The 2022 Xbox and Bethesda Showcase just wrapped, and along with some exciting new game announcements, Starfield received its very first gameplay trailer. After a brief compilation of clips, Todd Howard took to the stage and gave a brief introduction for the upcoming sci-fi RPG. The Starfield gameplay was then revealed, with essentially all the game's mechanics being shown off in quite a bit of detail, as Howard explained some of the game's more complex and innovative features.
One of the stand-out features showcased in Starfield's gameplay reveal trailer was the ability to customize the player's ship. While Starfield's shooter mechanics look solid, and Bethesda is clearly pushing the technical boundaries of the latest Xbox console, this ship customization mechanic that really sets the game apart from the likes of No Man's Sky and Elite Dangerous, and will probably go a long way in making the player feel like a real starship captain.
Becoming a Starship Captain with a Wholly Unique Ship in Starfield
In the Starfield deep-dive, Todd Howard took fans through the game's ship creator step-by-step. It's not an overstatement to say that every component of the player's ship can be customized. From fuel tanks to engines, cockpits, wings, and weapons, every main element of the ship can be swapped out and upgraded. Each component of the ship can also be painted individually, allowing players to develop their own unique color schemes and patterns.
Starfield's ship customization changes both the ship's appearance and its stats and abilities. The trailer showcased a variety of ship presets, each one utilizing a different look and set of stats. In just a few seconds, the Starfield trailer was able to give a hint at the sheer scale of the game, and the scope of player freedom given how all of these ships looked wildly different.
Earlier in the trailer, Howard revealed the game's crafting system, which seems to be one of the main focuses of the game. With games like No Man's Sky beating Starfield to the punch on sci-fi crafting by about six years, Starfield will need to go above and beyond in order to stand out from the crowd and live up to its lofty expectations. Starfield's ship customization may just be the key to this, giving players an incentive to spend time mining materials and exploring new worlds for components. Much like Bethesda's previous titles, Starfield's world and story will probably be enough encouragement for the player to continue playing, but this ship customization feature may just be the extra little push players need to throw in 100+ hours.
Adding ship customization to Starfield also increases the game's role-playing qualities, allowing the player to make their ship wholly different from everybody else's. With each player able to make their ship totally their own, it should feel more natural to role-play as a starship captain. It won't be long before players will be taking their own ship to the stars, living out their Malcolm Reynolds or Han Solo fantasies. User-creation and creativity has always been at the heart of Bethesda's RPGs, and it's great to see the developer innovating on what it does best.
Starfield releases for PC and Xbox Series X/S in 2023.