After eight years, we should really stop being surprised by how often No Man’s Sky is able to reinvent itself. But just when you come to grips with the latest big change that Hello Games makes to its massive online galaxy, it comes back to change things up yet again. This time, Hello Games’ tinkering comes to fruition in an update that spruces up the whole of the known digital universe.
The biggest — or at least most immediately noticeable — change is a cluster of interlocking systems that will overhaul the look of the entire game. Water on planets has been upgraded to look nicer, and when combined with new weather and wind patterns, generates everything from choppy seas to massive tidal waves that spill over onto land. Fluffy clouds now hang overhead, and director Sean Murray even says breaking through them in a ship on the way to space is his favorite part of the new update. Volumetric effects have also been improved down on the ground, meaning you can expect to see more realistic smoke, fog, and other environmental effects like snow, all of which are also influenced by the game’s new wind tech.
Because of all that, just about every planet in No Man’s Sky should look a fair deal more lush now. Frozen and desert worlds — previously some of the more barren spots in the galaxy — have also been retooled, featuring new plants and geological formations to help them feel a bit more distinct. On top of that, islands floating in the sky and new creatures can now spawn across the galaxy.
A frankly massive set of patch notes details all the changes introduced, which I’ve barely scratched the surface of here. New ships, better shadows, more intense atmospheric effects, and an improved mech battle interface are all on the docket as well as plenty more updates.
Along with the Worlds update, No Man’s Sky is also starting a new Expedition. Where the previous Adrift Expedition emptied the universe of life, Bug Hunt tasks you with snuffing some of that existing life out. Inspired by Starship Troopers — and no doubt Helldivers 2 as well — Bug Hunt will send you hopping between No Man’s Sky’s newly glamorous planets in order to find and destroy giant bugs in what might be the most combat-heavy Expedition yet. Rewards for the grisly Expedition include parts salvaged from your insectoid foes and a flamethrower arm for your mech.
Along with the gargantuan update, Hello Games dropped both a trailer going over some of the highlights from Worlds and a video hosted by Sean Murray walking through those changes in more depth. As Murray tells it, some of the tech behind Worlds’ visual and systems updates actually comes from Hello Games’ work on its next title, Light No Fire.
“It feels like we’re almost bringing this technology back from the future,” Murray says in the deep dive video.
The fact that development of Light No Fire is wrapping back around to boost No Man’s Sky may be the most striking part of this impressive update. Even after Hello Games had salvaged No Man’s Sky from its disastrous launch, it would have been unthinkable to predict that the game would continue to evolve so much over the years. And with Light No Fire on the horizon, it would be an even safer bet that No Man’s Sky updates would start winding down. But instead of focusing all its attention on the next big game, which will surely attract more new players on release than any No Man’s Sky update could, Hello Games still seems intent on bringing fresh ideas to its space exploration game until the Sun explodes.
If you’ve yet to set foot in No Man’s Sky’s procedurally generated galaxy and finally feel compelled to, you’re in luck. It’s on sale on Steam, PlayStation, and Nintendo Switch — but oddly still full price on Xbox at the time of writing — for $24 until the end of the month.
