SPAAAAAAACE!
Space, the final frontier. Feels like a very cliché way to start this review, but also fitting. Starfield has been a long time coming. Bethesda Game Studios has been working on this game for nearly a decade. They claim it is the game they have always wanted to make. It is probably the biggest release for the Xbox ecosystem in over a decade. There is a lot riding on this one game. So much that no matter what happens it could never live up to in everyone’s eyes. After spending dozens of hours exploring the galaxy and building relationships with my crewmates, building outposts, and of course customizing my ship there is no denying how much love and care went into crafting this space opera. The real question is was the wait worth it?
Starfield is the definition of a Bethesda game. The quests, the characters, the side missions, are all familiar if you have ever experienced one of their previous games. Players take on the role of a miner that is thwarted into an adventure across the galaxy with a group known as Constellation as they uncover a mystery surrounding these artifacts. I am not going into any detail, but as I continued down the main path it uncovered some interesting plot twists and unique experiences with plenty of cliché moments that are present in almost every sci-fi adventure.
MSRP: $69.99
Platforms: Xbox (reviewed), PC
Price I’d Pay: $69.99
What sets this apart from similar games is the traditional Bethesda writing. Characters are interesting and side quests are well-written. Finding some obscure mission on the outskirts of a planet that will have people talking is a staple of this developer, and it is all over Starfield. Unlike their past games instead of one big world, Starfield is spread out across thousands of planets. This means plenty to explore and discover so it will take a long time to see everything.
The thousands of planets claim has certainly caused a stir. Is it like a Skyrim on each one, or is it more like No Man’s Sky where there are plenty of barren planets with little to see or do? Well it is a little in the middle when it comes to a comparison. There are thousands of planets, and I certainly didn’t see all of them in my time with the game, but there are some certainly more populated than others. One of the things that really stuck out to me is how lonely a lot of them feel. Players can scan things on each planet and it is telling that a lot of them consist of like 2-3 elements and maybe a couple native creatures. There is a lot of filler in this universe.
The planets I recognize are also not always that interesting. Heading to a familiar planet only to see one structure and a lot of barren sand is weird the first time. There are explanations for some of these barren wastelands, but when exploring I didn’t feel compelled to spend the time to research them all. Thankfully I could scan these planets before landing to see if it was really worth taking the time to land and explore.
Moving between planets is more like switching between spaces. There is no flying through the atmosphere down to the planet. Instead I travel between galaxies, then select where I want to land and a cut scene plays. It removes some of the immersion, but it works. The space combat is akin to something like Elite Dangerous where each function of the ship can be powered up individually. When traveling I keep the engine and grav drive at full power, but when I swap to combat I up the shields and weapons. It is a neat system and after getting used to it, I really had fun with space combat.
Combat in the game is a mix of melee and a combination of firearms. There are standard familiar weapons such as pistols and shotguns as well as some more sci-fi laser style guns and even some massive explosive ones as well. The issue I ran into is that there are too many different types of guns and ammo. I was constantly collecting ammo and rarely for the weapons I enjoyed using. There are TOO MANY types of ammo in this game. Combine that with how many gun types and collecting everything else and you quickly get over-encumbered (still a dumb game mechanic) and I spent far too often managing my inventory. At one point I had two ships, an outpost, as well as two companions full of stuff because I am a digital hoarder.
Speaking of cumbersome, the menus are a mess. It takes far too many button presses to get where I want to go. Even after 20 hours I was still pressing the wrong button to get into the map or my inventory just because to get to some things it is 3-4 presses deep. Then factor in that backing out of menus uses holding a button to fully exit. It is just not easy to navigate and quickly had me fumbling with the menus more than playing the game itself. An early example was how long it took me to figure out how to transfer items from my person to the ship. It is far more complicated than it has any right to be. With so much to see, do, and collect these types of things should be more thought out.
There is never a lack of things to do in Starfield. Much like Fallout 4 there are building mechanics included for those that want to dig into those types of things. These have never been for me, but I know a lot of people really enjoy them. Starfield allows players to build outposts on various planets. Companions can be assigned to these and generate resources. The big draw though is the ship building. I cannot wait to see the thirty versions of the Millenium Falcon once the game launches. If creativity is not your jam you can also just purchase new ships or upgrade your default one over time. There is a lot to these modes and I am sure the community will create a lot of unique creations, but this part is just not for me.
During my review I played the bulk of the beginning of the game on Xbox Series X, while I finished the second half on PC. The biggest difference between the two is the framerate. When they announced the Series X version would be running at 30fps I was disappointed. Then when they said it was a creative choice I said that was bull. After playing on PC I stand by that assessment. The game is much better at 60fps and for some reason the creativity doesn’t take a hit. Shooting just feels better at 60fps and it is a huge miss the console version doesn’t support it.
That doesn’t mean the game is unplayable at 30fps. This is actually one of the best playing 30fps titles I have experienced in a while. The shooting feels good, the motion blur works well to mask the lower frame rate, but once I went 60, it was hard to go back. Visually the game looks great. Sure there are still some awkward animations and character faces, but when it shines, it shines bright. The worlds can be impressive when they are varied and the enemy designs are interesting. The music rounds out the package and is stellar. The main theme just puts me in the mood to explore and the accompanying tracks are equally excellent.
I would be remiss to go through this entire review without mentioning the most impressive part of Starfield. We all know Bethesda has a reputation of buggy games at launch. Starfield is not one of those games. This is by far the most polished game this team has ever put out. I only ran into minor issues along my adventure. I had to walk around to trigger a quest icon once. There were no game breaking items I discovered. Only a couple funky animations and I never lost progress or anything like that. This game is very polished, and not just by Bethesda standards, but for a game this large it is impressive how few issues I ran into in my 40 plus hours.
Starfield is a great game, but it is not the second coming of Bethesda. This is exactly what I thought it was going to be and if you love their games, you will love Starfield. There is so much to see and do. So many great characters, excellent writing, and plenty of side quests and choices to make. I hate the cliché “if you’re a fan of the genre” but if a game ever matched that quote, it is this one. This is a Bethesda space opera and one of their best games to date. I enjoyed my time and was always excited to dive back in. I don’t see myself going back often now that the main quest is complete, but I had a great time on my journey. Even if it is a bit cliché
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
