In No Mans Sky your gun is a multitool wonder

As nebulous a concept as a procedurally-generated spare exploration sim might sound on the surface, the closer we come to actually playing No Man's Sky for real, the more developer Hello Games astounds us with new features and attractions (come on, you know you're going to name a planet after it least one genital).

In the latest issue of Edge, MD Sean Murray explains even the humble side-arm at your.. erm side... is more than just a pea shooter."In a lot of sci-fi games, all their weapons are basically AK-47s with some red stripes down the side," Murray says. "We don’t like that; we want something that feels advanced and cool. So you have this multitool, which is a little bit like a tricorder."

The weapon at your disposal in No Man's Sky is more than just a gun - it can do everything from scanning sites for potential mining to kicking off mass extinction events. Upgrades are available, but you'll need to recover alien technologies on your travels (which can then be added together in a special grid menu that provides multiple boosts and additions). For example, your scanner starts off as beam that only works at short range, but get your space-faring mitts on the right upgrade kit and you can transform it into a wide-ranging pulse with a far greater range. Said big boy scanner can now detect resources underground (which you can then mine with your in-built laser).

The latest issue of Edge, with Horizon: Zero Dawn on the cover, is out now. Download it here or subscribeto future issues.

Dom has been a freelance journalist for many years, covering everything from video games to gaming peripherals. Dom has been playing games longer than he'd like to admit, but that hasn't stopped him amassing a small ego's worth of knowledge on all things Tekken, Yakuza and Assassin's Creed.