New update adds a lot of stuff
No Man’s Sky’s newest patch has just landed and it brings with it a whole heap of extra content. The biggest surprise is that there is a brand new, 30-hour long campaign to work through. I’m sure fans of the game are just foaming at the mouth for more content to explore.
Along with that comes the sort-of multiplayer that was originally teased before launch. Called “joint-exploration,” this feature lets you see orbs floating around on the various planets you’ll encounter that indicate when another player is in the vicinity. Up to 16 orbs can appear at one time and you can even communicate with each other via voice chat.
The last major update to the game comes about as graphical tweaks. I can’t say whether or not this trailer is pulling our legs (I haven’t played the game), but it does seem to look a bit more lush.
The new story concerns some new interdimensional race that developer Hello Games wants players to find the out the truth behind. In its own words, “Our story brings a new context, quest system and branching narrative to No Man’s Sky. Discover the truth behind the Abandoned Building logs, the World of Glass, the Sentinels, the Redemption of the Gek, and the meaning of sixteen…” You can view the full extent of the update over on the official website, which definitely is a long read.
While I’d normally be really happy with a game receiving free content, No Man’s Sky was a clear case of a developer lying about the scope of its game to get people to part with their money. If all of this stuff had launched with the game, as originally stated, I think a lot more people would have been satisfied with the end product.
As it stands right now, a year after release is not the time you should start adding promised features. Either that, or the game should have launched in Early-Access, which might have made the whole endeavor easier to swallow. At least Hello Games is doing its best to make it up to fans. I admire the company for that.
Atlas Rises Update [No Man’s Sky]
