Starfield is the first new universe in over 25 years from Bethesda Game Studios, the award-winning creators of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Fallout 4. In this next generation role-playing game set amongst the stars, create any character you want and explore with unparalleled freedom as you embark on an epic journey to answer humanity’s greatest mystery.
Developer: Bethesda Game Studios Publisher: Bethesda Softworks & Xbox Game Studios Platform: Xbox Series X|S/Microsoft Windows 10/Steam/xCloud/Game Pass/GeForce NOW. Release Date: 6th September 2023. Early Access on 1st September 2023. Genre: Space Epic Players: 1 Opencritic & Metacritic: 88% - https://opencritic.com/game/14907/starfield & 87%- https://www.metacritic.com/game/xbox-se ... eld?ref=hp Price: ÂŁ69.99 on XBX|S or ÂŁ59.99 on Steam. Also free with Game Pass.
Starfield has its moments, for sure. Its satisfying gunplay makes combat exciting, especially when it's integrated into setpieces within its better, more captivating questlines. And although limited in its conception of space exploration, there's a novelty in poking around the galaxy to see star systems up close and personal, and occasionally finding side content worth chasing. However, it struggles to deliver a cohesive and memorable RPG experience amid the seemingly boundless sea of stars. For all its reverence for scientific philosophy, its stories and characters paint a rather tame and sterile vision for what our spacefaring future could look like. When you strip Starfield down to its essentials, it relies on a tried-and-true, but well-tread formula while missing some of the depth of the games that came before it. Starfield is a game more concerned with quantity than quality, and leaves the experience at the surface level.
Starfield has a lot of forces working against it, but eventually the allure of its expansive roleplaying quests and respectable combat make its gravitational pull difficult to resist.
I wasn’t sure if it could be done, but Bethesda has managed to raise the bar for sandbox games even higher. In the end, Starfield is an epic sandbox open-world RPG with a beautifully immersive universe, a captivating story, and fun and compelling gameplay the whole way. I’m so happy to have experienced Starfield organically, and I really hope you get to as well.
Starfield is more than a welcome addition to Bethesda’s family of RPG franchises, it feels like the start of a new era for the studio. Not only is it the developer’s most technically impressive game, but it also delivers a worthwhile narrative that takes some major swings and establishes a sprawling mythos. It has some blemishes here and there, but Starfield proves to be an awesome sci-fi adventure.
Starfield isn't really a game you play to complete, it's more about living whatever sort of life you want in the literal universe Bethesda has created. Whatever you're thinking of doing, you almost certainly can do it, and the scale is almost a release in a way – you'll probably never see or do it all, so just enjoy the moment. There's months, if not years, of discoveries buried away in here, and even after 80 hours I can't wait to see more.
Starfield is the enchantment and wonder of space bottled and fleshed out into something grand and ambitious, thoughtful and attentive, janky at times, often funny, but always charming.
It's true that Starfield is definitely flawed in some ways, but overall, Starfield is a staggering achievement and has an incredibly bright future ahead of it, regardless of anything said here or anywhere else.
Starfield is the most potent value proposition for Game Pass, being the killer app for the subscription service. It is also the best, most ambitious game in the Xbox Game Studios library to date. It would not be a stretch to say this could be one of the most ambitious games ever made, and that it followed through with many of those goals with relatively low compromise.
Put this all together, and you have a game that doesn’t fundamentally change the formula that Bethesda has built its reputation on. Starfield is another huge experience with an almost overwhelming amount of things to do and see, coupled with some great character development, role-playing features, and so-so action. But it also smooths over many of the rough edges that have defined past releases from the studio while introducing a new theme and narrative that match the grand ambitions that Bethesda has always strived for. War never changes — but it’s a lot more thrilling in space.
If what you're hoping for is The Elder Scrolls or Fallout in space, then Starfield is that. Not only does it have countless stories begging to be sought out against a vast and beckoning star chart, it's also the most polished Bethesda Game Studios title we've ever had.
Starfield is a new beginning. Not only for Bethesda but for Xbox as a whole. With excellent writing, stunning graphics, and thrilling gameplay it makes the galaxy yours to explore, shape, and live in. It is a wonderous tapestry to experience your story in a way that only the best have done before.
FOR ALL, INTO THE STARFIELD In the year 2330, humanity has ventured beyond our solar system, settling new planets, and living as a spacefaring people. You will join Constellation – the last group of space explorers seeking rare artifacts throughout the galaxy – and navigate the vast expanse of space in Bethesda Game Studios’ biggest and most ambitious game
TELL YOUR STORY In Starfield™ the most important story is the one you tell with your character. Start your journey by customizing your appearance and deciding your Background and Traits. The choice is yours. Decide who you will be and what you will become.
EXPLORE OUTER SPACE Venture through the stars and explore more than 1000 planets. Navigate bustling cities, explore dangerous bases, and traverse wild landscapes. Meet and recruit a memorable cast of characters, join in the adventures of various factions, and embark on quests across the Settled Systems.
CAPTAIN THE SHIP OF YOUR DREAMS Pilot and command the ship of your dreams. Personalize the look of your ship, modify critical systems including weapons and shields, and assign crew members to provide unique bonuses. In deep space you will engage in high-stakes dogfights, encounter random missions, dock at star stations, and even board and commandeer enemy ships to add to your collection.
DISCOVER, COLLECT, BUILD Explore planets and discover the fauna, flora, and resources needed to craft everything from medicine and food to equipment and weapons. Build outposts and hire a crew to passively extract materials and establish cargo links to transfer resources between them. Invest these raw materials into research projects to unlock unique crafting recipes.
LOCK AND LOAD Space can be a dangerous place. A refined combat system gives you the tools to deal with any situation. Whether you prefer long-range rifles, laser weapons, or demolitions, each weapon type can be modified to complement your playstyle. Zero G environments add a chaotic spectacle to combat, while boost packs give players freedom to maneuver like never before.
There was a 2018 interview with Todd Howard who was speaking about IP with 'star' in the title, Star Wars and Star Trek and this is to be Bethesda's contribution, which I interpreted to mean it's going to be a major contribution to the the space sci-fi genre.
What I hope to see most and expect to see, is space-faring interplanetary space travel, getting into your ship and being able to fly somewhere. This was fun in Mass Effect although that has a tighter narrative control and in No Man's Sky. The character in the screenshot is likely human but what will be interesting if Bethesda create a whole universe of new lore and new creatures, or perhaps use some of Elder Scroll races like Khajit and Argonians which would then link the two universes. I hope this is a 2021 release but I don't think it will be later than 2022.
With this and TES 6 Bethesda already have a (potentially) very good line up for the next few years don’t they? Alongside what they’ve already got releasing for the PS5.
Robbo-92 wrote:With this and TES 6 Bethesda already have a (potentially) very good line up for the next few years don’t they? Alongside what they’ve already got releasing for the PS5.
TES6 will be in the lineup for the next decade, let alone next few years....
Let's say TES6 releases Christmas 2023 I would imagine they'll pump out at least 3 years of extra content so it'll easy fill the Series S/X gen of consoles.
Robbo-92 wrote:With this and TES 6 Bethesda already have a (potentially) very good line up for the next few years don’t they? Alongside what they’ve already got releasing for the PS5.
TES6 will be in the lineup for the next decade, let alone next few years....
If it has the same longevity that Skyrim continues to have then it definitely will be, couple of remasters and they’ll be set
- It's going to be a while until we're going to see Starfield. - He confirmed that they'd like to show the game when it's almost complete. - He said modding will definitely be part of the game. - It's definitely a single-player game. - Largest engine overhaul ever. 5 times the people were working on this overhaul than ever before, and they are very happy with the results. "From rendering to animation to pathing to procedural generation, I don't wanna say everything. It's a significant overhaul, taken us longer than we would have liked. When people will see the results, we hope they'll be as happy as we are." - "If we made Skyrim on next gen, we would increase the number of NPCs, more people in towns, bigger cities." - Fallout 76 started as a side project, and most content was added late into the project. Todd acknowledged that Fallout 76 wasn't received as well as they'd hoped, and said that it let people down and didn't deliver. - Microsoft's acquisition allows them to make better games and reach more people than ever. "For me next gen is about accessibility. I want to play this game now and then continue from where I was. I'm playing it and I wanna pick that up and have it go with me and have it frictionless. Next 10 years are about making that seamless." - he played Outer Wilds on Gamepass. - Both Starfield and ES6 will be on Gamepass.
Starfield is easily one of the most highly anticipated upcoming releases, which is surprising given the fact that we’ve seen nothing of the game other than a logo. The promise of a sci-fi open world RPG developed by Bethesda is an alluring one though, and there’s been more than a few questions about when exactly we’ll see it, and then get to play it. It seems both of those things will be happening relatively soon.
GamesBeat journalist Jeff Grubb recently said during a Dealer Gaming stream that the plan for Bethesda is to follow a marketing and launch cycle for Starfield similar to that of Fallout 4. According to Grubb, there’s a 90% likelihood that the game’s going to be unveiled in full at E3, and then will launch later in the year itself. He says that that’s what Bethesda has planned right now, barring any COVID-related delays and hurdles, of course.
Other insiders have also recently suggested that launching Starfield in late 2021 is part of Bethesda’s plan, with COVID being the only potential complication.
Whenever it does launch, it’ll be interesting to see how Microsoft handles its exclusivity. Director Todd Howard has said that it would be “hard to imagine” Starfield releasing as an Xbox console exclusive, though Microsoft’s recent statements about wanting to provide exclusive content for Game Pass might contradict that.