No Man's Sky 2016 launch fiasco was so extreme it kept making headlines for years. Since then, developer Hello Games has taken the ship in the right direction with fixes, add-ons, DLCs, and tons of new stuff that made old players happy and new potential players curious enough to try it out. Today, it's hard to come across a No Man's Sky hardcore fan who's severely disappointed by the game's constant evolution.
The Orbital update aims to turn No Man's Sky into a more space-bound game than ever. For the right fans, it might even resemble Destiny and Mass Effect in certain aspects. Totally unrelated, but who's up for a Mass Effect 1:1 remake in Unreal Engine 5 like EA's Motive Studio did with Dead Space?
Space stations are the subject of a massive overhaul in the Orbital update. Not long ago, these space garages were among the few elements of the game that weren't randomly generated. The devs had the first and last say in how they looked and how you used them.
Now, the "turntables have turned," to quote the great Michael Scarn... sorry, Michael Scott. This was due to the team's game engine's past limited capabilities. After a few geeky tweaks here and there, No Man's Sky can finally house vast and impressive-looking interior and exterior spaces.
These Space stations have literally never been this huge and varied, outside and inside. You'll even find new shops, gameplay sections, and activities. Systems, race, and locale also play an important role in how the stations are customized.
One of the most requested features from the faithful community was the ability to edit ships, much like in Starfield, but, you know, just less boring. Now, you can do so without breaking a sweat in the well-optimized and easy-to-navigate interface menu.
Photo: Hello Games
Hello Games says ship customization wasn't in the cards before because it seemed players simply liked to find a ship and claim it for their own as it stood. Salvaged components from wrecks and ruins can traded with other players.
A new Guild system has also been introduced, which makes joining Guilds and increasing reputation during gameplay a more meaningful experience. Look for Guild envoys on these space stations to gain supplies and rare items or donate some of the extra stuff you plan to discard anyway. This will deepen your allegiances.
It's not exactly Homeworld 3, but you can own a freighter and build a fleet of frigates you can send on missions. The cool thing about this gameplay mechanic is that other players can interfere with your space domination plans by engaging in hostilities with your fighters.
The update also brings quality-of-life improvements, a UI refresh, and many other treats the community has asked for. Hello Games says they're not stopping here either.
Aside from No Man's Sky, they also have another title in the pipeline, Light No Fire. The team brags about it being a role-playing game intertwined with sandbox elements of exploration and interaction. Aside from the trailer looking fantastic, we don't know much about the upcoming open-world RPG. However, they did mention that we'll be adventuring, building, and surviving together on an Earth-sized planet in Light No Fire.
This sounds fine and dandy, but let's not forget their initial blunder with No Man's Sky and how many years it took to become a great experience. I'm not saying to disregard the upcoming game, but just to view it more skeptically until we see it in action.
Codrin just loves American classics, from the 1940s and ‘50s, all the way to the muscle cars of the '60s and '70s. In his perfect world, we'll still see Hudsons and Road Runners roaming the streets for years to come (even in EV form, if that's what it takes to keep the aesthetic alive). Full profile
Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?
Google News