It's been long understood that space is the final frontier. But as long as that argument has existed, there's been a very frightening and very real counterpoint to that: The deep ocean is Earth's final frontier. And that's where No Man's Sky Update 1.7, The Abyss, takes us—under the sea. Cue the singing crab.
The Abyss is a free new update for No Man's Sky. It's purportedly "eerier" than other No Man's Sky settings. It's got five times more aquatic variety and frequency than before when it comes to the flora and fauna floating around down there. In general, the visuals have been improved down there, too. Which is a good thing because there's a whole lot of glass between you and the ocean, which, to me, doesn't always feel like it's enough of a barrier. There are aquatic missions discovering the fate of a freighter crew, stranded in a rising tide. There are other sunken wrecks, a new diving helmet, a new submarine vehicle, underwater building modules for your colony, and better swimming controls. Get the in-depth (ha!) notes on The Abyss here.
No, seriously, even if you felt cheated, content-wise, out of your initial $60 spend, it's hard to hold too much of a grudge against developer Hello Games for the amount of free updates, patches, and expansions they've rolled out over the subsequent two years. Well, I'd like to say you can't hold too much of a grudge, but we even have a few staffers here at Gaming Nexus that can still only give No Man's Sky a bit of side-eye whenever news comes out of Hello Game. Ah well. Some scars run too deep to address here.
No Man's Sky's The Abyss free update is out now on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
NO MAN’S SKY SUBMERGES PLAYERS IN AQUATIC EXPLORATION WITH “THE ABYSS” UPDATE FOR PC, PLAYSTATION 4 AND XBOX ONE
New Trailer Teases Darker, Eerie Narrative and Introduces Tools and Resources to Help Players Explore Planetary Depths
Calabasas, Calif. – Oct. 29, 2018 – A new free update, “The Abyss,” is now available to all No Man’s Sky players on Steam for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. “The Abyss” is the first major content update since indie United Kingdom developer Hello Games released No Man’s Sky NEXT earlier this year and introduces players to aquatic environments with over five times more variety, new submersible vehicles, improved underwater visuals and much more.
Aquatic Missions and Narrative: A new story, The Dreams of the Deep, brings a new context to the depths and a dark narrative to No Man’s Sky. Players are invited to discover the fate of a troubled crew stranded from a freighter crash by the rising tides or explore underwater ruins to uncover the tale of a lost soul trapped deep beneath the waves.
Submarine Vehicle: Master the depths of planets using a new Exocraft, the Nautilon. This submersible vehicle gives new meaning to underwater navigation, combat and mining – and can be summoned to any ocean on the planet, as well as docked at underwater buildings. Players can upgrade the submersible with installable Submarine Technology and customise the Nautilon to stand out from their fellow explorers.
Submersible Building Modules: More than a dozen new base parts have been added to unlock more creative possibilities underwater. Players can construct the new Marine Shelter for brief respite from the oceanic pressure, and use its protection to reach new depths. New glass corridors, viewing bays and multi-storey submersible view domes provide travellers the perfect view of the surrounding ocean. Players can now bring their aquatic life into a habitat with a decorative indoor aquarium.
Flora and Fauna: The variety and visual quality of underwater biomes has been greatly improved. Players can now experience rare exotic aquatic biomes as they explore new depths. Underwater creatures have become more frequent, and more interesting. Aquatic life inhabits the full depth of the ocean, and unique terrifying creatures can be encountered on the ocean floor.
Sunken Wrecks and Ancient Treasures: Investigate sunken ruins and find ancient treasures or dive to submerged buildings to find remnants of their lost occupants. Discover and scavenge lost cargo from gigantic freighter wrecks. Use the terrain manipulator to excavate treasures buried in the nearby ocean floor. Find and repair rare crashed star ships to restore them from the seabed to the skies.
