No Man's Sky's cultural influences, from Dune to post-rock

Hello Games' title is one of the most visually interesting games of the past decade. But where does its approach to sci-fi come from?

From the very beginning, No Man's Sky has looked unlike any other modern science-fiction video game. With its bizarre creatures, hallucinogenic skylines and polychrome environments, it eschews the gritty, steel-grey aesthetics of Mass Effect, Halo and Gears of War.

The themes of the game, too, hark back to a different form of sci-fi literature, less interested in galactic wars and more concerned with the philosophical and psychology elements of space exploration.