In an interview with Bethesda last year, B employees mentioned the art style of the new work “Starfield” and proposed a science fiction aesthetic when humans first explored space from a starting point similar to Star Trek: NASA punk.
In simple terms, NASA can be regarded as a space background based on modern space exploration, while punk represents some heavy metal, fantasy, and free spiritual core. Combined, it is the accessible, near-future free fantasy universe in “Starfield”.
After years of polishing by Company B, “Starfield” is finally going to meet everyone today. After traveling through various galaxies in the game and spending about 80 hours, I want to talk to you about my experience.
(Given the volume of Starfield content, the article is slightly longer and contains a few spoilers .)
Of course, we will not forget Tao De’s big talk about “a thousand planets” in the interview. When we really enter the world of “Starfield”, we find that this is one of the few times he has honestly not boasted. “Starfield” has created nearly 100 galaxies, including the Earth system (counting about 90), each galaxy contains more than 10 different types of planets such as stars, planets, satellites, etc. In total, it is really close to a thousand.
Each bright spot is a galaxy
Many planets are full of characteristics, and the details of the planets are also quite realistic. Players can directly observe the terrain and approximate resource distribution of the planets in space, and can also choose any place on the planet (except for the water surface) as a foothold.
After entering the planet, this meticulousness is still continued, and the overall picture details and special effects make these planets look like real celestial bodies. When exploring each planet, we occasionally see huge star rings hanging high above the sky like a science fiction movie, or a crimson planet surface filled with magma and volcanoes ; some planets freeze into cold cosmic glaciers; and some planets are covered with colorful alien flora and fauna, showing breathtaking ecological environment and color.
These nearly a thousand planets are classified, some are barren wastelands full of alien beasts, and they are also scattered with dilapidated space stations, bases, and wonders like fortresses ; they have different gravity, climate, and ecology, and different styles of large cities, human settlements, scientific bases, and pirate lair are distributed among them, forming a fantastic blueprint of the universe.
Neon City is a Cyberpunk metropolis
Akira is the taste of a small western town
And we, on the journey of pursuing missions, will take turns visiting these planets with completely different customs and practices. This is indeed a unique gameplay experience for space-themed games. The colorful art style in “Starfield” also ensures that our journey will not be too monotonous.
Although there are not many planets with habitable climates, and on some desolate planets, the same barren Gobi sometimes feels familiar, but more importantly, “Starfield” has indeed created a larger and more open “universe” map, as well as collectible items enough to fill more than a dozen starships, giving players a huge and expandable choice that they have never experienced before.
At the beginning of the Starfield journey, you are just a small miner of the Argos Mining Company on the edge of an inconspicuous planet in the universe.
After being attacked by the “Crimson Pirates”, Tu Miner joined the ” Stellaris ” organization and embarked on a journey to find the “artifact”. For the first time, he stepped into the universe and shuttled between different planets with his companions, dealing with various problems around him while searching for the secrets behind the artifact.
During this journey, we will constantly encounter various characters and stories, delve into the centers of various galaxies, struggle in different cities and human camps, and gradually understand how humans 2330 years later gradually expanded from the solar system to the entire “settled galaxy”, and how they survived and reproduced in this vast and boundless universe…
Of course, as an open-ended RPG, “Starfield” not only focuses on a certain story or location, but in many cases, spontaneous exploration is the best way to experience the game.
In fact, the plot structure of “Starfield” largely draws on the experience gained from the development of the “Elder Scrolls” and “Fallout” series in previous years. This makes players familiar with B games feel an inexplicable sense of familiarity when playing “Starfield”. There are many similarities between the narrative techniques and plot arrangement.
They are very good at controlling the pace of the player’s progress in the plot. The most typical way is to split a fairly clear main goal into several completely different small goals at certain points in the plot, and these small goals will also lead to many side quests. Most of these tasks also have multiple ways to complete them, whether it is persuasion, door picking, or fighting.
In this way, players don’t have to deliberately jump out of the plot to explore and understand the world. They just need to follow the carefully designed plot, and the details of the whole world will gradually become apparent.
And the stories that happen in this “settled galaxy” are as vast and complex as this region. The stories that once appeared in science fiction works are similar to the crisis of extraterrestrial species , the awakening of artificial intelligence, the cruel wars between different factions of humanity, etc., which are also reproduced here in another unique way…
There are many ways of information interaction in the game, including but not limited to character dialogues, information chips, and networks. They are done with great care, especially the “Settling Galaxy” news broadcast. When the protagonist is wandering around several major cities, he will almost instantly “report” our mission results to local residents in a news-like way, which is really an interesting experience.
In addition, the “random task” system that B company has put a lot of effort into has added many additional stories to this already rich world, making the empty universe more popular.
It’s worth mentioning that the companions in “Starfield” not only have their own independent storylines, but also open up some emotional options after reaching a certain level of favorability. Some characters’ shy expressions after being flirted with are really humane. However, if the protagonist does something outrageous, they won’t continue to be romantic with us…
So much so that although B company gave us a considerable amount of review time, with such a vast universe and nearly 50 hours of playtime, we only explored about one-third or even less of the game plot (including the main storyline, factions, large side quests, etc.). (In my personal opinion)
Therefore, whether you are an old fan of B company or a new player who comes here because of its reputation, the plot parts worth exploring in “Starfield” can definitely immerse everyone. It can be said that no work can truly experience the vast feeling of exploring the “universe” like “Starfield”.
However, the bad news is that the vast amount of content brings more than just the pleasure of exploration.
Firstly, as an ” open world ” themed game with the universe as the background, limited by technical factors, the game inevitably exposes some problems, such as scene loading and reading.
Specifically, for example, travel between galaxies and planets can only be done through “transition” cutscenes to load the map; we cannot directly land on the surface of the planet, we can only connect through a landing animation; we cannot fly a spaceship on the surface of the planet, one of the reasons is that the surface of the planet is not a seamless map, but a way to explore in divided areas; even in the level dungeon of a region, the situation of opening the door to load is very frequent…
At the same time, space exploration and combat are also limited to a certain space. Although this space is equally vast, there is still a regret of not being “free” enough.
In addition, the star chart does not provide an effective search method, so without mission guidance, if you go to a planet you want to go to but forget the coordinates, if you are lucky, it may be at the fingertip of our mouse arrow, but if you are unlucky, you have to search for a long time on the vast star map.
The huge cosmic background poses a high challenge for the repetition of in-game materials. “Starfield” has many hidden small dungeons distributed on each planet. Unfortunately, in small battle scenes similar to “stronghold cleaning” on different planets, many of them use similar base modules and distribute “space pirates” with little difference. Without the support of special events, there will inevitably be repetitive experiences, and this rough “formulaic” design will definitely reduce players’ desire to explore.
Like most games, Starfield has a flexible pinching system that allows you to customize your name, appearance, or walking posture.
We can not only create a character in the style of B company’s works, but also create unique characters that are both good-looking and not clichéd. Fortunately, the appearance of the character can be changed at will by spending credit coins in the game, so you don’t have to forcefully create a Wu Yanzu Liu Yifei at the beginning of the game.
The most important thing to consider in the character-pinching process is the selection of “characteristics” and “background”, which in other words, personality and profession. In the game, there are unique backgrounds such as “ronin” who is good at melee combat and “zoologist” who is obsessed with science to choose from, while characteristics will provide players with some initial convenience or help.
It is worth mentioning that the “admired hero” in the feature will give players a follower called “die-hard fan” from the beginning, who will be talkative, not very useful but loyal. In fact, this setting has existed once in “The Elder Scrolls 4”, and because this character is too ugly, it has even become a meme… But as a loyal player of the series, it is really surprising to see this setting again.
It’s this yellow hair
The game UI has a sci-fi flavor
The skill system of the game is divided into five parts: physics, social, combat, science, and technology. Many basic functions such as flying backpacks and spaceship jumps require unlocking corresponding skills here to use.
However, in order to point out more advanced skills, you need to point out a certain number of basic skills for a certain major item. After each skill is lit, you also need to complete the corresponding skill challenge to point out the next level. Therefore, it is a considerable workload to experience all interesting skills. Fortunately, leveling up in the early stage of the game is not slow, and there is no level limit. Even if you want to light up all skills, it can be achieved.
Another highlight of the skill system is that some non-combat skills such as persuasion, threat and other skills have a place in combat, they can have a passive effect on the enemy, prompting them to give up the attack and flee in panic.
Therefore, even if we choose non-combat skill points, we still have the ability to fight against vicious alien monsters and bandits. Although the protagonist in the game “cannot speak”, there is still no pressure to spray an alien creature until it falls to the ground and cannot take care of itself.
In addition to these basic skill designs, the characters in the game also have special abilities similar to the Dragon Roar in Elder Scrolls V, which will gradually unlock along with the main storyline. The effects of these abilities are varied, such as being able to control the gravity of a small area, creating an oxygen “force field” around them, and even being able to “meet the future” roughly.
Similar to the previous works of Company B, “Starfield” also supports switching between first-person and third-person at will. As for the combat and action parts in “Starfield”, it is similar to the FPS combat gameplay in ” Fallout “.
The fun of gameplay lies in using rich weapons, attack methods, and enemies to engage in games. For example, when encountering enemies that are difficult to break through with physical damage, using electromagnetic weapons for attack may achieve better results; threatening enemies to break through the defense line may be more interesting than fighting; highly customizable weapons combined with various skills and abilities also contribute to the high degree of freedom gameplay of this game.
Overall, compared to the previous works, the overall gameplay logic of “Starfield” has not changed much, but with the upgrade of the game engine, the game experience of the entire “Starfield” has risen to a new level.
For example, in “Starfield”, our protagonist can finally climb a ladder. The quality of character movements, expressions, and expressions in this work has also been greatly enhanced. Although it is still the ancestral standing dialogue of B company, the immersion has indeed been greatly enhanced. (There is progress compared to the previous work, but there is still a gap compared to other 3A games.)
However, compared to the various gameplay upgrades on our side, the enemy’s AI is still outdated, and its performance in some scenarios is even worse than many antique shooting games of the previous generation. Except for a few independent bosses, all enemy minions and monsters only have a few simple combat methods. They either shout and grab small knives and daggers to rush towards you, or hide behind the cover and shoot in place… It’s very funny that even if they snake and run behind the enemy in front of him, sometimes their aiming direction will still be aimed at the original position, and it takes a long time to react…
Even the way of death is so familiar
Although the game’s scenes have been moved from Skyrim to space, and Beep Boy has been replaced by emotionless watch compasses, we can always find the touch of the past from here or there in Starfield.
The variety of weapons and armor in the game is very rich, even surprising. Not only do they have knives, daggers, melee weapons, but firearms are also divided into various types such as physical, magnetic, and energy. Moreover, each weapon has its own different entry and rarity, which makes equipment collection very interesting. Although the “Fallout” series also has the same elements, this game is still superior in terms of internal capacity.
We can also modify almost all weapons, and the basic modification logic is similar to many FPS games, which is to replace the barrel, stock, magazine, sight, etc.
However, it is necessary to add desired accessories to one’s weapon and improve the corresponding basic technology, which is closely related to the construction gameplay.
In the game, we can build our own base “outposts”, and then add resource extractors, research rooms, living warehouses, workbenches, furniture, decorations, and automatic defense devices to these outposts. In this process, players receive rewards such as experience points, technological development, increased resource reserves, economic income, and the opportunity to build powerful special equipment.
The construction system allows us to leave our own mark on different planets, which is quite similar to the feeling of Ma Tedameng planting potatoes on Mars in “The Martian”. In a sense, I colonized the whole Mars, and the freedom of outpost construction is very high. The type and size range of the outpost, the addition of workbenches, the placement of laboratories, and how to build them can all be decided by ourselves. As long as there are sufficient resources, the base can almost infinitely develop.
Of course, the construction of the base has increased the dependence of the game on the brushing process to a certain extent. Basically, the demand for all resources that can be collected has increased at a multiple level. The good news is that we no longer have to worry about the garbage we pick up having nowhere to put it.
The next thing to talk about is the construction of the spaceship.
Players can find spaceship service technicians in the spaceports of each main city and express their plans to upgrade the spaceship. The upgradable parts of the spaceship mainly include weapon systems (three columns), engine systems, shields, gravity systems for jumping, as well as cockpits and living compartments, etc.
At the same time, DIY of spaceships is also a fun way to play. We can change the style, color, and structure of the spaceship, as long as it can fly after being built.
However, the existence of this system is not very strong to me. On the one hand, it may be because I am not very good at aerial combat; on the other hand, the freedom in space in the game is far less than that on the ground. Compared with the construction system of spacecraft, the exploration of planets and the construction of outposts are the parts that I am more immersed in.
With the help of the new generation engine, it can be said that the optimization performance of “Starfield” is much better than its predecessors. Our trial device is an i7-13700F + 4070TI machine. Under the 4k full-height screen setting, “Starfield” can still run an average of 40 frames per second, and under 2k conditions, it can be played at more than 60 frames per second throughout the game. Even if there are occasional crashes, it does not affect the overall experience of the game.
As for game bugs, during the first ten hours of trial play, there were indeed no obvious bugs encountered. However, as the game time passed, some bugs such as incorrect task location marking, difficult interaction triggering, missing map markers, and character traversal would still be encountered. It can only be said that although bugs in this work are quite rare compared to previous works, everyone should be mentally prepared to get stuck just in case. In addition, the effect of in-game text localization is not ideal, and confusing translations such as “let me see” on the UI are occasionally encountered.
Overall, “Starfield” has created an epic and magnificent world, especially in terms of the breadth of the map and the richness of the gameplay, reaching an amazing height. It will probably accompany us for a long time after this.
