About five years and a month after the game’s original release, No Man’s Sky has finally managed to reach the ‘blue’ threshold of overall Steam user reviews. Sean Murray framed the moment with a screenshot shared on the game’s official Twitter, as No Man’s Sky user reviews turned to ‘Mostly Positive’ at long last.
you guys 😭 pic.twitter.com/eviUu0s4Og
— Sean Murray (@NoMansSky) September 6, 2021
For a long time, the game was stuck between negative and mixed reviews. As you’ll probably recall, the launch was incredibly rocky as many users voiced their disappointment due to the many missing features that had been promised by Hello Games.
No Man’s Sky was even formally investigated by the United Kingdom’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for potentially false advertising leading to the release, though the ruling concluded that there was no misleading on the developer’s part.
However, Hello Games kept working on the game at a steady pace, adding new features and content with free updates released every three or four months. At this point, the additions are too many to list here, but it’s safe to say that the developer has completed one of the most spectacular comebacks in the recent history of gaming, comparable only to Final Fantasy XIV’s.
The most recent No Man’s Sky update, titled Frontiers, introduced actual settlements of non-player characters (NPCs) that players can oversee as ‘mayors’.
PLANETARY SETTLEMENTS
Clusters of pioneering aliens have banded together to build planetary settlements. These little communities, bustling with life and promise, can now be found on all inhabited planets across the galaxies.FOUND YOUR OWN SETTLEMENT
Submit your management credentials to become overseer of a settlement, rename it, and assume leadership over its citizens. The settler population will look to you for town planning, treasury management, policy decisions and conflict resolution.EACH SETTLEMENT UNIQUE
Every settlement is procedurally generated, with unique buildings, neighbourhood layouts, colour schemes, and interior and exterior decoration.HELP SETTLEMENTS GROW
Ungoverned settlements start off small and modest, with a sparse population and only a few buildings scattered around their town centre. Provide resources to construct new buildings and transform your ramshackle collection of dwellings into a flourishing town!RESOLVE CITIZEN DISPUTES
Settlement life is not always harmonious! As overseer, you will occasionally be called upon to help resolve disagreements between settlers. Fair and compassionate judgements will result in happier citizens!HUNDREDS OF NEW BASE PARTS
Construct your own settlement-inspired bases with a huge array of new base parts. New structural sets of timber, stone and alloy pieces create a tremendous range of possible building shapes. Over a hundred new decorative parts create all-new ways to add personal character to bases.NEW EXPEDITION SEASON
This community adventure has a different feeling from previous No Man’s Sky expeditions. Travellers will begin their journey with a technologically unique starship, featuring an advanced waveform engine and powerful frameshift catapult.BREATHTAKING NEBULAS
Interstellar clouds have gathered in deep space to form spectacular multi-coloured nebulas, making space skies more beautiful than ever.ENHANCED EFFECTS
Almost all of No Man’s Sky’s visual effects have been revisited, revamped and improved. Weapons and explosions feel much more punchy and add a new visceral element to combat.BASE BUILDING IMPROVEMENTS
Introducing a clean, minimal, contextual HUD to place, scale, rotate and recolour base parts. See all your building parts in an easy-to-parse grid. You’ll notice some you forgot about! You can now pick up and move base parts you’ve placed, duplicate parts, or build impossible new structures in free place mode.
