Summary
Recent reviews on Steam forStarfieldare Mixed, as the rating score continues to drop for the latest Bethesda sandbox following a successful launch. WhileStarfieldbroke several player milestoneson Steam, the honeymoon phase for the game has passed. Its community has begun to examineStarfield’s systems more closely, providing healthy and constructive feedback on how the title could further be improved, whether through official Bethesda content packs or through its burgeoning modding scene.
Since its launch,Starfieldfans have been split on the game’s scope (and by extent, its vision). Some considered the sheer quantity of its content to be Bethesda at its finest, while others argued that the vastness of the Settled Systems stretched the quality that past Bethesda titles such asSkyrimexcelled at. The unmet expectations with underdeveloped features such asspace exploration inStarfieldfurther added to the perception that the game bit off more than it could chew.
However,Starfieldalso launched with the fewest bugs of any Bethesda release, and while its players believe that the game could be improved in countless ways, the consensus in the community is that it’s unabashedly a Bethesda sandbox with a strong foundation. That being said, recent Steam reviews left behind by users who purchasedStarfieldhave given it a 64% score, which is significantly lower thanFallout 76, and defined as a Mixed rating on Steam. A player named SailingDevi shared the news on the officialStarfieldsubreddit, as the thread became a beacon for fans to discuss what they perceived to be the biggest issues facingStarfieldat present.
While a harsh score, even the biggest fans of the game struggled to argue against it. Comments in the thread describedStarfieldas full of great ideas that just haven’t been fleshed out, with many of the approaches to development feeling outdated by modern standards. Repetitive procedural content disconnected through menus and loading screens summed up why players feltStarfieldlacked the staying power of anElder Scrollsgame. Compared to the handcrafted experience of discovering a word wall inSkyrim, thetemple grind inStarfieldfeels hollow to a majority of players by comparison.
That being said,official modding tools forStarfieldare slated to come out in early 2024, with the Shattered Space DLC hot on their heels, and given how vastly improvedSkyrimbecame after years of modding, the positive thing to keep in mind withStarfieldis that players are currently experiencing the game at its worst. By virtue of having a passionate mod community,Starfieldis bound to improve dramatically in the years to come and may end up aging a lot better than its current growing pains would imply.
Starfieldis available on PC and Xbox Series X/S.
