It’s been about eight years since No Man’s Sky first launched and it continues to get updates that radically rework the sport. Its newest replace, Adrift, stays formidable because it drops gamers into what Whats up Video games is asking “an deserted universe” with no retailers and no NPCs. You’re the solely clever life within the sport’s newest expedition, making you really alone within the universe.
Once I consider No Man’s Sky, I usually consider these early days simply after it was launched in 2016. Although the sport was actually blemished and missing in options I’d come to anticipate, one of many higher elements of No Man’s Sky was simply how solitary and small you felt. As the sport has advanced, so have its priorities, and over time the universe has grown dense with issues to do, folks to work together with, and tales to hint by way of the celebrities. There’s little improper with that, and No Man’s Sky has turn into a extra interesting sport for it, however there’s one thing to be stated for a way sometimes you’re allowed to be on their own within the sport anymore.
Adrift goals to repair that by offering an alternate universe the place there may be little else however you. There are nonetheless species of alien life abound in Adrift’s universe, however you’re the solely clever lifeform in it. In keeping with Whats up Video games, “Eradicating different lifeforms means no retailers, no buying and selling, no shortcuts and no assist, offering a really completely different survival expertise.”
Whereas gamers discover this new solitary universe, they will anticipate to return throughout deserted and busted ships, together with the brand new ghostly frigate known as the Ship of the Damned, which appears appropriately haunted as hell. Initially deliberate solely as an expedition, that are limited-time occasions and challenges that begin at a hard and fast level in No Man’s Sky, the replace finally ballooned in content material, together with a brand new Scuttler pet, a neat new starship known as the Iron Vulture, and a brand new paint job, that are all unlocked upon completion of the expedition.
Adrift isn’t the primary time No Man’s Sky has leaned into horror-adjacent experiences. Earlier updates have expanded upon the sport’s deep sea biomes, for instance, which is at all times a terrifying prospect. No Man’s Sky has additionally launched dwelling ships that are simply freaky, and the exact same replace that launched deserted frigates was unambiguous in its horror theme. Adrift simply leans additional into it than most, whereas additionally honing in on the distinctive loneliness that might solely actually be discovered within the earliest incarnations of the sport.
Adrift will run for about the following seven weeks, giving gamers loads of time to resolve whether or not or not they need to go to house and get haunted. It positive has me considering whether or not I actually need to leap again in or not, however that is the story of each No Man’s Sky replace actually. In the end although, No Man’s Sky’s continued success and experimentation solely will get me extra excited for the studio’s subsequent sport, Gentle No Fireplace, and its promise of a completely simulated planet.
