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Starfield Review

Review – Starfield: «A Universe of Possibilities»

The Xbox-exclusive RPG brings countless hours of gameplay to your console

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Starfield: A Universe of Possibilities

The Xbox-exclusive RPG brings countless hours of gameplay to your console.

Starfield has captured the spotlight in the video game industry for years. It was at E3 2018 when Todd Howard, the director of Bethesda, took the stage to introduce us to a completely new franchise for the studio. Then came the acquisition by Xbox and its delay to 2022. But, after years of promises, it’s finally here. Is this the major console-selling exclusive that both the public and Microsoft were expecting?

Story

The narrative of Starfield revolves around Constellation, a group of explorers and researchers who have discovered mysterious artifacts.

You, initially a simple miner on a forgotten moon, stumble upon one of these objects during your duties. Contacted by the lodge, your adventure through the stellar field begins. Your mission in this vast universe is to unravel the mystery behind these instruments and uncover their purpose.

The main storyline maintains a conventional aspect for a while. However, an event (which we won’t reveal to avoid spoilers) radically shifts the story’s focus. It truly throws a curveball at the viewer and opens up more possibilities for the game.

‘Starfield’ From LOS40 Mexico.

The rest of the subplots are diverse and entertaining. From rescuing farms from space bandit attacks to trading strange minerals with a hilariously quirky geology doctor, encountering these side stories is quite easy, as they surround you all the time –something characteristic of Bethesda games.

The game is aware of this and allows you to take a break from the main story missions to pursue these alternative paths. The quality of voice acting is impressive, with each character you encounter having a unique voice and distinctive personality.

The game is rich with lore about its universe. There’s even a museum in New Atlantis where you can review all the relevant events. You’ll learn about the tragedy of Londinia, the formation of the Freestar Collective, the disappearance of the Va’ruun cultists, and more.

Gameplay

Similar to its story, Starfield is packed with a plethora of gameplay systems and features. Here, we’ll cover the key ones:

Character Creation

In addition to the appearance editor (which can be changed later in genetic labs), you can choose your character’s background. Factors such as belonging to gangs or being a chef add abilities or attribute bonuses. As you earn experience points, you can spend them on various skill trees to create your ideal character.

‘Starfield’ From LOS40 Mexico.

Navigation & Exploration

Your ship enables you to travel between star systems and land on different planets. Some planets are part of the main story and your missions, while others are randomly generated for exploration and resource gathering.

However, travel isn’t limited to celestial bodies. There are also orbiting stations and ships you can dock with and explore inside. Takeoffs are presented in cinematic form, not in real-time like in No Man’s Sky. Nevertheless, the difference in graphical detail between the two justifies this.

Combat

The game features ballistic and laser weapons, along with additional effects like corrosion, fire, ice, etc. You need to develop proficiency with each weapon type to increase your accuracy and damage.

This is reminiscent of the first Mass Effect. For instance, if you’re not proficient with rifles, they’ll deal less damage and be less effective. Apart from on-foot combat, your ship is also equipped with lasers, ballistic weapons, electromagnetic devices, missiles, and shield systems.

‘Starfield’ From LOS40 Mexico.

Factions

Constellation isn’t the only group around. There are other groups from which you can take missions. Remember that each one has its rivals, so joining one might make you enemies with others.

Persuasion

When a dialogue option arises where you can influence, you’ll see colors and numbers on the options that indicate this. Lower numbers and green colors represent easy options, but they provide little experience and require multiple attempts to convince. If the number is high and the color is red, it’s unlikely they’ll believe you.

However, if you succeed, you’ll gain a lot of experience and achieve a more dramatic outcome. Play your cards wisely.

And there’s base-building, property purchasing, ship ownership, cooking, item development, and more –simply too much to cover in a summary. Overall, the missions are enjoyable. Except for reconnaissance missions (where you must scan mineral, plant, or animal resources), all offer challenge and excitement.

On-foot combat requires multiple enemies to become intense, whereas ship combat is excellent from the outset.

Graphics & Sound

Let’s put it simply: Starfield looks incredible. Previous videos didn’t do justice to the level of detail and excellent art direction it boasts. Every planet, ship, city, and character looks marvelous.

We have only one complaint here: facial animation. At times, it appears a bit stiff, which contrasts with the outstanding graphical work on the skin and faces. We played on both Xbox Series X and PC.

On the console, the 30 frames per second remain stable throughout. Locking them was a good decision by the developer. On PC, we achieved 60 frames, also stable, although it lacks support for Geforce RTX technologies (DLSS) due to its agreement with AMD. The test PC specifications were as follows.

The music effectively captures the emotion of space exploration. It’s reminiscent of classic space movies, much in the style of 2001: A Space Odyssey or even the more recent Interstellar. The weapons could pack a bit more punch, but the explosions will resonate through your television.

In terms of performance issues or bugs, we encountered few during our analysis. Occasionally, an object with exaggerated physics would be sent flying during combat. But this was sporadic and practically negligible. The only recurring issue we had was data synchronization between console and PC, although this could be due to playing a non-final version.

‘Starfield’ From LOS40 Mexico.

Conclusion

Starfield is undoubtedly a title that will foster a dedicated gamer community. The amount of content is impressive. Add an excellent story and genuinely next

Rating: 9

By Rolando Vera.

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