No Man’s Sky is one of the most controversial games in recent memory. Its launch last year was fraught with drama, both in technical execution and content delivered. Then, complete silence by the developers for several months. Last November, Hello Games released their first post-launch patch, The Foundation Update, which added planetary base building. The next big update just arrived, titled Pathfinder. The 1.2 patch adds planetary vehicles, base sharing, permadeath, new weapon mods, and more.
Three new moon-rover style vehicles called Exocraft have been added. They come in three different flavors, light, medium, and heavy, with the light Nomad able to glide over water. You can acquire Exocraft by hiring a Technician to your planetary base and completing their missions. Like spaceships, Exocraft can be equipped with scanners, mining lasers, weapons, and speed boosters.
Once you have your Exocraft you can also map out your own race courses using the new Race Initiator. Other players can attempt your course through the new base sharing feature. Custom built planetary bases are now available to upload and share via the Steam Workshop.
The Pathfinder update also doubles the customization options for your bases. Over 40 new parts have been added, as well as new textures and decals.
Starships have been given a big boost. Now you can finally own multiple starships in a large freighter. Ships have also been rebalanced into four different specializations: Fighter, Shuttle, Hauler, and Explorer. Each ship will then have a different class rating, from A to C, and the top-of-the-line S class. Weapons have also received a a similar specialization and class rebalance.
Other new updates include an overhaul to the game’s graphics, including better Ambient Lighting, Ambient Occlusion, and higher resolution textures. Support for the PS4 Pro has been added with 4K resolution. New weapon mods, a more hardcore Survival Mode with Permadeath, and an Instagram-like Photo mode with filters are all in this massive Pathfinder update.
What do we think? Is it enough to jump back into No Man’s Sky and give it another try, or has that proverbial starship already sailed on past?
