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Starfield (video game)

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Starfield
Developer(s)Bethesda Game Studios[a]
Publisher(s)Bethesda Softworks
Director(s)Todd Howard
Designer(s)Emil Pagliarulo[2]
Artist(s)
Composer(s)Inon Zur[3]
EngineCreation Engine 2
Platform(s)
ReleaseSeptember 6, 2023
Genre(s)Action role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player

Starfield is an upcoming action role-playing game developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks.[4] It was announced during Bethesda's E3 presentation in 2018.[4] The game takes place in a space-themed setting, and is the first new intellectual property developed by Bethesda in 29 years.[5] It is scheduled to release for Windows and Xbox Series X/S on September 6, 2023, with the early access release receiving generally favorable reviews.

Gameplay

Starfield is an action role-playing video game. Players can switch between a first-person and third-person perspective any time in the game. Starfield features an open world in the form of an area within the Milky Way galaxy, containing both fictional and non-fictional planetary systems, with players being able to land on more than 1,000 planets and an unspecified number of moons and space stations. The majority of the landscapes within the game were procedurally generated; they were subsequently modified and handcrafted content was developed around them. The game will generate the terrain and the alien flora and fauna of a planet depending on the star of its system and its atmosphere, as well as locations of interest as the player approaches a planet.[6] The largest city in the game, New Atlantis, is the largest fictional city Bethesda has developed.[7] As the player explores the game world, they will encounter various non-playable characters (NPCs), some of whom may join the player's crew. Such NPCs may aid the player in combat, carry items, or during confrontations, speak to other NPCs on the player's behalf. Some may comment on choices the player makes.[8] The player may station crew members at any of their constructed outposts. Each companion character has their own unique skills and abilities. Some recruitable NPCs are able to be romanced by the player.[6]

At the game's beginning, the player may customize their character, who is a silent protagonist. This includes choosing their body type, appearance, background, and traits. Choosing the background of the player character will unlock three starting skills.[6] As the player progresses, they will unlock additional traits which may aid or hinder them. For instance, the Introvert trait grants players more endurance when travelling alone, but reduces their endurance when travelling with a companion. Traits are removable through quests or certain actions.[9] As the player progresses, they will gain experience and level up, allowing them to unlock abilities found in five distinct skill trees: Physical, Social, Combat, Science, and Tech. Each skill can be ranked up by completing related challenges.[10] A variety of firearms, explosives, and melee weapons may be used to defeat enemies. Most weapons are customizable via attachments. Equipping a telescopic sight enhances a weapon's accuracy while equipping a suppressor may engender a stealth-oriented playing style.[11] The player is additionally able to equip various jetpacks (called boostpacks), which aids the player in both combat and the traversal of impassable or challenging environments. When landed on a celestial body, the gravitational force acting upon the player varies depending upon the body's mass. This may affect combat.[12]

Prior to landing, the player may scan planets to view their natural resources.[13] These must be extracted or harvested to fulfill many crafting recipes.[14] Outposts can be erected by the player; these can serve as homes or to facilitate resource-extraction operations. In these outposts, the player can install laboratories to research craftable items and upgrades, which are sorted into five categories: Pharmacology, Food & Drink, Outpost Development, Equipment, and Weaponry. Outposts can be constructed from both a first-person perspective and an isometric perspective.

The player may construct, purchase, or commandeer spaceships. At various spaceports located on planets, the player can buy and sell parts and spaceships, or have their own repaired. The game features a modular ship customization system, allowing players to modify their ships' central components, facilities, rooms, paint color, decorations, and weapons. Larger spaceships may possess greater storage capacity and living space, but a lower maximum speed and shorter maximum Jump Range.[15] Weapons must be equipped to defend the player's spaceship during ship combat. Ships feature a "power allocation" system, whereby the player must prioritize which systems receive levels of power at any given time. During combat, the player may opt to allocate power to weapons systems rather than their ship's "Grav Drive". Both hostile and peaceful NPC-piloted spaceships can be boarded. The player may plunder the ship, kill its occupants, commandeer the ship, speak or trade with its occupants, or return to their own ship.[6]

Setting

Starfield is set in an area that extends outward from the Solar System for approximately 50 light-years called the Settled Systems.[16] Around the year 2310, the two largest factions in the game, the United Colonies and Freestar Collective, engaged in a conflict called the Colony War. The game takes place 20 years after the war, with the major factions enjoying an uneasy peace. The player assumes the role of a customizable character who is a member of Constellation, an organization of space explorers.[5][17]

Development

Starfield is the first new intellectual property (IP) by Bethesda Game Studios in over twenty-five years, and has been described by director Todd Howard as "Skyrim in space".[18][5] The studio had been delving into space-themed games since as early as 1994, according to Howard. They had acquired the rights to make a game based on the Traveller role-playing system, but shortly lost them. Their Delta V game in 1994 had been part of this Traveller license but had not been fully realized.[5] The 10th Planet was a cancelled space combat game from which the atmosphere of Starfield was derived.[19] Howard stated they had rights to Star Trek in the 2000s and he pitched an idea for a role-playing game in that setting, but this failed to be approved.[5]

While Bethesda had wanted to do a science-fiction game for some time and had strong ideas for its gameplay style, it took a while to cement the ideas behind Starfield that would distinguish it from other science-fiction games already released. They came onto a theme which lead artist Istvan Pely dubbed "NASA punk", that although set in humanity's future, used technology that can be traced to origins in various National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) space missions.[5] Bethesda's team began writing a fictional narrative of events by decade of the approximately 300 years from development to the game's present, in order to ask "And now man is living amongst the stars: what does that mean?", according to Howard.[5]

Starfield's concept had been in the studio's planned development plans for some time prior to the trademarking of the name in 2013. Of other potential names for the game, Howard said, "There were no other names. It had to be 'Starfield'."[5] He said active development of the game had been ongoing since the release of Fallout 4 in November 2015.[20] By mid-2018, the game was in production, had already been in development for some time and was in a playable state.[20][21]

Starfield is the studio's first game made using Creation Engine 2.[22]

Marketing and release

At Bethesda's E3 2018 presentation, Howard presented a short teaser trailer for the game.[23] An in-engine trailer demonstrating the improvements of Creation Engine 2 was presented at E3 2021 during the combined Microsoft-Bethesda press event, and a release date of November 11, 2022, on Microsoft Windows and Xbox Series X/S as a console exclusive was announced.[24] The London Symphony Orchestra previewed the game's title theme, "Starfield Suite" composed by Inon Zur, at The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - 10th Anniversary Concert in November 2021, while it was released as a standalone track on various streaming services in April 2022.[25] In May 2022, Bethesda announced that the game's release would be delayed until the first half of 2023 alongside Redfall from sister studio Arkane Austin,[26] with Howard stating that the additional development time and support from engineers at Microsoft would make Starfield a better game.[27] On March 8, 2023, Bethesda announced that the game would be released on September 6, 2023.[28][29] On June 11, 2023, Bethesda Game Studios presented approximately 45 minutes of gameplay for Starfield in a presentation called Starfield Direct.[30] In July 2023, Bethesda released an anthology series of three animated shorts titled Starfield: The Settled Systems, which chronicle the daily lives of specific characters inhabiting three major cities in the galaxy: A delivery pilot based in New Atlantis, Jemison, an orphan in Akila City, Akila, and two young adults residing in Neon on the planet Volli Alpha.[31] The game made a further appearance at Gamescom: Opening Night Live in August 2023, where a live-action commercial for the game and a live piano rendition of the game's main medley by Inon Zur were presented.[32] Starfield was playable during the week of Gamescom, with Todd Howard and Xbox CEO Phil Spencer also holding an exclusive demo to the press, showcasing the first fifteen minutes of the game.[33]

The standard edition of Starfield will be available alongside a Premium Edition, and another edition of the game titled Starfield Constellation Edition. People who purchase either the Premium or the Constellation Edition will receive up to five days of early access prior to the game's launch, free access to the first story expansion (DLC) Shattered Space, as well as various bonus materials.[34] Microsoft have distributed several accessories to commemorate the game, including a Starfield-themed Xbox Wireless Controller and headset, and a console decal wrap designed for Xbox Series X, which will be released on October 18, 2023.[35] In June 2023, Bethesda announced AMD as the exclusive PC partner for Starfield,[36] who hosted a giveaway in August 2023 for 500 limited edition Ryzen 7 7800X3D CPUs and Radeon RX 7900 XTX graphics cards, styled after the aesthetics of the Constellation organization in the game.[37] AMD is also distributing free codes for the game via Steam with the purchase of select products online.[38]

Reception

Starfield received "generally favorable" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic,[39][40] with 94% of critics recommending the game on aggregator OpenCritic.[41]

Critics praised its open-ended gameplay, combat, visuals, and technical performance and deemed it as an improvement over previous Bethesda titles, but criticized its story and writing. [58]

Leon Hurley from GamesRadar+ praised Starfield for its expansive and immersive world, its varied and creative missions, its solid and stable mechanics, and its graphics. Hurley also pointed out some minor flaws, such as the lack of stealth and pickpocketing skills at the start. Hurley said that Starfield is the best thing Bethesda has done since The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and that it offers endless discovery and opportunities for players who love exploration and freedom.[59] Writing for The Washington Post, Gene Park said that Starfield is a massive undertaking by Bethesda that aims high and explores new territory, it is a convincing illusion. Park considered Starfield's main mission is the best one the studio has yet undertaken.[clarification needed][60]

Sales

Starfield reached over 230,000 players in the first 2 hours of early access on Steam.[61]

Notes

  1. ^ id Software assisted with the game's graphics, visuals, and implementation of id Tech features.[1]

References

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  3. ^ Gardner, Matt (July 6, 2021). "Starfield Soundtrack Handed To Legendary 'Fallout' Composer". Forbes. Archived from the original on July 6, 2021. Retrieved June 17, 2023.
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  61. ^ "Starfield hit over 230,000 concurrent players in its first two hours on Steam". VGC. September 1, 2023. Retrieved September 2, 2023.
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