No Man’s Sky’s Outlaws update is a solid Han Solo fantasy

If you’re a placid, peaceful player, it may be easy to pass on Outlaws, the new No Man’s SkyUpdating targeted towards the rogues, rascals, and the galaxy. Hello Games will allow you to continue exploring the galaxy, building bases, and hunting for lore. But Outlaws enables a whole new style of play, which turns the player’s Traveller into an under-the-radar smuggler who can pick up dangerous missions and carry illegal supplies across monitored borders in the galaxy.

It is an archetypal science-fiction fantasy that works well at times. No Man’s Sky. There’s a lot of joy in plotting out a supply run, ping-ponging between stations, submitting fraudulent passports to hide my footwork, and stopping Sentinel scans from detecting the high-value goods I have packed in the back of my little ship. If I do everything right (or if I’m just lucky) I don’t get into any sort of conflict. If I’m less fortunate, I may have to pay a bribe, give up some of my cargo, or get into a dogfight.

Outlaws make space combat more smooth. The ability to keep my opponent in my sights means I don’t have to spin around in space chasing an enemy who is just beyond my peripheral view. The Squadrons feature allows me to summon a couple of brothers to my side. What’s more, I can spend more nanites to expand my Squadron. So even if I am pursued by authorities, you can still fight back. It’s not easy, as the Sentinels are a relentless and numerous foe — but it can save millions of units on cargo.

Image: Hello Games via Polygon

If there’s one complaint I have about Outlaws, it’s that the expansion just doesn’t feel pirate-y enough. There’s a sense of wild abandon and adventure that comes with the idea of a pirate expansion. Pirates don’t follow the rules and pursue freedom. They seek treasure, not petty law. But No Man’s Sky is a quieter kind of game; I feel more like I’m doing paperwork at the space DMV than flipping off the space feds as I do a warp jump out of there with my ship full of illicit goods.

In a strange way, I don’t really mind that the pirate fantasy of Outlaws is incomplete. It’s partly because I love smuggling. And partially because Hello Games. The developer has earned its fans’ trust by consistently updating the game and adding more layers of sophistication and complexity. Even if you don’t travel to these villainous crime systems, Outlaws complements the dozens of other tiny updates that have brought No Man’s SkySpace. Now, there are planetary dogsights. These dogfights differ from those in open space. When I travel over the planet’s surface I spot freighters advancing into their systems. A little Sentinel is with me as I travel, protecting my Settlement against hostile Sentinel attacks.

Outlaws does not represent a new, more illegal way of role-playing. In No Man’s Sky; it’s not quite complete, but it is solid fun as of now (and more importantly, it’s functional). Just a touch more rum and yar har in my pirate fantasy. And as always, I’m willing to wait to see how Hello Games iterates on what it’s already built.