Even when its initial launch left some players feeling underwhelmed and disappointed, no one could deny No Man’s Sky was an absolutely gorgeous game. Nearly eight years later, the sci-fi exploration sim looks more stunning than ever in a comprehensive new 5.0 patch that adds a bunch of things and changes a ton of other stuff that make the game feel more alive and lived in than ever.
Walking sims sometimes get a bad rep, and several mammoth updates later, No Man’s Sky is everything from a base-building crafting game to an open-world survival shooter. Nothing stimulates the imagination quite like exploring an alien planet as storms gather in the background and blades of grass flutter around in the cool breeze. While some other space games turn take-off and landing into loading screens, breaking the atmospheric barrier in No Man’s Sky is one of the most breathtaking things about it.
These moments are when No Man’s Sky’s procedurally generated universe makes anything feel possible, and also where its Worlds Part 1 update looks to breathe the most new life into the game’s aging bones. Even if you’ve never played it before, new shots of rolling fog, ash clouds, and ocean tides help No Man’s Sky tug at your weirdest sci-fi dreams in even more ways. Some of the scenes look like a ‘70s book cover with the kinetic momentum of Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar.
The game is currently on sale for $24 on PS5, PS4, and Steam, and $48 on Xbox where it’s also included in Game Pass (sorry Switch owners, it’s still full price on the eShop). All of the updates since 2016 have also been free, so no paying extra to nuke bugs with mech flamethrowers in this latest update, either. But one of the best things about No Man’s Sky is that you don’t even need to play it to appreciate its cosmic beauty. Here are 19 screenshots from the new update that will inspire your planetary adventurer for free.
