No Man’s Sky developer Hello Games has been relatively quiet following the big launch and even bigger controversy surrounding their ambitious space exploration indie game. Since its release last fall, No Man’s Sky has received two big updates, adding new gameplay features and content. Update 1.3, called ‘Atlas Rises’ is their biggest yet and it’s rolling out now to PC and PlayStation 4.
There are far too many improvements to list here but just about every piece of the game has been touched, including new planetary biomes, a better trading system, tiered crafting, improved space flight and combat, and better rewards for scanning and discovering.
The story has been given an overhaul, including 30 hours of content. A new race has been added, and the story has become a branching narrative. The number of lore and interactions have been doubled.
New features have been added, such as a terrain-editing tool and mission system. Mission Agents in Space Stations will generate different kinds of quests, including trading, combat, and exploration. You can improve your standing with multiple NPC guilds to receive more challenging missions. A mission log has been added to help you keep track of current missions.
Update 1.3 also quietly sneaks in a limited form of multiplayer. Up to 16 players can see each other as odd floating orbs moving around on planets. Players can see and communicate with each other using VOIP, but otherwise cannot interact directly.
Lack of multiplayer was a huge point of contention when No Man’s Sky was released. The mystery and hype surrounding the game proved untenable when it launched, and Hello Games was quickly buried under an avalanche of bad press and worse from critics and players. You can read our own review of No Man’s Sky here.
No Man’s Sky Update 1.3 Atlas Rises should be live now on PC and PlayStation 4.
