At the Xbox and Bethesda Showcase, Bethesda finally revealed the first look at gameplay of its highly anticipatedStarfield. The game is the next large single-player RPG from Bethesda afterFallout 4in 2015, and it is the first brand-new IP from the studio in a long time. It will be taking the Bethesda video game model into the stars for a space faring adventure that promises to be one of the most ambitious titles that the studio has ever made. While theStarfieldgameplay looks fun and the concept sounds cool, what fans have seen feels very much like another space faring game that promised too much.
After the gameplay ofStarfieldwas revealed, many gamers began to draw parallels toHello Games’No Man’s Sky. Both games shot for the stars and promised a galaxy spanning adventure.No Man’s Skyfailed to live up to the hype at launch, but it has since received countless large scale updates that have significantly improved the game. If Bethesda is not careful thenStarfieldmay follow that same path and have to play catch-up with numerous post-launch updates.
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Starfield Looks A Lot Like No Man’s Sky
The anticipation forthe Xbox and Bethesda Showcasewas high as it was going to be the first time that Bethesda shed some light onStarfield. The gameplay that was shown off looks to be a pretty fun Bethesda game set in space, but a lot of the elements seem very similar toNo Man’s Sky. The game will have players exploring a grand galaxy of more than a thousand different planets. Players will be able to land on these planets, traverse their landscapes, and mine resources, which is a concept that sounds just likeNo Man’s Sky.
Starfieldwill also let players construct their own outpostson these various planets. They will be able to hire people to work at these outposts, and these will serve as bases of operations as they explore the galaxy. The outposts will be able to gather resources and will work a lot like the settlements inFallout 4. Players will also be able to construct their own personal spaceship to fly across the stars with.No Man’s Skyalso received base building in a post-launch update, but has yet to add customizable ships.
Thebig difference betweenStarfieldandNo Man’s Skyis the fact that some of these planets will feel more alive, and there will be a strong narrative sewn throughout the galaxy. Some of these planets will have large scale cities and players will traverse the stars following a classic Bethesda story.No Man’s Skyhas experimented with story elements, but it does not have a story on the scale of a Bethesda title. It also has signs of life in space and on the planets, but not to the extent of these large cities and stations thatStarfieldmay include.
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No Man’s Sky Was Not Great At Launch
No Man’s Skyhas become infamousfor the amount of features that were promised that did not make it at launch. The game promised a living, breathing galaxy, but what players got was lacking in many areas. The planets felt pretty barren and the gameplay loop when entering a new galaxy got pretty boring. Players would enter a new galaxy, land on one of the various planets, catalog a couple of things, mine for fuel, and then take off for the next planet to do the exact same thing. While the terrain of each planet may have looked slightly different, each planet served the exact same purpose and gave players little reason to stop to smell the roses.
Hello Games had promisedthat each planet inNo Man’s Skywould be unique and that the game would be the space-faring adventure that players have always wanted. Planets were supposed to have their own ecosystems, factions were supposed to engage in space battles, players were supposed to be able to play how they wanted, and the game was supposed to fulfill the dream of exploring a universe with over 18 quintillion unique planets. While the game has gotten a lot better with updates that have added some of those promised elements, and some extras too, it was far from what was promised when it launched.
Bethesda Needs to Avoid the Same Fate
Bethesda is promising a space game on a grand scale, and seems to be going after the same market asNo Man’s Sky.Starfieldis advertising a grand galaxywith over a thousand fully explorable and unique planets brimming with life. The game is supposed to let players live out their space-faring dreams and be who they want to be, much like other Bethesda RPGs. However, that same exact thing was said aboutNo Man’s Sky,and that did not meet those grand expectations.
If Bethesda wants to avoid that same fate, then it needs tomake sure thatStarfieldactually deliverson what is promised. The planets all need to feel like they are worth exploring and alive, they cannot all be similar with slight variations. Players need to be given a reason to stop on the planets, and they need to feel like they exist in a galaxy filled with space-faring factions. The worlds must have elements of civilization and remnants of past explorers along with the local flora and fauna; they cannot be as empty as theNo Man’s Skyplanets felt at launch.
The gameplay on these planets also needs to feel more engaging than simply flying down to a planet to mine resources before heading back to space. The gameplay trailer made it seem like that was exactly what players would do between combat encounters. There needs to be more than that to the gameplay, or else players may just turn it off. While the game will include the ability tobuild bases and customizeStarfield’s starshipsat launch, these features need to feel worth the effort, and they cannot be the only signs of life in some parts of the galaxy.
Bethesda is promising the world withStarfield, and it needs to deliver. A lot of what it has shown off feels very similar toNo Man’s Sky, and that game promised way too much. To avoid the same fate, Bethesda needs to deliver on the promises that it is making and has to make the galaxy feel alive and lived in. Otherwise, Bethesda may just have its ownNo Man’s Skysituationon its hands.
Starfieldis scheduled to release in early 2023 on PC and Xbox Series X/S.
