No Man’s Sky’s latest update is a solid, if shallow, Han Solo fantasy

polygon.com:

If you’re a placid, peaceful player, it may be easy to pass on Outlaws, the new No Man’s Sky update targeted toward the rogues and rascals of the galaxy. If you prefer to roam across planets, building up bases or hunting down fragments of lore, developer Hello Games is happy to let you keep doing that. 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.

This is a pretty archetypal sci-fi fantasy, and there are times where it works very well in 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.

Space combat is smoother in Outlaws; the ability to lock on to my opponents means that I no longer spin in circles in space, chasing an enemy that is always just on the edge of my peripheral version. Add in the new Squadrons feature, and I have the ability to call a pair of bros to my side. What’s more, I can spend more nanites to expand my Squadron. Therefore, if the authorities hunt me down, I can fight back. It’s not easy, as the Sentinels are a relentless and numerous foe — but it can save millions of units on cargo.

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