࿐°*˖✧STARFIELD✧˖*°࿐

Platform: PC, Xbox Series X/S (reviewed on both Series X and Steam Deck)

Publisher: Bethesda Softworks

Developer: Bethesda Game Studios

Release date: 6 September 2023

In the lead-up to Starfield, much has been said about the highly anticipated sci-fi epic. The sexy Todd Howard has called it “Skyrim in space”, referencing the open-world freedom you'll be having in the heavens. By my estimation, Howard is being incredibly humble. Starfield is far more than a derivative “Skyrim in space” - it's Bethesda's magnum opus and a testament to the heights gaming has reached.

By no means is Starfield perfect. As I'll discuss, it has bugs out of the wazoo, and there are plenty of elements that I can predict will annoy some players. However, when the stars and planets align, Starfield is a dizzyingly brilliant work of art that'll haunt your mind long after you put the controller down. So put on your helmets, cadets, and get ready for an intergalactic adventure.

STORY - Started from rock bottom

Starfield kicks off on Vectera, which is one of Anselon in the Nairon system. There, you're given your cutter (a laser-powered device) which you'll use to mine for minerals. It doesn't take too long before you stumble upon a strange piece of metal that gives you brilliant 2001-like visions accompanied by orchestral music. As you soon discover, you're not the first to have these experiences, and the Freestar Collective has been hard at work attempting to figure out what is going on. Is it the voice of God? Are extra-terrestrials making contact? Or are you simply going insane? Through your adventures, you hope to solve these questions and many others.

As far as the plot goes, Starfield does a sufficient job of gripping you. The mystery is a deep one that can be tackled from philosophical, spiritual, and scientific angles. It forces you to think about the origins of mankind, the nature of reality, and the fate of our species.

Fueling this mystery is a vast universe for you to explore. Every planet, moon, space station, and solar system is another black hole of secrets waiting for you to dive in. Consequently, no matter how many hours you put in, there's always a sense that there's something more to discover if you could just travel a little farther or talk to the right person.

Truth be told, I have no experience with prior Bethesda games, so I cannot compare them to past titles. However, I do enjoy show-don't-tell stories that leave plenty to the imagination. If you're okay with not always getting concrete answers, and with the idea of telling your own story through your actions and dialogue choices, Starfield will have you rapt for its entire length.

During your adventure, you'll have plenty of companions to befriend. Want to explore Akila with Sam Coe, or mine moons with Vasco? Maybe you'd prefer your journey to be a solo one. The choice is yours. How you act around your companions and what you say to them will determine how much they like you. You can also romance some companions. They're all unique with full backstories, and I never felt myself really hating any of them. Personally, I stuck close to Sarah, as we share common goals, though I'd occasionally choose to have Vasco the robot assistant by my side.

There are also several factions and groups you'll encounter. For instance, the House of Va'ruun are a group that worships a serpent deity. In addition to the Freestar Collective, there's the United Colonies, Ryujin Industries, as well as the general riffraff called Spacers. They all provide some unique content, making it worthwhile to put some thought into which way you will go.

GAMEPLAY - Slow and steady

After a brief tutorial, you're left to do pretty much whatever you want. Will you side with the Freestar Collective and follow Sarah in her scientific endeavours? Or will you join space pirates and rob innocent people? The choice is yours, and there aren't many barriers to stop you from doing whatever you want. I had a first-hand experience of this when I was tasked with ferrying some passengers from Earth's moon to a distant solar system. Upon entering my spacecraft, I found strangers and shot them on instinct. Those were my passengers, and I failed the mission.

This commitment to realism follows you during exploration, too. When you enter settlements, there aren't any artificial markers to indicate stores or hotels. It's up to you to genuinely live in the environment, open doors, read signs, and speak to people. You'll also have to behave yourself, as law enforcement is present. They'll blast your brains out if your crime is serious enough, though if you escape you can gain a bounty that'll have to be paid off.

Realism extends to your interactions with NPCs. You can have lengthy conversations with them, and there's a cool ability to persuade others by saying the right things. It's a risky game, and there's no way of learning the right answers because they'll change their reactions if you try to save scum. As you walk through settlements, you'll overhear NPCs talking, which could trigger the start of a new mission.

Gunplay

All in all, the gunplay is serviceable. I didn't spend too much time in combat scenarios and I tried to avoid them as much as possible, as my true joy came from exploration. The weapons seldom feel too different from each other, though you have plenty of options when it comes to weapon modifications. One thing I really like about combat is that you can loot your fallen foes for their pens, weapons, sandwiches, notebooks, caps, uniforms, anything they have on them really. You'll end up with a lot of junk, but you'll occasionally find useful items like keycards.

The space element does add some cool effects to certain encounters. For instance, on low-gravity planets, you'll find yourself bouncing all over the battlefield as you shoot your enemies. When they die, they'll float off which is pretty funny. The fights between spacecrafts in space are also very cool, perhaps even more than regular gunfights. Craft the right spacecraft and you'll quickly turn your opponents into scrap metal.

Ship customization and outpost building

To help you cross the vast expanses of outer space, you have a spaceship called Frontier. This ship can be heavily customized. You can add weapons, shields, and boosters to travel faster or turn space pirates into shrapnel. You can also purchase more ships to expand your fleet. I enjoyed flying around space and the interstellar dogfights did a good job of raising my excitement levels. It should be mentioned that you cannot do the following: land on planets, fly in a planet's atmosphere, or manually travel between solar systems. Nevertheless, you'll never feel restricted, and there are plenty of opportunities to cruise through space, occasionally receiving transmissions from thieves and salesmen. I haven't delved into ship customization too much yet, though it is evident that for those who wish to embark on massive projects, great freedom is available.

It is possible to set up outposts in convenient places. Here, you can have a crew to help build your De Beers-esque mining empire, and there are several options to make your outposts feel a bit more like home. Once again, I haven't spent too much time exploring this system, though it evidently allows for great creativity.

Exploration

Onto exploration. Starfield is huge. Massive. Ginormous. Planets are unique, and while most of them are relatively desolate, what do you expect from a sci-fi game? I loved the feeling of being a pioneer and setting up shop on a new planet to begin my environmentally exploitative affairs. You'll seldom encounter alien life, and when you do, it's often scared of you or ambivalent. There are few planets with hostile life (such as Akila) but you can avoid the monsters for the most part.

Be careful when loading up on junk! Carry too much and you'll wind up encumbered. When you're encumbered, you'll use up more oxygen, which brings us to our next topic - systems. There is a lot of micromanaging involved. Personally, I love it, but I know there are players who won't. For example, you have to manage your inventory, the inventory of your companions, and your ship's inventory. You can suffer from status afflictions that need curing, your ship needs repairs, there are research projects to complete, you have skills to upgrade, you have money to manage, and it can get overwhelming very quickly when you find yourself with poor lungs, an overloaded ship, and a couple of time-bound missions on your plate.

The solution? Go slow. This is a game that greatly rewards earnest curiousity and attention to details. Take a break at New Atlantis, sleep, visit some stores and you'll probably find the items you need. You'll also get a chance to sell cargo you don't need anymore. Trust me, you'll have tons of garbage to offload. Don't be afraid to just ignore your missions for a while and do whatever you want. Moonwalk on Luna for a while, set up an outpost on Europa and mine it for all its worth. There's always something to gain from venturing away from the beaten path.

A few more pieces of advice. Firstly, turn the HUD opacity all the way to 0. You don't need it. If you're lost and can't find your next mission checkpoint, you can bring up your scanner which'll give you the information you need. Secondly, though you can play in both first and third-person mode, first-person offers a superior experience. This is because you'll be able to easily aim by using your gun's downsights instead of relying on an immersion-breaking reticle. Secondly, there are SO many items to pick up. It's hard to aim for them in third-person. If you do insist on playing in third-person, consider switching to first-person when doing your looting, as it'll make things easier to pick up, especially small objects.

It's easy to tell that I love Starfield's gameplay. It feels like Red Dead Redemption 2 in space as far as how interactable everything is and how slow-paced the gameplay can be. This is the sci-fi game I've always wanted and I'm so grateful to the relentlessly handsome Todd Howard and the rest of the fine folks at Bethesda. Despite this, there are flaws, and they will be discussed (no offence, Todd).

AUDIO AND VISUALS

The audio is serviceable. The typical soundtrack you've heard in trailers is pretty much what you're getting for the game's length. There are upbeat, heartbeat-raising scores for combat encounters, and plenty of synthy tracks for your “cruising past Alpha Centauri in my spacecraft” moments, but nothing you'll remember. Overall, the soundtrack does a good job of setting the mood but it doesn't feel like the game has much of an audio personality. Too many times it leans on obvious tropes featuring grand orchestras and spacey synths.

The game's visuals are a different story entirely. It oozes personality. Often, you've heard the game described as “NASA punk” and that's pretty accurate. This isn't the kind of futurism you'd typically expect, you know, with holograms and sleek designs. Instead, you get that clunky, lived-in mess that you'd associate with NASA. Everything is modular and clinically white, and there are plenty of sentimental knick-knacks everywhere (that you can steal of course).

I beg you to explore as much as possible. You'll discover gorgeous lands with sunsets beautiful enough to bring tears to your eyes. Venture through red dust devils, or hunt worms in rainforests in Jemison. The sights are marvellous.

It runs at a pretty smooth 30fps on Xbox Series X, though there were occasional dips during explosions. As for the Steam Deck… forget about it. 20-25fps with frequent dips. I'd recommend not playing it here at all. You're robbing yourself of an amazing experience by playing on hardware that simply can't handle the game's demands.

THE FLAWS OF STARFIELD

Like I said, the game isn't perfect and there are issues that must be discussed. I'll address personal dislikes first. I don't like the looting system, and I think it should have been simplified. It's far too easy to end up with an inventory full of nonsense. Secondly, I don't like the powers you eventually gain. It takes the game from sci-fi to fantasy, robbing it of its more grounded feeling. In the modern feature-rich gaming landscape, I understand why that was done. However, I believe the game would have been better off without the cliche superpowers.

Bethesda Bugs - The GI Jane Effect

There are bugs - don't believe reviewers who claim there aren't. Sometimes, I caught NPCs holding invisible guns. Often, NPCs had their hair removed entirely, leading to the GI Jane effect. There were also several instances of enemies becoming jittery and spasming in place. Oh, and the game crashed several times on the Deck. Some of these issues will probably be mended with the day one patch, but I believe you should be aware of my experiences.

Do these bugs suck? Yes! Do they ruin the game? No! Am I happy with my life and the man I've become? No! Am I going to overcome my sordid addictions, make peace with the mistakes of my past, and implement positive daily habits? No!

CONCLUSION

I love Starfield. I love it so much. It's kept me riveted for entire nights several times. There's so much more I could discuss but I'd like for you to take the journey into the Starfield on your own. This is a game that lives up to the hype behind it. Its magnitudes are breathtaking, the characters are complex, and by god is it beautiful. This is SOUL.

Score: 97/100 Hollys.