Starfield in the test: The best of many worlds

Desperate, the space sheriff and his team stand in front of a bank. Inside, the Shaw gang has barricaded themselves and is demanding ransom and safe conduct. My problem: The bank also contains the cards with which I hope to find a mysterious artifact. So my partner and I have no choice but to get the outlaws out of the bank. But should I cleverly persuade her to give up? Sneak in and take them one by one without the others noticing? Pay the ransom yourself. Or just kick in the door with a bang? In the new Bethesda hit “Starfield” I am free to choose.

At least a bit. Because in practice my hands are tied in the episode that happens quite early in the main story. The attempt to smear the crooks honey around the mouth fails because my persuasion skills are not high enough. The amount of money requested is still too high for me. And I can sneak into the building, but the first enemy catches me – and forces me to showdown with the shotgun. In the end, however, the goal has been achieved. The sheriff can take over the bank riddled with dead gangsters again. And I look for my card.

A new beginning

Although “Starfield” is Bethesda’s first major new development alongside the successful series “Fallout” and “The Elder Scrolls”, players of one of the other titles will immediately feel at home. The story revolves around the player as a weakling who rises up to be the savior of the world and offers enormous freedom of play and a world full of details, stories and secrets to be discovered. This is the Bethesda formula that made the Elder Scrolls title “Skyrim” one of the best-selling games of all time.

And it works great in space too. Instead of a single, huge world, this time you have countless solar systems with even more planets, space stations and sci-fi cities to explore. The range is huge. From the high-tech city of New Atlantis to the western town of Akila described above. From ice planets to fire hell: there is something to discover, buildings and caves to explore and stories to experience everywhere.

Starfield: Infinite expanses

The biggest plus is the sheer endless freedom. I’d rather know how the main story about a mysterious community of explorers and their hunt for even more mysterious artifacts continues? Or should I rather be a bounty hunter? On the other hand, I could also expand my own space bases. Or trying to master a deadly race. Or I visit my parents and find out what’s going on in the neighborhood. Or, or, or.

The universe can be explored relatively freely almost from the start. There are only limits when space jumps lead over previously undiscovered systems. Then you have to get there first. However, if you venture out too far, you can encounter opponents against whom you will only have a chance later – and who often take you mercilessly from the sky in space.

The Price of Freedom

This variety can be overwhelming, especially in the beginning. No matter what you intend to do: Something is sure to distract you from the actual plan. Whether in the form of a ruin on the way, or an emergency call while you are about to land on a moon. So you often don’t get ahead, but at least you never get bored.

Well, almost never. The price for the endless expanses of space is that, well, unfortunately, they are often endless. That makes logical sense: if I’m traveling on a planet with no atmosphere, which doesn’t even have life – what am I supposed to be able to discover on the way? In practice, however, this can sometimes cause frustration. Traversing hundreds of meters across a blue desert just isn’t all that exciting with no opponents or surprises. Exploring is then a little less fun than you know it from the other titles.

Once you have reached the cities or buildings, this changes quickly. As usual from Bethesda, they not only look chic, but are filled with details and small and big stories. Due to the more open scenario and the sometimes very different planets, the variety is even greater.

As you Like It

This also applies to the possibilities of tackling the challenges. It is up to the player whether to talk their way out of all problems, sneak or fight, whether they prefer to choose laser pistol or sword, whether they prefer to hack computers or artfully maneuver and redesign their spaceship – and every combination in between. Although, that’s not entirely true: the end of the story can’t be reached without fighting. However, only very few would want to play a completely peaceful character anyway.

Speaking of characters: When it comes to creation, you have so many options that you will hardly find in any other game. Whether it’s the shape of the body or the face: There are hardly any limits to the creativity of the players here either. And so my hero hops through space as a slightly overweight man with a mustache and skin diseases. Luckily I can redesign it later, thanks to space genetic engineering.

Where am I? And what was I doing here?

Of course, the game also has weaknesses. At about the same time, the map is enormously complicated and sometimes too imprecise. So you can switch back and forth between galaxies, there between planets and in the end back to the planet itself. The surface map is then almost completely unusable in complex cities. It would be nice if Bethesda would improve this again.

The quest diary can also be revised once in a while. So there is no way to see which tasks are nearby to work through. However, as the diary fills up with tasks in no time at all, this quickly ensures that any overview is lost. After all, you can display each task individually on the map. But a sorting function would be enormously welcome.

More is not always more

Gathering resources is also quickly overwhelmed. In the world there are tons of materials, raw materials and components that you need to cook food, improve weapons or the spaceship or build bases on planets. And although the inventory is constantly overflowing with resources, you usually haven’t found the right one yet. This should be a dream for fans of crafting systems. But most of the other players will probably quickly give up, annoyed, with collecting the countless parts. For mining resources with lasers, Bethesda has a bit too much to do with its competitor “No Mans Sky” squinted.

Even with the companions known from other Bethesda games, more is not necessarily always a plus. Because you have to fill space stations and ships with crews and you can always take a partner with you on missions, there are dozens of supporting characters willing to help. But only a few have a personality that you want to deal with. But because there are so many possible companions, it’s harder to find them. Games like the classic “Mass Effect” or the current “Baldur’s Gate 3” show how it can be done better.

Too bad: “Starfield” is the first Bethesda game not to be released for the Playstation. That was to be expected: Microsoft bought the studio a few years ago to improve the Xbox and PC portfolio. Nevertheless, it should be frustrating for many fans of the studio not being able to play the long-awaited title after all.

Conclusion: A strong restart

“Starfield” is ambitious – and still delivers. Bethesda has managed to play to its strengths and implement a very well-functioning mix of its previous game systems. The game world is gigantic, but still implemented with love. The space setting allows the Bethesda formula to be filled with life in a much more creative and varied way than would be possible in an Elder Scrolls or Fallout title. The universe created in this way is brimming with possibilities – and leaves it up to the player to choose which, when and how to tackle them.

However, this can also be a disadvantage, especially for casual gamers. The story can hardly be done in under several dozen hours, if you want to see as much as possible, you have to calculate considerably more time. Given that, the long walks on empty planets are almost more annoying. The good news: you don’t have to. If you only occasionally want to get a taste of space air, you’ll get your money’s worth if you ignore the story. After all, there is plenty of other stuff to do.

“Starfield” will be officially released on September 6th for Xbox and Windows. It is included in Microsoft’s Gamepass game subscription from day one or can be purchased individually. A premium version allows playing from September 1st.