How does Hello Games keep doing this? After setting the standard for "overhyped game comes a cropper on release", the game studio keeps releasing incredible update after incredible update. Now, after announcing it is working on a whole new game, it's still found time to work on a massive new update for No Man's Sky — and it might be the biggest yet.
News in brief
- Worlds Part 1 adds new graphics tech to the eight year old game
- New plants, animals, and water tech are amongst the additions
- New expedition is very Starship Troopers, too
Worlds Part 1 is the latest big No Man's Sky update, and it's a massive one. The full patch notes have been released, and so has a video going over some of the biggest changes you can expect. Key to the update is a massive graphical overhaul, including big jumps in shadows and cloud creation, but also water. Hello Games has completely reworked how water works in the game, and as a result, water looks a lot better. To celebrate that, ships can now land on water, meaning you no longer need to look for small islands on oceanic planets.
Planets now have wind systems, and the speed and strength of that wind will increase and decrease, and blow around new graphical details too, like lava sparks, fog, and more. New creatures will adorn planets, and the types of plants and animals for specific biomes of planet have been boosted dramatically. Land on a frozen planet and you'll see very different plants and animals than those you'd see on a water-starved desert planet.
It's a truly massive bunch of updates, and it doesn't stop there; Expedition lovers get to jet off on a Starship Troopers-inspired expedition where they travel to a new planet and take up arms against a nasty group of bugs. It's a fun expedition, and comes with craftable armor made from the chitinous remains of the loathsome insects.
The update is now out, and it seems as if older saves may have trouble being ported over to this new patch. But if you ask us, this is the perfect time to boot up into a fresh save anyway, and enjoy this new universe all over again.
