Starfieldis a game that many have been anticipating since its announcement four years ago at E3 2018. It’s the latest open-world project from industry titan Bethesda, and promises sprawling environments, endless customizability, and a story worth investing time into. At the recentXbox and Bethesda showcase more information was revealed, as the game showed a hint of what it would later become when it releases in 2023. LikeFalloutbefore it, the title will focus on exploration and combat from the first-person perspective, which allows many benefits and some evident drawbacks.
In that first-person view, players will be able to take to the skies and explore a plethora of planets. With so many unexplored areas, there will likely be hostility from a wide variety of sources, so players need to be well armed. Guns seem to be the weapon of choice inStarfield, but with other Bethesda-developed and published games pushing the FPS genre forward hugely, the upcoming project should take a more unorthodox approach to battles if it wants to feel truly unique in comparison to what has come before.
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Starfield Shouldn’t Be Fallout in Space
Falloutis beloved by fans for good reason, as its brilliant visual art style and atmospheric soundtrack did well to immerse players through the journey of each of its offerings, but one vital flaw shared byFallout 3,Fallout: New Vegas, Fallout 4,andFallout 76was the combat mechanics. Shooting felt inconsistent and many struggled to find their footing with the gameplay. First impressions indicate thatStarfieldis going to be similar to its predecessors in many ways, and while this is a positive in terms of level design and presentation, the gunplay simply has to be better than anything theFalloutseries has ever offered.
Starfieldhas to prove that it has more to give.Fallout 4showed signs of age despite being a well-crafted game, but much has changed in the industry since 2015. To keep up withdevelopers like Ubisoft, CD Projekt Red, Rockstar, and Guerilla in the open-world space, Bethesda has to bring something new to the table instead of relying on what made it beloved to begin with. The combat has been a byproduct of theFalloutfranchise’s age, soStarfield’s weapons need to be unique to make the otherwise familiar gameplay stand out.
Starfield’s Space Setting Grants Many Opportunities
Being set so far from the shores of planet Earth means thatStarfieldcan get creative with the weapons that players can use. From plasma beam guns tonon-lethal approaches to combat,Starfieldshould do more. Experiences likeHalo,Destiny,andMass Effecthave a litany of weapons that are radically different from those presented in more grounded and realistic games likeBattlefieldandCall of Duty,and they’re all the better for it.
The space setting allows more creative freedom thanks to fewer restrictions due to its setting.Starfieldlooks unrealistic by nature, and much of the surrounding anticipation has been specifically because it’s not set on Earth. Inthe open world thatStarfieldpresents, the weapons could be used not only to dispatch of enemies but also a useful tool for traversal, too. Grappling hooks, portal guns and the like would all serve to heighten the gameplay and add variety to combat encounters, and that creativity couldn’t be effortlessly integrated into the story without the sci-fi setting thatStarfieldpresents.
Starfield’s legacy is entirely dependent on the developer’s willingness to make it feel truly unique fromSkyrimandFallout.Starfield’s choice-driven role-playing elementsmay be eerily similar to previous Bethesda ventures, but the space setting allows for more creative freedom than ever before. The weapons and combat should be the first thing to benefit from the freedom it brings, if only to further separate it from the games that Bethesda has previously worked on. Space is endless, so ifStarfieldpresents weapons that are too familiar toFallout, that could be the first nail in its coffin.
Starfieldlaunches on PC and Xbox Series X/S in 2023.
