The live demonstration begins with Murray controlling a spacecraft as it approached a new planet, blasting through a piece of rock as he makes his descent. Just as Colbert asks if the ship will heat up due to their rapid acceleration, the edges of the ship immediately begin glowing red. The man obviously knows his sci-fi jargon, questioning whether or not the game will feature a faster-than-light drive for reaching distant planets (it will).
Related: Hello Games rebuilds following devastating floods, promises no delay on No Man’s Sky
With the touch of a button, Murray names several pieces of wildlife after Colbert, including the “Colbison,” the “Molebert,” the “Stephenus Rex,” and my personal favorite, the fish “Codbert.” The diversity of planets within the same star system is nothing short of stunning: One planet features a desolate, seemingly toxic wasteland, while another is filled with bright red grass, trees, and giant dinosaurs.
No Man’s Sky has been in the works for several years. The game was originally unveiled with a live demonstration at Spike’s VGX Awards before a massive flood cost Hello Games almost all of its equipment, but Sean Murray stressed that the game would move ahead as expected.
With no release date in sight, we still don’t know exactly what that means, but expect No Man’s Sky to hit the PlayStation 4 before our sun goes out and kills us all — though that might just happen before you can explore everything there is to see in the game.