Highlights
- Starfield delivers on its promise of being a captivating space exploration RPG with an expansive scope and endless content, providing a rich and familiar game for players.
- Bethesda successfully handles true science fiction in Starfield, satisfying die-hard sci-fi fans with action-packed situations, explorative adventures, and nods to classic sci-fi tropes and inspirations.
- Starfield sets itself apart as an interactive sci-fi experience by putting its own spin on elements from various sources, including a morally gray plot twist and an art direction inspired by 80s NASA promotional material. The result is a nostalgic atmosphere that any sci-fi fan should experience.
Starfield from the very beginning was a dream project for Bethesda Game Studios. Aiming to be the space exploration RPG of the developers and gamers' dreams, the game shot for the moon and truly delivered on something spectacular in terms of scope and length. For the players willing to take the plunge, Starfield is a game that will have their attention for quite a long time. It gives a rich experience that's familiar of the titles that came before it, yet it completely stands on its own without complications thanks to it's "NASA Punk" aesthetic and almost endless content.
While Bethesda's history of creating great RPG titles said that Starfield would be a worthwhile game on the surface, the studio's history with Fallout doesn't necessarily mean that it would handle true science fiction in a way that die-hard sci-fi fans would be satisfied. Now that Starfield is out, though, there's no doubt that Bethesda has delivered on exactly what drives people to be attracted to space operas and the stories they tell. From the action-packed yet human way situations play out, to the most basic concepts that truly make the game an explorative science-fiction adventure, Starfield hits home in the same way it leads the charge for the future yet honors Bethesda's past.
The Classic Sci-Fi Tropes Found in Starfield
With how much mining that the player needs to do at the beginning, Starfield may not feel like the space exploration game that fans signed up for at first. However, once players are guided to find New Atlantis and meet Constellation, the scope of Starfield, and all of its cosmic inspirations, becomes very apparent. During certain quest lines, players have to deal with rogue AI that would not be out of place in A Space Odyssey and help a sci-fi western family come to compromises in ways that are reminiscent of the conflict resolution of Firefly - and the inspiration doesn't stop there.
The dedication to previous science fiction media also extends to the concepts of important locations, such as Neon city's attachment to classic cyberpunk and retro aesthetics. While New Atlantis seems to be a typical city of the future, it also uses modern day eco-friendly architecture in a way that makes sense with the United Colonies' past. Even the ship players get for free from Barrett at the start of the game wouldn't be what it is without its sci-fi inspirations, very clearly taking clues and notes from Firefly's Serenity and the corridor design of Ridley Scott's Alien.
How Starfield Trails Its Own Path As An Interactive Sci-Fi Experience
Of course, taking from the masters that came before Starfield wouldn't mean much if it didn't blend together cohesively and deliver on something new at the same time. Taking a page out of Bethesda's own book, Starfield brings back a classic Skyrim feature, and re-tools it to work with an incredibly morally gray plot twist that takes the entirety of the game to see to completion. This mysterious turn of events is the heart of the entire game, and even introduces the age-old parallel world series to throw multiverses into the mix in a way that goes hand-in-hand with the video game medium.
As far as Starfield's art direction goes, it doesn't just look at all of its inspirations to jumble it all together like it may sound. Instead, it looks to the 80s, and how NASA promotional material was back then, and specifically uses that as its core aesthetic. It may leave Starfield to feel rather human-oriented in the end, as aliens are either relegated to enemies or absent, but it wraps up all of its love letters to other sci-fi stories with one nostalgic bow that encapsulates the wonder that comes with wanting to explore what lies outside of Earth's atmosphere. As a result, it is an experience any science fiction lover will adore until the very end.
Starfield is available now for PC and Xbox Series X/S.