No Man's Sky Next review – wider horizons than ever before

Xbox One, PC, PS4; Hello Games
Visual updates, a new third-person camera and the ability to play along with friends are all improvements in the latest iteration of this extraordinary game

The two-year-old No Man's Sky is an extraordinary game. Its procedurally generated galaxy has marked it out for inclusion in the forthcoming V&A exhibition Videogames: Design/Play/Disrupt, and developer Hello Games says people have spent more than 200m hours in its near-infinite universe, where every planet and life form is unique. But No Man's Sky's has a lingering reputation as a game that failed to live up to expectations when it was launched.

Hello Games has methodically introduced free features to what was initially a shallow game. The Foundation update added new modes (Creative and Survival), base building, farming, and freighters. Pathfinder added planetary vehicles and base sharing. And last August's Atlas Rises added a 30-hour central storyline that gave players more direction.