A while back, I expressed a bit of ennui about No Man’s Sky. After roughly 600 hours of gameplay, I’m just not feeling it like I was back in the glory days of the incredible Next update. However, I did create a list of 11 things that could potentially draw me back into the game. One of those things was letting players be outer-space scoundrels, smuggling illegal items in hidden compartments on their ships.
I doubt anyone at Hello Games reads my rambling, but even so, they’ve answered the call with the Outlaws update, which focuses on the seedier side of this game world. To accompany this new set of nefarious challenges, they’ve increased your maximum ship capacity from six to nine, added the option to further increase your ship storage, and created a new storyline for shady players to follow. You can now even recruit NPCs to fly alongside you in a squadron.
Like so many of No Man’s Sky‘s past updates, it’s the little things here that count the most. For example, you can now wear a cape, which might not be super functional, but it does give your character a badass aesthetic. There’s also a new class of ship called the Solar Sail ship, and it looks incredible.
They’ve also upgraded space combat, made explosions look even more explosion-y, and added space pirate attacks on settlements.
All of this comes with a fresh Expedition — called Blighted (coming soon) — and a fresh round of Twitch drops. (If you want to make sure you don’t miss out on any of those Twitch drops, check out my full guide to claiming Twitch rewards for watching No Man’s Sky livestreams.)
It’s a lot to take in, and I’m still processing it all. On paper, it does sound fresh and invigorating, but I guess I’ll have to hop into the game to see how it plays out in practice.
In the meantime, you can check out the full patch notes on the official No Man’s Sky website, and watch the No Man’s Sky Outlaws trailer below.
