Starfield review – Bethesda's AAA title is not the game you think it is

01 October 2023 , 16:00

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Starfield is Bethesda's AAA space-faring RPG, with the Xbox-exclusive title being its first new IP in 25 years. (Image: Bethesda)

The pressure was on Starfield to deliver after a barren period of Xbox-exclusive games, and with Bethesda certainly not being shy about hyping up the AAA title prior to release, the game promised much.

So, did it deliver? Well, it's complicated. I was very excited about Starfield, as someone who loved the Fallout series (notably Fallout 4) and No Man's Sky, Bethesda leading the development of a AAA space game seemed like a match made in heaven. Over 1000 planets to explore, ship building, tons of side quests, a mysterious main story and interesting factions to join? Yes, please!

Now that I've completed Starfield – and when I say completed, I mean that I've finished the main quest – and sunk 60 hours into it, I feel conflicted. It's taken a while for my feelings about the game to truly cement in my mind. And now that they have, I really do think Starfield is a great game, but it's not the game that you think it is, and it's not quite the game that was promised.

And herein lies the problem. Do I review this game for what it actually is? Or, do I review this game against the idea of what people think it is?

Because the truth is, Starfield was heavily marketed as a space exploration game, and it's just not. Yes, there are elements of exploration and things to discover, but the only exploring that actually matters happens in the game's handcrafted side quests and the main story. You can explore as much as you want, landing on as many of the game's 1000 planets as you like, but once you've visited one abandoned facility or mine shaft, you've pretty much visited them all.

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That's because when you land on a planet in Starfield, the area in which you land is a procedurally generated bubble, with a few pre-defined locations chucked in for good measure, but these locations are basically the same wherever you go. And to make matters worse, because the environment is procedurally generated, there's basically nothing to do or see, making exploring a chore. So, yes you can explore, but you really wouldn't want to. It's boring.

And that's a shame because if you remove the 'exploration' from the equation, this is an excellent game. But the fact that most of the marketing around the game uses this facet as the hook, I have no choice but to review Starfield based on this promise; within the first 15 hours of my playtime, I had to let go of the idea of what I expected this game to be and try to enjoy if for what it actually is.

What is Starfield?

The truth is, if you like Bethesda RPGs, you'll love Starfield. It takes what the developer has done with its previous RPGs and builds on it with a cast of compelling characters, an intriguing main story with plenty of twists and turns, an abundance of side quests and, of course, heaps of useless junk ready to encumber you. After completing the game, the Starfield New Game Plus option adds a new dimension (pun intended) to the overall experience of the game – so much so that reviewers were asked not toe delve into the details so as not to spoil the experience.

There's lots to see and do Starfield's main locations as well, with New Atlantis, Cydonia, Neon Akila City, and The Key offering stunning visuals, a bustling collection of fascinating NPCs, side quests, and secrets to find. Speaking of side quests, there are some absolutely wonderful stories to get involved in, and I touched on some of my favourite moments in my Starfield early impressions; I've robbed a floating casino, mastered multi-dimensional travel, been on the best treasure hunt you can imagine, and even had dinner with a lady called Grandma, who just wants some company in the loneliness of space. There are so many other experiences I could talk about, but I'll let you find, and enjoy them, for yourself.

Within the community, there's a general consensus that Starfield 'gets good' after about 10-15 hours, and I'd agree – it's a slow burner. But, once you complete the Into the Unknown mission and discover that you can get powers, things get really interesting. They have a massive impact on combat, which is already pretty solid compared to other Bethesda games like Skyrim, with a large variety of satisfying weapons (even if the enemy AI can often be a bit dumb).

Plenty of space to fill

Starfield very seldom gives you a helping hand, and apart from the help menu in the game's settings, you're pretty much on your own. I didn't mind this, but considering how confusing and unintuitive the menu system is, I'm sure that there are players out there who've given up on the game based on that fact alone. Believe it or not, none of Starfield's major cities – including the biggest one Bethesda has ever created – have a city map, making it unnecessarily hard to find places to get ammo, supplies and coffee. Although the feature is being promised in future updates.

It also beggars belief that the floating 3D map that is the star system menu has no way of favouriting or making notes about planets you've explored. How are you supposed to go back and revisit them? Spoiler alert: you can't unless it was part of a quest. And, whether you like it or not, you're going to be spending a lot of time in these menus, because fast travel will dominate your experience.

Going anywhere in Starfield is an annoying, metronomic routine, with a barrage of cutscenes and loading screens slapping you in the face like a wet flannel, destroying any semblance of immersion. Want to get into your ship? Boom, loading screen. Want to sit in the cockpit? Boom, cutscene. Want to fast travel to another planet? Another cutscene. Whether you want to get out of your ship and start, or enter a new location, none of it is a seamless experience.

It's all just very... unnecessary, because without the space travel, loading screens and the 1000 planets to 'explore', Starfield is excellent in its own right. I was really excited about playing a game that features such vast areas of space, but now, having rolled credits, I would probably have enjoyed it more had it focused on a small collection of really interesting planets, rather than almost 1000 empty ones.

There is an opportunity for Bethesda to add more handcrafted content down the line, maybe even via the upcoming Shattered Space DLC or in the promised future updates – but as it is now, there's a lot of space that needs filling. To really get the most out of Starfield, I had to forget about exploring and focus on finding as many rich experiences as possible.