With No Man’s Sky at its height of interest since its original release, it seems like the once-controversial game will soon skyrocket out of gaming’s atmosphere, especially with the long-awaited third component of No Man’s Sky Beyond. Following Hello Games announcement earlier this year, a huge degree of speculation was built up surrounding the mysterious third pillar of the three pillar update. It was already announced that the First Pillar would be complete VR support in all of the NMS universe. The second is a multiplayer update, enabling 16-32 players to play together at a ‘community hub’. It seems impossible for the third to be able to trump all of that. But it does. And in far more than one way.
This is No Man's Sky Beyond
Virtual Reality, Massively Online and much more on Xbox, PC, PS4, PSVR and Steam VR
This is our biggest update so far 😅😅😅
August 14th pic.twitter.com/XyKIWSl0YP
— Sean Murray (@NoMansSky) August 8, 2019
Yes, There are Tauntauns… Sort of…
As a result of the much-wanted gameplay trailer, as well as a few interesting tweets from Sean Murray, we finally have a full picture after a painstakingly long wait. First of all, and perhaps, most obviously, there are mountable and rideable aliens. So if you really want to, you can ditch your ship and take the more scenic approach to explore a planet. Though, it’s unlikely you can ride any creature. They’ll have to be a specific class of species to allow it. And you’ll probably have to tame them first.
Interestingly, the zoological component to the third pillar doesn’t end there. You can also, somehow, milk specific aliens, as well as use their body parts and specific plants to create recipes and cook. It seems like No Man’s Sky is taking a more realistic survival approach, a lot like Minecraft, given the fact you now could have to feed yourself to stay alive. This could give another interesting element to the game, rather than only relying on fuel for your starship, to survive.
Wait, there’s More to No Man’s Sky Beyond?
Unlike the first two pillars, this third part of Beyond is made up of several much-wanted changes to the game. They’re also the most needed. Firstly, some of the games AI is getting a revamp. The galactic map is getting a redesign after three years of staying the exact same, which is refreshing. The menu and discovery log is also being altered to become more attractive and rewarding. Although, it’s unknown to what extent. Alongside the new update, this will signify a new era of No Man’s Sky, forgetting a lot of the old controversy moving forward.
Probably most importantly, planets are denser and more varied. In other words, finally, the No Man’s Sky planets won’t be the same huge boring biome. Thus exploration will now be much more rewarding, similar to a Minecraft world. Although there will be multiple worlds. Generally speaking (in our universe) the further away you get from the ‘goldilocks’ zone of the system, the less habitable the planets will become on a wider scale. It would be a nice touch, if this was implemented alongside these new, denser biomes. And make sense scientifically. Biologically, there will also be more variety and diversity depending on what biome that flora and fauna are present in the game. This all sounds incredible and echoes the promises that the game advertised before its release. So let’s hope they deliver this time.
And Beyond Goes On…
Next up we have a continuation of the diversity that Beyond expands upon in the No Man’s Sky Universe. This includes a new, more interesting way to learn the languages of the NPCs that dominate the galaxy. These NPCs now walk about bases and planets, and alongside the increased biomes. There are now more alien races, though, this is unspecified. There could be one more, or five more. Murray has left some of it mysterious to keep people guessing, building up a little more hype, pre-release.
Continuing the Minecraft like formula, Beyond also introduces new base building mechanics, allowing you to build on a wider scale, as well as with new electricity and logic systems. Supposedly, this is No Man’s Sky’s answer to Redstone. In a Eurogamer interview, Hello Games founder Grant Duncan said that a complete scored game of Rocket League could be recreated anywhere in the universe.
Roughly one million players with PSVR own the game. Alongside a free multiplayer experience, it seems like the third aspect of the update will play alongside these two nicely. Therefore creating a more authentic, bigger and better exploration, trade, combat, and scientific experience. No Man’s Sky Beyond touches down on August 14th.