“No Man’s Sky,” the eternal project of Hello Games, has once again got a new free update. This time around they have modified the ground combat providing a ton of changes to the core ground enemy group: the Sentinels. The Sentinels update provides both a refresh to old mechanics as well as a slew of new interesting ones.
Previously, the Sentinels were a nuisance at best, providing next to no worthwhile loot only giving things such as pugneum, which isn’t useful and a handful of nanites which people can get within only a couple minutes on a new world after sharing their findings.
Now, there are a ton of different kinds of Sentinels which spice up the gameplay quite a bit.
Each one of the new Sentinels has a new ability.
There are healing Sentinels which are small and agile which gives value to good aim as they swiftly move around healing the damage that you are dealing. There are Sentinels that create cover for themselves and their allies. None of it is destructible and is incredibly effective at forcing you to maneuver around it to actually deal damage. There are summoning Sentinels that create, you guessed it, more Sentinels. And finally, the hard frame Sentinels which are supposed to mimic the style of your mech exosuit called the “minotaur.”
Speaking of the hard frame Sentinel, it’s time to talk about the quest that came with this update. It involves receiving a friendly Sentinel as well as a long quest to improve your own minotaur exosuit with Sentinel upgrades slowly bringing them closer to the Sentinel style and, more importantly, the Sentinel upgrades.
Overall, the update again proves the resilience of their dedication towards this game and its fanbase. The update, while only a small one to be fair, is showing the direction more toward a combative experience which has been a slow progression toward a more sedentary lifestyle of not exploring often and more sticking within certain areas to get resources that you need.
If that is the case, I would not be surprised if the next update refreshes the space combat, but that is putting the cart way before the horse.
It is kind of antithetical to what “No Man’s Sky” is, even accessing the new content requires the usage of one’s settlement. While that isn’t too important, I would personally focus on aspects that a person would encounter if they were in space exploring the universe. New kinds of biomes or perhaps multi-biomed planets. Maybe city planets with tons of citizens and society. However, that is again putting the cart way before the horse.
What isn’t doing that is applauding “No Man’s Sky.” From recent interviews, Sean Murray has said they are nowhere close to being done developing content for “No Man’s Sky.” The amount of respect and adoration for their efforts has me flabbergasted. This is exactly the kind of development I would like to see in a game and developer.
Please, if you can, play “No Man’s Sky” and see the sweeping changes made from internet laughing stock to thrilling experience. I cannot wait to see what happens next.
Edward Park is a fourth-year Secondary Education (English) major. EP909756@wcupa.edu