forgive that.

The controls are clearly tailored for the controller user, which isn’t a surprise given that it was released on PS4 first. While walking around on the planets is fine, the second you jump into your ship it all starts to get a bit messy. Again, though, this is slightly forgivable as I could just as easily play with a controller plugged into my PC.

I shouldn’t have to, but I could.

No Man’s Sky isn’t a bad game. I would actually go so far to say it’s a good game. It’s exactly what the developers promised it would be, who can fault them for that?

I think it’s another case of hype blowing all expectations for this title out of the water, leaving me, like lots of other players, just a bit deflated.

Score: 7.5/10 (Based on graphics, gameplay and story on the PC)

I don’t think they could make F1 2016 look any better!

Codemaster’s latest F1 title is due out later this week.

Last year’s iteration wasn’t very well received after developers decided to remove the career mode. However, the game was widely praised for its stunning visuals as well as the driver AI.

This year’s game has somehow managed to end up even better looking.

As well as improving the visuals, career mode returns in F1 2016.

The game also features the added challenge of manual starts, full control over pit entry and exit and both the virtual and physical safety car will make an appearance this year.

For fans of multiplayer racing, F1 2016 will include support for 22 drivers on the track at one time – a full grid of real people racing each other to the checkered flag.

Dating for Trekkies

No doubt you’ve either tried internet dating yourself, or at least know somebody that has.

For most people these general sites which look to pair people up based on interests and appearance work fine.

However, for those who are very specific in their choices for a partner to live long and prosper with there’s now something else.

Trek Dating is here to fill that random niche most of us never realised existed.

I would love to have been sat in the meeting when someone came up with the idea for this site.

I can see the advantages though. Having to explain to my girlfriend that I was a huge geek who would happily sit and binge watch episodes of The Next Generation or Voyager all day was a little bit awkward.

If you decide to give it ago feel free to let me know how you get on!

Oculus Rift

Some of you likely saw the news on Tuesday that a retail release date for the Oculus Rift VR headset as finally been announced.

You’ll be able to get your hands on your own headset on September 20 from Amazon, John Lewis and PC World, to name just a few of the retailers.

It’s going to cost you £549 for the Rift, but remember, you will need a suitably powerful PC to be able to actually use the thing.

If you’re lucky enough to have a VR ready gaming PC and can afford the Oculus, I highly recommend getting hold of a copy of Eve: Valkyrie.