Bethesda's Starfield will break new ground for the game company when it eventually takes off. The space-fairing adventure will be Bethesda's first new IP in over two decades, and fans expect it to showcase what the developer is capable of creating with the help of current-generation consoles. Gamers have been waiting to see what the upcoming release will have to offer since it was revealed to be in development in 2018. Now, an alleged leaker has claimed to have pulled the curtain back on key Starfield gameplay details.
Even though many rumors have suggested that Starfield could be released as early as 2021, Bethesda has been extremely secretive about the project. The only asset the company shared was the game's vague E3 2018 announcement trailer, one that didn't feature any characters or gameplay footage. This silence has led fans to scrub through online forums and social channels, looking for any morsel of Starfield they can get a hold of.
This latest information was posted on the anonymous message board 4chan on April 7 and quickly spread to Reddit when curious players caught wind of it. The alleged leaker didn't provide any evidence to back up their claims, so this might be nothing more than a glorified wishlist. Still, if Bethesda actually intends to release Starfield in 2021 or 2022, the game's core gameplay should be close to completed by now. The 4chan post rattled off a list of alleged features that broadly summarize Starfield's setting and character progression system. Starfield rumors have been proven wrong before, but this latest information does appear to be in-line with past Bethesda releases. Here's what the most recent unconfirmed Starfield rumor claims the game will be like.
Starfield: Setting & Environment Rumors
The post kicks off by doubling down on what the batch of leaked Starfield screenshots revealed to players in 2020. It claimed Bethesda would deliver on a "grounded sci-fi tone," so think Interstellar instead of Star Wars. Then it stated players would have a fully customizable spaceship that they'll use as their primary home and mode of transportation. The aforementioned screenshots hinted at all of this, but the alleged leaks went a step further with the kind of exploration gamers might receive.
While there was no mention of the size of Starfield's map, the 4chan post claimed players would be able to travel to "small planets and colonies within, moons, ships, space stations, asteroid bases, derelict spaceships, and one major city." These locations will all feature their own weather systems and utilize procedural generation for quests and potentially much more. Bethesda's Chief Software Engineer Todd Howard previously noted Starfield would leverage procedural generation but didn't explain for what, so these details could be speculations based on Howard's statement.
Players will also allegedly be able to build and grow settlements across Starfield's different locations. The post explained that users' outposts would be vulnerable to being destroyed in a way which "truly challenges [players] to defend [their] stuff." It didn't elaborate on what would threaten those colonies, but it mentioned that there would be three alien species and humans, so one or more of those extraterrestrials might be hostile.
Starfield: Protagonist & Progression Rumors
Next, the alleged leaks dove into character progression details, which didn't reveal anything about Starfield's lore but claimed to shed light on how players would navigate the space exploration game. It will allegedly be exclusively single-player and revolve around a silent protagonist that will be customizable through a skill tree.
The leak also stated Starfield would include "skill checks in [the] dialogue and environment," which means certain conversations and world events will require players to have a certain perk to participate in. That wouldn't be in line with Bethesda's most recent design decisions in the Fallout series. Fallout: New Vegas included many conversation skill checks, while Fallout 4 featured far fewer of them, but Bethesda could be taking more cues from Obsidian this time around.
Apart from skills, Starfield is said to also have a wide variety of ranged and melee weapons to choose from. The 4chan post listed five potential damage modifiers including, "Kinetic, Laser, Sonic, Cryo, and Plasma" weaponry, which would be similar to the various types of weapon damage featured in the Fallout series. Starfield's spacesuit system will also allegedly resemble Fallout's Power Armor. It is said to be fully customizable with attachments like jetpacks, and players can choose if they want to make it a core part of their combat strategy. Starfield will supposedly offer a stealthier approach to combat via an "in-depth hacking system," which the post only briefly mentioned but might feature a mini-game like Skyrim's lockpicking system.
Players might also have the option to give their characters "augmentations, cybernetics, and implants" that will allegedly be craftable and available for purchase. These were said to affect "UI, combat, perks, and [characters' appearance]," which sounds almost identical to Cyberpunk 2077's cybernetic implant system which enabled perks like auto-aiming and superhuman agility. All of these customizable combat mechanics will purportedly give players total freedom to complete the "Wild-West style bounty hunting system" Starfield is said to include. The post mentioned the game would also include a "wanted system," similar to that of Red Dead Redemption 2 and Grand Theft Auto, which will result in the players being hunted down if they ruthlessly disregard authority during their travels.
The supposed leak stopped short there and didn't cite a source or even explain how they came across this treasure trove of information. The way many of the post's points aligned with previous Bethesda statements or resembled features from other RPGs also cast some doubt on the accuracy of its claims. Gamers should take this latest batch of Starfield rumors with a hearty dose of skepticism, but if Bethesda is actually planning on launching its sci-fi franchise soon, fans could soon learn if these claims are true or not. Until then, they'll need to continue patiently looking to the stars.
Source: Reddit/LinuxRR