New details on the upcoming Starfield have been revealed by the game's director, and it seems as though the vast majority of the title's 1,000 planets won't have major cities. Fan expectations have consistently skyrocketed since the game was first announced in 2018, and a recent Starfield gameplay reveal has only bolstered interest the the Bethesda release.
A lot of the latest Starfield information comes hot off the heels of the game's appearance at the the Xbox & Bethesda Showcase during Summer Game Fest, and the response from fans has been quite positive so far. It seems the game is shaping up to be a victory for Bethesda, Microsoft—Bethesda’s new parent company—and lovers of games in the Elder Scrolls and Fallout franchises. The gameplay reveal offered the first extensive looks at the creatures on some of the worlds, the flying mechanics, and the planets that have been built into the game. Following the trailer, Bethesda confirmed Starfield will have over 1,000 planets to explore.
In an interview with IGN, Bethesda's Todd Howard delved deeper in Starfield, but the details on the game's planets may have players concerned. Howard told IGN that the game takes place in four major cities across space, leaving many to wonder what the other 996-plus planets hold in terms of intrigue and exploration. While it’s foolish to simply assume there are no other cities or anomalies across all of these rocks, how consequential they are and how much they add to the game will be important in determining the game’s quality. Thankfully, the major cities are quite large and have plenty to offer players. According to Howard, New Atlantis, the capital city of the United Colonies, is bigger than any city in Fallout or Skyrim, and has:
“...all the services you would expect, and… that’s also the headquarters for Constellation, which is the faction that you join that is the last group of space explorers – kind of this NASA-meets-Indiana Jones-meets-The League of Extraordinary Gentleman [group].”
The 996 unaccounted-for planets leave a large gap that could potentially determine important parts of the game's quality, with many curious over what Starfield's 1,000 planets really means for gameplay. Starfield could prove to set the new standard for space-based, adventure games, or it could fall into the same trap that No Man’s Sky did in 2016; with so many planets to explore, the odds are high of scouring planets that are barren and boring. As it turns out, the real-life truth of space being an endless wasteland doesn’t translate particularly well to video games.
These aren’t the first concerns for Starfield’s quality. In April, a confirmed former character artist for Bethesda heavily criticized Starfield’s flying and game engine, stating that the flying gameplay is simply not fun. With space being a very empty place, one could argue that flying and space travel in general is an extremely important part of a game taking place in the vast vacuum. Starfield is expected to release in early 2023, and the reviews that will come with it will likely help give further insight into these concerns.
Source: IGN