Hello Games has announced another huge, free update to their massive space-frontier sim; No Man’s Sky. As PowerUp!’s resident No Man’s Sky apologist and fanboy, I’m happy to report on what’s new with the Pathfinder Update.
The Update looks to add a load of fresh content to the game. Designed to entice old players to come back and see what’s new and reward players who have stuck around. It might even get some haters to play…nah who am I kidding?
Exocraft
The most interesting addition are the land-based vehicles called Exocraft. The Exocraft allow you to roam the surface of the planet more easily while mining and collecting resources with the vehicle’s hardware. Instead of having to trudge around of foot and jetpack boost all over the place, you can now jump on board your sexy space car.
The Exocraft come in three classes; a light & fast cruiser that can skim on water, a mid-range off-roader with decent storage capacity and a heavy vehicle for harvesting and transporting large amounts of resources. All three have mining lasers equipped which is handy for the game’s current meta.
Considering the previous update shifted the focus heavily towards base-building and construction, it’s good to see more options for players who want to take on large scale development in their game. There’s also a racing mode built in where you can create time-trials and challenge your friends to beat your time on your home planet. Not exactly what we expected from No Man’s Sky, but we’ll take it.
Permadeath
It’s not just cars that have been added though. The Pathfinder Update also adds a new ‘Permadeath’ mode for players who want a more challenging experience. The Update also adds the ability to share the bases that you’ve built with other players via Steam Workshop and PlayStation Network.
The laundry list of additions with the Pathfinder Update is extensive, ranging from updated graphics, refined UI, new equipment classes, new stores and currencies, a dedicated photo mode, and plenty more.
You can’t argue that Hello Games isn’t working extremely hard to build upon the groundwork that they set with No Man’s Sky, especially when it continue to offer it all for free. Not sure if it will be enough to bring back gamers who’ve already turned their back on the title, but for the people who still enjoy roaming the universe, more free and interesting content can’t be a bad thing.
Now if they can just add PSVR support in the next patch, then I’ll be happy.
