Bethesda has a lot of experience creating compelling open worlds, but Starfield is an entirely different proposition from Fallout and The Elder Scrolls. The ruins of the United States and Tamriel's various nations serve as good settings, but Starfield intends to capture the majesty of outer space. Players will be tasked with helping humanity chart the far corners of space, which means it could feature a more enchanting world map than any previous title. Whether Starfield's planets prove memorable depends largely on what players can do there, from wandering humanity's newest cities to delve into alien dungeons and more.
However, Starfield's planets shouldn't settle for established landmarks. It would be great to see Starfield allow players to build up their own structures and settlements on various worlds. In Fallout 4, Bethesda came up with a compelling settlement system that deserves use in other projects. Considering how Starfield focuses on space explorers helping humanity settle on new planets, it seems like the perfect place to polish and revamp Fallout 4's settlement system, potentially giving players even more creative freedom.
Reviving Fallout 4 Settlements
Fallout 4 may have received criticism for technical issues, but nevertheless it brought some brilliant innovations to Fallout. While wandering the wasteland, players can find locations to build into towns for other Commonwealth denizens to occupy. Objects ranging from car tires to wrecked vehicles can be scrapped for materials, and players can spend those material to craft shelter, water sources, defenses, and shops for each citizen. By connecting settlements with trade routes and building amenities, Fallout 4 players earn more utilities to use for themselves and make a visible difference in the Commonwealth.
The settlement mechanic makes sense in Fallout 4 because Fallout is all about humans scraping together a living in an inhospitable wasteland. Starfield could make use of settlements for similar reasons. Although Starfield takes place well after humanity first ventures into outer space, the game's focus on the exploration organization known as Constellation makes it clear that humanity is working on finding its place in the galaxy. As a member of Constellation, Starfield players might help human scientists and pioneers build settlements on new planets.
Starfield's Potential Take on Settlements
Starfield can expand on Fallout 4's settlements in a few ways. For instance, the usable space in Fallout 4 settlements could be pretty small, but as an Xbox Series X title Starfield can afford to spend extra processing power on larger settlements that give players room to build. Starfield's sci-fi setting could also inspire more complicated amenities. Players might be able to land their spaceships in settlements for detailed repairs, customization, and upgrades. The various biomes and alien fauna of Starfield's planets can also pose more unique threats to Starfield settlements than Fallout 4's endless raider attacks.
Even if Starfield doesn't allow players to build new settlements entirely from the ground up like in Fallout 4, it could still let players visit established human colonies, invest in their work, and upgrade their buildings. A settlement system doesn't have to end at humanity, either. If Starfield has sentient alien NPCs who are also exploring space, cooperating with aliens to trade goods and expand their settlements could be a great way to get players familiar with Bethesda's new civilizations. Starfield could introduce any of these variations on Fallout 4 settlements, it's just up to Bethesda to decide how much physical involvement players will have in humanity's journey into the cosmos.
Starfield releases November 11, 2022 for PC and Xbox Series X/S.