Starfield is the most anticipated game launch in recent memory. After a seven-year development cycle, this oh-so-slow-baked RPG from Todd Howard and Bethesda gets roasted by the critics (apart from those in the UK) and the result? The taste is pleasant but less than thrilling, at least for some.
One day since the review embargo lifted, Starfield has a score of 87 on Metacritic, placing it well below Skyrim (94) but comparable to Fallout 4 (87 on PS4, 84 on PC).
The vast majority of the 50+ critics’ reviews are very positive. However, a handful of mixed reviews are from heavy hitters such as IGN, Gamespot and PCMag. It’s an odd mix of opinions.
Slow starter, good finisher
IGN reviewer Dan Stapleton gave Starfield 7/10. One of his biggest criticisms is how long it takes for the game to get properly fun, with character limitations only solved by patiently unlocking abilities via the game’s skill trees.
Dan states in his review verdict: “It’s never a great sign when someone recommends a game on the grounds that it gets good after more than a dozen hours, but that’s very much the kind of game Starfield is, and I do recommend it. There are a lot of forces working against it, and the combination of disjointed space travel, nonexistent maps, aggravating inventory management, and a slow rollout of essential abilities very nearly did it in.”
To confuse matters further, PC ZONE veteran Brad Smith has been playing the game in early access and is thoroughly loving its opening hours.
In response to the IGN criticism of the game’s slow start, Brad said: “Within 20 minutes you’ve already got into a gunfight and flying…The quickest start of action of any Bethesda game I remember…complaints of a slow start seem a bit weird”.
GameInformer was a little kinder in its assessment, with reviewer Matt Miller observing: “It took me a long time to fall in love with Starfield, and even after I did, certain aspects didn’t work for me. But the things I didn’t enjoy are vastly outweighed by my enthusiasm for this new, original science fiction universe, the breadth of its adventures, and the appeal of its many interwoven stories.”
Most seem to agree that Starfield improves as it progresses. So let’s hope any tedium with the early going doesn’t last too long to put off casual players.
Endless width, little depth
One of the big selling points of Starfield is its enormous scope. With a galaxy to explore, gamers have been excited to see what adventures may lay on the 1000+ planets that can be visited in 100 different star systems.
However, to accommodate so many locations, Todd’s team seem to have made significant sacrifices to the depth and detail of each area. Heavily relying on procedural generation and generic assets to flesh out often shallow experiences.
Gamespot reviewer Michael Higham writes: “the sense of discovery is dulled when I’m often landing on barren planets, slogging my way across them on foot only to find the same mining facility or research laboratory I found halfway across the galaxy on another planet.”
He also laments the game’s lack of purpose beyond the novelty of space exploration. He adds: “I can’t help but feel Starfield banked on the intrigue of space exploration and the vastness of the cosmos, and forgot to create an identity beyond that.”
In summary
What can we conclude from the reviews so far? Here’s my take.
Starfield is an enormous game that delivers technically, if not spiritually.
One has to marvel at the sheer ambition of the project and give credit to Todd Howard and his team for creating such an enormous, deeply integrated and customisable gameplay experience. Credit must also be given for how well-optimised and bug-free the game is at launch, a Bethesda first!
According to most reviewers, the characters are, for the most part, varied and interesting, and quests are plentiful. The gunplay is solid, the exploration intriguing, and the interconnected gameplay systems work as intended.
However, Bethesda’s infamously tedious inventory management returns, along with surprisingly poor local map navigation. Modders can and will fix these issues, hopefully making Starfield’s weak early going a bit less frustrating.
But my biggest concern for the game is the lack of a grand purpose, alluded to in Gamespot’s review. Exploring the stars, at least on paper, is an exciting prospect. But the reality is a video game limited by the sheer resources required to make an entire galaxy interesting to visit.
This lack of history, culture and lore that only a narrow yet deep game world design provides (such as Bethesda’s previous titles) could result in a somewhat hollow experience. More marvellous macaron than sensational soul stew.
Regardless, I’ll reserve my personal judgment for a future update.
Starfield officially launches on PC and Xbox on September 6th 2023.
What do you think of Starfield’s reviews so far? Have you signed up for early access? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.
