Finding the Path

August 9th, 2016, a small studio called Hello Games released a space exploration sim called No Man’s Sky. Many of you have heard of the game, many of you are familiar with the controversy surrounding its release regarding the sheer lack of content the game launched with. Many of you have heard of the mountains of refunds demanded by disappointed gamers, and the seemingly unanimous negative reviews bestowed upon No Man’s Sky for its false advertisement and it simply being a letdown. Now it is time for you to know that Hello Games has not given up. They have not laid down for the internet to step on their neck. They have been hard at work bringing to life the universe they talked about at E3. They are hard at work making No Man’s Sky the universe they promised, and the Path Finder update is another leap towards that universe.

The Path Finder update is the second update for No Man’s Sky released on March 8th, 2016, the first being the Foundation update which was announced on November 25th, 2016. The Foundation update included a variety of new features and mechanics as well as new game modes and ships. The Path Finder update continues to expand the game by improving the games visuals, incorporating lite online features, the ability to name your stuff (a small but substantial element), and a whole new type of vehicle to use to explore planets on the surface.

VISUALS

The Path Finder update improved the visuals for the game in a variety of noticeable ways. They’ve updated the texture resolutions allowing for more details to come through in their characters and environments. They’ve added a higher contrast lighting which creates a more dynamic feel to the world, and they’ve bumped up the saturation. They’ve also optimized the game for PlayStation 4 Pro, enabling 4K resolution gameplay, as well as 4K resolution on PC.

STARSHIPS

You can now own more than one starship, something that I hadn’t even thought of, but when I heard it made me raise my eyebrow. In the game at launch ships were mainly used for three things, traveling across the universe, carrying surplus supplies, and fighting off space pirates. I aimed to get a ship with as much storage space as possible, because I wanted to craft good shields and guns for combat, as well as good thrusters for space exploration, as well as a good warp drive for jumping to systems further away, all the while holding onto as much valuable resources as I could so I could sell it and make bank at the Galactic Trade Terminals.

With the update, though, ships are given a new class system, and they now serve new functions. They are divided as the following-

The Shuttle: All-round ships that are good at fighting, flying, and holding cargo.

The Fighter: Ships that’ll kick all kinds of space pirate ass.

The Hauler: Ships that have huge cargo holds allowing for hoarders to go crazy.

The Explorer: Ships designed to travel far and wide, taking full advantage of the warp drive.

With these new ship classes in place, owning multiple ships made sense. What if I wanted to go dive deep into space in search of another Atlas Core? Then of course I’d grab my explorer ship and warp away. What if I want to go hunt some space pirates and protect friendly space freighters? Then yeah, I’m going to grab my fighter and blast them to bits. What if I want to mine some asteroids and accumulate a small fortune of Iridium? Then I’m grabbing my hauler and I’m going to mine asteroids till the cows come home. Or maybe I want a little of everything, then I’ll just grab my shuttle and have myself a grand time.

In truth, I don’t think the ship class differences make enough of a gameplay difference to be entirely justified. They are a neat addition to the game, but I want them to be further utilized. Explorer ships need to have not only better flight capabilities, but better scanning tech as well as tighter maneuverability. Fighters need to not only be able to dole out more damage than the others, but also needs to be able to track enemies better. And in addition to more features for the specific ships, the game needs to include missions that are designed around the ships. Maybe there is a Korvax space station that needs a resupply of Nickle, away you go with your hauler to get some. Maybe a Vykeen station is trying to fight off an incoming wave of Sentinel space ships, grab your fighter and join them in the fight. Basically, as it is, the separate ships are cool, but underutilized.

EXOCRAFT

The Path Finder update also features a trifecta of brand new planet exploration vehicles called Exocraft. To gain access to these nifty vehicles you need to create an Exocraft terminal in your home base and hire yourself another alien minion to talk to. Mine was a Vykeen, I’m not sure if it’s like that for everyone, but mine turned out that way. Now, I’ve only gotten to use the first vehicle available to you, which is the Roamer. There are three vehicles total.

The Roamer: A four wheeled versatile buggy capable of passing over almost any terrain.

The Nomad: A smaller hovercraft which is faster, agile, and able to glide over water.

The Colossus: The largest Exocraft which offers all the cargo space a mineral hoarder could want.

My experience with the Roamer (which I renamed as Trailblazer) is that it’s faster than walking and sincerely fun to steer. It comes with a fantastic jump ability, which when timed right, can send you flying off of a slope soaring through the air. The Roamer doesn’t agree with water very much though, and despite its ability to slowly go underneath the water, I just avoid it all together.

It’s faster to just fly your ship around the planet than it is to drive the Roamer around, but the Exocraft gains necessity by having scanning abilities that your ship simply doesn’t have. The Roamer can scan for resource deposits or for distance buildings and objects. It also comes with its own laser cannon which is pretty cool to just drift by a creature with and blast to high heaven.

ONLINE FEATURES

The Foundation update incorporated base building which allowed players to claim a planet as their “home planet” and then assemble a base from a series of pre-crafted parts at a specific location cleared for base building. It was an easy enough system to use, designed to be user friendly and accessible, and it only adds to No Man’s Sky clean retro sci-fi aesthetic.

In the Path Finder update players are given the ability to share their bases online. You simply turn on the base sharing function in the options menu and voila, your base is online and any player traversing the universe can chance upon it and explore your creation. It’s a subtle not to online element but what it does is open doors for future multiplayer functions including being able to explore the universe with a friend, a feature hopefuls for the game anticipated at launch.

Another online feature is the ability to create race tracks and share those tracks with other players using the games Exocraft. Exocraft races offer another subtle online feature by giving players a way to challenge one another in time trials. A small step, granted, but one that I much appreciate them taking. It shows that they haven’t totally abandoned the idea of fully incorporating multiplayer, and that, for me, is a very cool thing.

MISC

Additionally, the Path Finder update includes numerous base building expansions and varieties as well as weapons modes, multi-tool classes, new blueprints, new alien merchants, and two new modes. The first mode is Perma-death mode, which is exactly as awful as it sounds. Only the masochistic play perma-death of anything. The second mode is photo mode, which comes stock with all your favorite Instagram filters and much more.

They’ve also incorporated a new menu called the Log, which is like a quest log of the things you’re trying to accomplish. And the Discoveries page has also over gone quite a few tweaks and upgrades.

OVERVIEW

All in all, the Path Finder update is a fantastic step forward in No Man’s Sky and Hello Games. It has successfully revitalized my love for the game and has made me hopeful for its future. I am excited to see what new features and elements they add to the game in the next update, and I highly recommend that you check out this game. If you love exploring, if you love discovering a hidden lore, if you love building yourself a home, then yes, No Man’s Sky is a game you should check out. If you want to shoot aliens in the face and watch blood ooze out, then maybe play some more Halo.