Continuing on a seemingly nonstop road to redemption, Hello Games has released the details for its newest update to No Man's Sky called Expeditions. Like the many updates before it, this is a sizable expansion to the game. Also known as the 3.3 update, Expeditions introduces some brand-new ways to play No Man's Sky with friends.
Expeditions adds a new mode which lets gamers restart the game from the beginning. Players within a group will start at a fixed point in the universe and can then travel together on a shared journey. On this adventure, the player's team will complete a series of unique milestones. These can be tackled in any order, and will let you meet up with travelers and earn rewards, all while experiencing new ways to play the game.
The duration and length of each Expedition is unique and has different themes, challenges, goals and rewards. Special Rendezvous planets have also been added for Expeditions that act as a social area for players, creating hubs of activity almost as populated as the Nexus. Those who complete the first Expeditionary mission called Pioneers will be able to claim the Golden Vector Starship, a copy of the classic Alpha Vector Starship but with a shiny gold coating.
The developers announced also that weekend events are returning and will be procedurally generated. These will reward players with valuable Quicksilver. Interestingly, fans can likewise earn rewards simply by watching Twitch streams of No Man's Sky. From April 1 to April 5, participants can earn loot such as character customizations, emotes, base parts, ship decorations and unique ships, as well as multi-tools.
Space station missions are getting an overhaul as well, with mission agents now providing side-quests and objectives with greater depth. The rewards for completing these missions are also being rebalanced, with higher-level missions resulting in far better rewards and items. Additionally, there are over 100 in-game patches to collect; these are earned by completing Expedition milestones.
Keeping with the theme of this update, Explorer-class starships have been visually refurbished with greater detail to the models and textures. Among these quality of life improvements, the in-game HUD has been refreshed with a cleaner, more polished appearance. Finding where you need to go for missions will also be a bit more involved. Instead of just following a marker to go exactly where you need to, the Analysis Visor's Target Sweep mode and some old-fashioned tracking skills will be needed to find the mission objective.
The combat systems are being overhauled with new quality of life changes as well. Ground combat against Sentinels is being rebalanced too, offering more dynamic and exciting encounters. Sentinel Drones will display an icon that shows them self-repairing, while Quads have greater mobility and targeting. The powerful Walkers will now be deployed via orbital drop, making for some awesome animations.
There are even more changes beyond that, including updates to cross-platform play. Any discoveries you make will now appear across all platforms. Uploaded bases can also be found and visited regardless of platform. Markers have also been restyled for every building, mission and resource players find when exploring. Various improvements have been made for creature companions from the previous update as well. Hopefully, this update will attract new players as Hello Games continues to grow No Man's Sky.