No Man’s Sky Echoes Update Enhances Space Combat, Adds Epic Freighter Battles

The latest No Man’s Sky update, Echoes, has officially launched, and it’s absolutely epic.

According to the update notes, Echoes introduces a long-lost race of robots called the Autophage, Pirate Dreaudnoughts, Multi-Tool salvaging, new story content, and other tweaks and improvements.

The highlight of the update for most players, though, is undoubtedly the enhanced space combat. The epic trailer for Echoes shows off a squadron of spaceships taking on a pirate freighter with a trench run that feels straight from Star Wars, officially making the game even more of the ultimate sci-fi fantasy. The update also offers some improvements for those playing on the PSVR2 with increased resolution and detail.

Despite a notoriously rocky launch in 2016, Hello Games has been working hard over the past seven years to really enhance No Man’s Sky, turning it into the hit players always thought it could be. There have been numerous content updates and seasonal challenges over the years, with the most recent having been Singularity earlier this year. All of these updates have added something new to a game that was once critiqued for feeling empty, and it’s hard not to recognize just how much deep and full the universe feels seven years in.

Although the No Man’s Sky content updates have definitely improved the game a lot, I’ve always found the space combat to be a bit lackluster. When I’m playing the action-adventure survival game, space combat has felt like a chore delaying me on my way to further explore the universe. I’ve also died my fair share of times because combat never really felt like something I wanted to learn how to do well. However, the addition of freighter battles and a general overhauling of that combat is an exciting prospect to me. I desperately want No Man’s Sky‘s combat to be great, and there’s nothing I want more than to get together with some friends and live out my Star Wars fantasies by downing a massive ship.

No Man’s Sky is available now on PC, iOS, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PS4, PS VR2, and PS VR.