Highlights
- Starfield's "Entangled" mission takes players on a horror-filled quest in the Nishina Research Station, providing a radical change of pace from the standard missions.
- The quest brings to mind Titanfall 2's "Effect and Cause" level with its interdimensional mechanics, but fails to deliver the same level of fun.
- Although the mission captures the feel of "Effect and Cause," its confusing level design and limited ability to switch between realities can lead to frustration for players.
SPOILERS AHEAD
Towards the end of Bethesda's Starfield, players find themselves traveling to the far-flung Nishina Research Station to help investigate the source of a distress signal that could hold clues to answering one of the game’s central mysteries. As players make their way through the maze of laboratories that make up the Nishina facility over the course of Starfield's Entangled mission, they’ll find themselves caught up in a quest that leans decidedly more into horror and novelty than anything previously seen in the game. Entangled doesn't just provide a fairly radical change of pace from standard Starfield missions, though. it also channels the wildly inventive energy of one of the best levels from Respawn Entertainment’s Titanfall 2.
Almost immediately upon entering the Nishina Research Station, players find themselves suddenly transported to what at first glance appears to be a macabre alien landscape and are assaulted by terrifying creatures. It’s soon revealed that the otherworldly landscape is actually an alternate version of the Nishina labs that was ravaged by an explosion before being overrun with the planet’s native species, the bug-like Cataxi. From there, Starfield’s Entangled mission sees players jumping back and forth between the dual realities in a quest that brings to mind Titanfall 2’s brilliant Effect and Cause stage, but fails to deliver the same level of fun.
Entangled’s Dueling Dimensions Set It Apart from Standard Starfield Quests
Much like most of the other mysterious happenings in the game, it's soon revealed that this tear in the fabric of reality is the result of tampering with one of Starfield’s mysterious Artifacts. After a campaign that had, until now, consisted of fun but fairly straightforward quests, Entangled’s horror-tinged interdimensional hijinks make the mission feel both fresh and frightening. The quest’s unique gameplay mechanics, which require players to hop back and forth between the parallel realities in order to make their way deeper into the facility, immediately sets it apart from most other missions in Starfield.
The novelty of the unique premise quickly wears thin, though, as the mission devolves into an often-confusing back-and-forth trek through the Nishina Research Station’s labyrinthine lower levels. Whereas Respawn’s Titanfall 2 used a similar mechanic in that game’s Effect and Cause mission, which featured traversal between time periods rather than dimensions, to build momentum and push players forward, the ever-present backtracking through Entangled slows down the pace of play. Ultimately, this leads to a Starfield mission that captures the feel of Titanfall 2’s Effect and Cause but with only a fraction of the fun.
Starfield’s Entangled Quest Captures the Feel of Titanfall 2’s Effect and Cause, But Not the Fun
One of the key ways that Titanfall 2’s Effect and Cause mission succeeded in keeping its unique gameplay mechanic feeling fresh throughout its runtime was by giving players control of the ability to shift between the two versions of the level at any point. In contrast, during Starfield’s Entangled quest, players are limited to hopping between the parallel universes only at specific places in the Nishina facility. Although this makes some sense given the slower-paced, puzzle-focused story the mission presents players with, it can quickly lead to frustration.
Much of this frustration comes down to the fact that, in both its regular and ruined states, the Nishina Research Station’s lower levels are confusing to navigate. This can lead to excessive backtracking as players make their toward the next waypoint only to find themselves facing a dead end in both realities. It also removes the free-form combat possibilities presented in Titanfall 2’s Effect and Cause level, with the fixed transition points in the two versions of Entangled’s lab drastically limiting the ability of Starfield players to quickly switch between them to gain the upper hand in a fight.
Despite some questionable mechanics, Starfield’s Entangled quest still makes for an unexpected and entertaining detour from the game’s usual pace of play. And while it may not reach the creative heights that Titanfall 2 did with Effect and Cause, it’s arguably one of the most memorable missions in Starfield.
Starfield is now available on PC and Xbox Series X|S