Starfield

 PC
User Score
5.6

Mixed or average reviews- based on 5711 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2,635 out of 5711
  2. Mixed: 612 out of 5711
  3. Negative: 2,464 out of 5711
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  1. psychobudgie
    Sep 12, 2023
    6
    Incredibly disappointing by Bethesda's standards. The space game where travelling in space is optional. You can quite literally fast travel between planets, and by planets I mean a small map that happens to be on a planet. This is not No Mans Sky so forget about exploration for anything other than mineral gathering. The missions are as generic as they come and after around 8 hours in it isIncredibly disappointing by Bethesda's standards. The space game where travelling in space is optional. You can quite literally fast travel between planets, and by planets I mean a small map that happens to be on a planet. This is not No Mans Sky so forget about exploration for anything other than mineral gathering. The missions are as generic as they come and after around 8 hours in it is incredibly boring. The combat is generic and underwhelming, graphically it's not exactly ground breaking but will batter your hardware like it is and it has its fair share of game breaking bugs and crashing to the desktop so you need to save often. I see many giving this 10/10 which is ridiculous given the issues it has. Amazed how Bethesda seems to get a pass for putting out poorly optimised, unfinished and bug ridden games when every other publisher, rightly, gets dragged over the coals for it. Simply not good enough considering the time it spent in development. It's an OK game but the negatives far outweigh any positives.… Expand
  2. SamAxe00
    Sep 12, 2023
    6
    Although fun, I expected more. Buggy & feels repetitive. The constant fast travel & load screens cause a loss of immersion and prevents the sense of exploration found in previous BGW titles. Lots to do but feels like it has limited depth to the open world exploration. Significant potential with mods, but it feels like Bethesda did the bare minimum and is planning on letting the moddingAlthough fun, I expected more. Buggy & feels repetitive. The constant fast travel & load screens cause a loss of immersion and prevents the sense of exploration found in previous BGW titles. Lots to do but feels like it has limited depth to the open world exploration. Significant potential with mods, but it feels like Bethesda did the bare minimum and is planning on letting the modding community finish it for them.… Expand
  3. shmitzles
    Sep 12, 2023
    6
    I've put 18 hours into Starfield and I think I've played enough to come to my conclusion. Sadly, for me Starfield is the worst Bethesda RPG I've played. The menu system and traveling really grinds my gears and the writing, face animation, and camera work really pull me out of the story. I constantly found my self zoning out and skipping dialogue.

    At times the game is gorgeous and at other    I've put 18 hours into Starfield and I think I've played enough to come to my conclusion. Sadly, for me Starfield is the worst Bethesda RPG I've played. The menu system and traveling really grinds my gears and the writing, face animation, and camera work really pull me out of the story. I constantly found my self zoning out and skipping dialogue.

    At times the game is gorgeous and at other times it looks very outdated. NPCs stare into your soul for no reason and over encumbrance is yet again and issue.

    I'm willing to give it a 6 because the gun play is okay and the ship building is kind of fun. Overall I was very excited to play Starfield but in the end I mostly felt disappointed and irritated by my 18 hour experience.    … Expand
  4. coltsr2
    Sep 12, 2023
    7
    Starfield has some great moments BUT... has some major and glaring issues that often spoil the game.. First off...How is this supposed to be a space based adventure with your own spaceship, when you cant even fly the spaceships properly? We are unable to fly on and off, or even over the surface of the planets? Hell even the far lower budget indie developers 'No mans Sky' at least lets youStarfield has some great moments BUT... has some major and glaring issues that often spoil the game.. First off...How is this supposed to be a space based adventure with your own spaceship, when you cant even fly the spaceships properly? We are unable to fly on and off, or even over the surface of the planets? Hell even the far lower budget indie developers 'No mans Sky' at least lets you land and take off from planets and fly around them! But Starfield's space exploration is a bit of a scam, a gimmick, a fake, a charade, a thin veneer, its pure snake oil sold to us by Todd Howard the snake oil salesman.
    Starfield has no real space exploration at all, just one base/mine/space station per planet, with fast travel cutscenes and loading scenes masquerading as space travel, the whole space exploration element is all a giant let-down!. instead we get the same irritating repetitive over and over cutscenes of the landings and take-offs..and that's it! Awful!
    Why even bother with the planets anyway if that's the best they could do with all the money they had and giant dev team? Its a joke, an insult to our intelligence and betrayal of what Todd Howard promised! They should of just kept it all on one planet, with different biomes and simply called it Planetfield! Whilst i enjoyed some of the planets in starfield, most are barren and continued nothing much to the game.

    And why so many Cutscenes? they are everywhere, Take off your ship = animated cutscene,...land your ship = animated cutscene, Fly to the nearest planet = animated cutscene, get out of your space ship chair = animated cutscene, get out of your spaceship = black screen cutscene, get back in your ship = black screen cutscene, get back into your chair = animated cutscene cutscene, Walk through a door black screen cutscene, Everything is cutscenes! I half expected a nice trip on the monorail/metro, looking out of the windows as I travelled between districts, but no...all i got was..you guessed it another fast travel black screen Cutscene! Compare that to the awesome real monorail in Star citizen!
    As for the planets, they may as well be non existent like ive said.., often just empty barren and nothing to do, with simplistic graphics, its a pointless waste of time even wanting to explore them!..there is nothing to explore! They are ultimately as fake as the games title. Fast travel to a planet you are presented with a few options, land on the designated area with the base, city, mine etc, or land on the planet somewhere miles away and be presented with zero options other than to mine pointless materials. So in effect each planet is just a staging post/backdrop for the missions. No exploration at all.
    Procedurally generated worlds can be boring and repetitive, even when done well. They need Procedurally generated bases, cities, missions etc. Now that would of been cool.
    No HDR options or even basic gamma or brightness options, so for me at least many of the interiors ended up looking very bright, foggy and often felt like I was in a smoke filled night club in most of the interior spaces! But thankfully the modding community was soon able to offer fixes for this on day one of official release! BUT Why should it be left up to the modders to sort these blaring issues out on day one of release?
    I've also added a custom ini to increase the field of view to 90, instead of the restrictive default of 70. As for the cities in the game, they are cartoon looking, low textured, like New Atlantis, which is a very basic, cartoon looking, small city with a scattering of useless NPC's walking or sitting around, and whats with the odd looking fake trees, and rubbish pools of fake looking water with cartoon water lily's in? As for all the cafe's, and shops, they are just empty facades with no real life in them.
    Missions are often ridiculous and boring.
    ive given it a 7..due to the effort put into some of the bases and ideas. It could of been a 10 if they kept to their promises. Its a real shame because you can see a lot of effort HAS gone into certain parts of the game.
    If Todd Howard was a used car salesman, he would walk you around an amazing Ferrari at his car showroom, waffle off all the great specs to get your interest level up, then quickly get you to sign the paper work for the expensive purchase, then when you are walked to the handover room, you would be given an old clapped out pickup truck with a Ferrari badge 'sticky taped' to the bonnet!    … Expand
  5. TeezyWeezy
    Sep 12, 2023
    5
    The game is ok but not really something you would expect in 2023 from one of the biggest game developers. It's a good game but sadly not really a big enough improvement for what was promised and kinda expected.
  6. garayba
    Sep 12, 2023
    6
    What a disappointment it's really just a 6/10 i'm not just angry . look when you first start it you will be amazed by the graphics and the mystery but after sometime you'll realize that this game is so boring , it's just running around , talking to npcs , shooting enemies , repeat . i'm serious that's it , that's the most "exiting" part other stuff is below boring. planets are boring ,What a disappointment it's really just a 6/10 i'm not just angry . look when you first start it you will be amazed by the graphics and the mystery but after sometime you'll realize that this game is so boring , it's just running around , talking to npcs , shooting enemies , repeat . i'm serious that's it , that's the most "exiting" part other stuff is below boring. planets are boring , main quest is boring , they didn't even create animations for most of the things it's just a text like "hey you took that and activated that and an explosing happened" lol but no animations happens no effect nothing it's an empty game , don't believe the hype anymore.… Expand
  7. ActuallyAnnnoye
    Sep 12, 2023
    5
    This is a spoiler-free review.

    The Motto For this game should be "Getting Moar for Less". When we usually hear the term "Getting Moar for Less", we usually imagine a product whose value outpaces its price. But when that product becomes a Bethesda game named Starfield, you can be guaranteed the consumer will be paying more and getting less compared to other AAA games of this genre.    This is a spoiler-free review.

    The Motto For this game should be "Getting Moar for Less".

    When we usually hear the term "Getting Moar for Less", we usually imagine a product whose value outpaces its price. But when that product becomes a Bethesda game named Starfield, you can be guaranteed the consumer will be paying more and getting less compared to other AAA games of this genre.

    Starfield is not a good game, not because it isn't an update or an improvement on Bethesda's production process. It would be a lie or a misrepresentation for me to say that Bethesda has not upgraded the visuals as well as the quality of the game. I haven't had any bugs, crashes, or anything to undermine Bethesda on the data integrity of Starfield. The visual aesthetics are sometimes breathtaking and sometimes sterile, but that is the stylization of the game not a shortcoming of the game's refinement.

    No, where Starfield completely falls off the rails, is when the game is running and you the player actually pay attention to the presentation formulated in front of you. Starfield is a 2005 game created with all the technology and graphical fidelity of a contemporary title. This wouldn't be a problem if Bethesda Softworks created timeless classics worth revisiting, but they don't. Bethesda's stories, how they are told, and what is depicted are all middling, milquetoast and tame.

    Let me give an example, let's judge how Bethesda goes about interaction between characters to progress the story and create immersion between player and their companions. Not to name names, but a better game company allows companions to banter between themselves allowing you; the voiceless protagonist to listen in on a conversation that defines key characteristics about your companions as well as keeps you immersed in your travels between objectives. Bethesda on the other hand has you pull anybody you want to know about aside and commence a flurry of inquiries you must choose from. Your responses feel less spontaneous or thought-provoking, and more robotic and interrogating. You are asking query after query as your companion cycles through each one like a bad chat GPT. If you don't interact with that companion you will never hear from them. This relationship is a one-way street, or more like a semantic cul de sac. You spit out a random question at any random time, it cycles around generic answers till you ask everything possible on the presented screen. Conversations with your crew are as organic as polyurethane.

    With interactions so robotic they could make the Terminator blush, you would think the combat in the game would be the saving grace for Bethesda's would be cosmic opus. Well don't hold your breath, the combat in Starfield is mindnumbling bland. It is so bland that it should count as a blemish against Bethesda because they refuse to put real time and effort into making it better. Weight, sound, impact, Bethesda was really focused on making a space sim because none of those things seem to have any value in Starfield's combat. The banal spongy lifeless AI, paired with your dull uninspired guns, that look interesting but handle like dead wood, beckon you to turn the game off and do anything else to feel life. The lifelessness of Starfield's combat must be an homage to the dark void that is space because no professional Video game company should be proud of this presentation.

    Last but certainly not least, we must talk about the scope of this world. This isn't a space game, this is a Bethesda game about Space. This game wasn't built around you exploring the unknown. This game wasn't about using the technology and advances of space-age mankind. This game is about taking the cues, beats, and gimmicks Bethesda has used before and recycling them again. Space is just a complex loading screen, your quest takes you to an assortment of vaults, and the cities are just populated settlements. Fallout 76 was their test realm, Starfield is the 1.0 release.

    Usually, creating a subpar product whether objective or subjective in critique was something we as a gaming community ignored. But Microsoft, Bethesda's parent company saw fit to raise the price of Starfield to 70 dollars. Starfield for 70 dollars is a travesty. The sad fact is I think MS knows that Starfield is a poor representation of a next-generation product, and I think cynically this mediocre offering was purposely presented to bolster the player base of the game pass. Either way, Starfield can't be suffered as an actual Space exploration game.

    In closing; Starfield is a claustrophobic, cramp, mundane experience, with feeble combat, wooden narrative, and anemic immersion. To play Starfield and to laud it with praise is to validate Bethesda for being a great game company because they say so, not because they earn it. If gamers start to put up with this quality of game design the floors the limit for the future.    … Expand
  8. thimolor
    Sep 12, 2023
    5
    Soulless piece of crap. There is nothing to care about Starfields "vast" world. Dialogue is silly and the NPC's interactions are laughable. Graphics are not so great and gameplay feels really old and all the menus are created by someone who does not care about usability. I just feel ripped off by Bethesda.
  9. Andrudis
    Sep 12, 2023
    6
    It is not a bad game, and have some good ideas behind it, but outdated game engine, poor balance and very user-unfriendly UI ruin all immersion. Mods will be able to fix some of the issues, particularly with UI, but even mods will not be able to fix fundamental issue with outdated engine.
    Main problem of this game - it does not feel like a live open world, but instead feels like a set of    It is not a bad game, and have some good ideas behind it, but outdated game engine, poor balance and very user-unfriendly UI ruin all immersion. Mods will be able to fix some of the issues, particularly with UI, but even mods will not be able to fix fundamental issue with outdated engine.
    Main problem of this game - it does not feel like a live open world, but instead feels like a set of hundreds of very static small maps connected either by instant teleports or by vast emptiness.    … Expand
  10. cquint
    Sep 12, 2023
    5
    "I'm sorry, but this RPG isn't on the same level as other Bethesda games. It's only better than Fallout 76, which is a disaster in itself. It offers many hours of gameplay, but menu navigation disrupts immersion, there's an excess of endless dialogues, characters that seem like cartoons, and a lack of character customization options without Fallout's SPECIAL system. In the end, it's just"I'm sorry, but this RPG isn't on the same level as other Bethesda games. It's only better than Fallout 76, which is a disaster in itself. It offers many hours of gameplay, but menu navigation disrupts immersion, there's an excess of endless dialogues, characters that seem like cartoons, and a lack of character customization options without Fallout's SPECIAL system. In the end, it's just another game that revolves around managing the character's inventory, which can be a hassle. I'm playing it through a subscription, but I wouldn't really buy it for more than $10. We'll have to hope that modders can improve the game because if it depends on Bethesda, it's not going well. The visuals are dated, and the game feels sluggish and clunky."… Expand
  11. AntonEgo69x
    Sep 12, 2023
    5
    “16 times the details” is repeating itself a decent game in a box of lies as always. The game itself isn’t that bad but the technical problems on pc are lame. It’s not the game they presented.
  12. w4r10ck1604
    Sep 12, 2023
    5
    There is so much that is so dissapointing in the Fast-Travel-Simulator ´23

    - the Inventory management is horrible - the facial animations are pretty ugly - the german snych is not lipsynch - the walking speed on pc, makes me mad. you can run, you can walk, you can sprint! but you don´t match the speed of the other npc´s - the loading screens.... - the whole fast travel system    There is so much that is so dissapointing in the Fast-Travel-Simulator ´23

    - the Inventory management is horrible
    - the facial animations are pretty ugly
    - the german snych is not lipsynch
    - the walking speed on pc, makes me mad. you can run, you can walk, you can sprint! but you don´t
    match the speed of the other npc´s

    - the loading screens....
    - the whole fast travel system makes me furious. the game is wasting my time.
    open the map, select the destination "loading screen", open the map again, select the landing point
    "loading screen" exit the ship "loading screen", enter a building "loading screen" do the quest. fast
    travel back to your ship. and restart the loading screen simulation!

    - the world is empty.... in a universe with over 1000 Planets.... there are only 4 cities...

    - the npc´s in the cities are dumb like bread!

    - it´s so performance hungry and idk why?

    - dungeons and outposts repeat

    overall i am glad this game is on gamepass... i would get mad if i spent 70 Bucks for this thing!    … Expand
  13. magnumdb
    Sep 12, 2023
    6
    I’m 10 hours in. I’ve done multiple story mission and 2 open world quests.

    Let me start with what I like. Graphics looks pretty darn good, by and large. There’s some weird anomalies like the wide eyed stare, and there are visual glitches. Some planets look a bit weak but those total 5% of what I’ve seen. The other 95% looks great - textures and models of all the gear, the human built    I’m 10 hours in. I’ve done multiple story mission and 2 open world quests.

    Let me start with what I like.

    Graphics looks pretty darn good, by and large. There’s some weird anomalies like the wide eyed stare, and there are visual glitches. Some planets look a bit weak but those total 5% of what I’ve seen. The other 95% looks great - textures and models of all the gear, the human built environments, all beautiful.

    Voice acting is usually ok. There’s a lot of cartoony over the top voices that sound like sarcasm. Music is beautiful. It all loads pretty fast on my Series S, thank goodness because of the many loading screens. I don’t think I’m out of the first act of the main story but I’m following along, enough - it’s fine!

    Already from my positives though you can see it’s not blown me away really.

    The bad:

    The games mechanics are confusing, it is taking me forever to understand how I store, trade, keep, upgrade, etc all the gear. Hard to understand menu navigation when traveling, hard to understand how to survey planets (I spent 2 hours on my first planet going in circles until I regretfully looked up help online. There are annoying enemy bugs where they clip through walls; they get me but I can’t get them. They blend into the environment too much; the areas colors are usually just 2-3 main similar colors, and muted and muddy. Many times I can’t see the enemy because they wear those same colors plus all the smoke hides everyone.

    I hate getting around. We are given an entire universe, but no great way to traverse it. Menu systems for ship travel are complex, confusing, and convoluted. Opening up a menu, selecting a planet, traveling, getting to the planet, but not actually landing on it, opening the menu, again, selecting an area on the planet, traveling again, watching the cut scene of the ship landing… terrible. Sometimes the planet needs to scan you for contraband, other times, not. Sometimes you can leave directly from being docked, other times you have to undock yourself. When you’re on the planet, you can’t run for long without running out of oxygen, that can run out even faster if you’re over encumbered, and when you’re over encumbered, you can’t fast travel. There are no vehicles. And you are running around these empty planets with nothing really interesting to do or look at as you make your way to the one area to get an artifact, or special ability or resource/trait. You can fast travel back to your ship… but only if you aren’t encumbered.

    Characters talk over each other all the time. The gunplay has been a struggle. Aiming either feels like I am pulling the cursor through syrup or it has a booster engine and shoots my crosshair across the screen if I barely touch it. I’ve tried so many aim sensitivity settings but I think I am making small improvements only because I am learning to work within these confines. I have yet to find much ammo for one of the guns I really want to use.

    Speaking of guns - what the actual EFF is with the lack of automatic ammo pick up? To get ammo for your gun, you have to pick up a gun that uses the same ammo. The ammo will automatically show up on your HUD but now you have to do something with the gun. With such limited inventory, I am dropping the guns all the time, and it really slows down the momentum of the game. . After spending 15 minutes walking in a slow straight line across a boring empty planet, when I finally find enemies to shoot, I don’t want to spend most of that time opening my menu to drop guns. Even a game considered one of the most realistic, RDR2, allows you to just walk near an enemy and the ammo is automatically picked up.

    There is some good, but at this point there isn’t enough good to make me want to leave the main story again. At the moment, it’s entertaining enough that I will continue the main story for now, but I have a lot of other games I want to get to and star field has felt more like it’s stealing my time more than me enjoying my time with it.    … Expand
  14. Canliberk
    Sep 11, 2023
    5
    Playing this game makes me want to play other games.

    It is like a combination of Fallout 4, Mass Effect and No Man's Sky, but taken all the mediocre aspects of each game. Combat / Exploration / Looting worked much better on Fallout 4. Space Theme and world building was much better on Mass Effect series Space exploration / combat was much better on No Mans Sky. Performance is    Playing this game makes me want to play other games.

    It is like a combination of Fallout 4, Mass Effect and No Man's Sky, but taken all the mediocre aspects of each game.

    Combat / Exploration / Looting worked much better on Fallout 4.
    Space Theme and world building was much better on Mass Effect series
    Space exploration / combat was much better on No Mans Sky.

    Performance is sadly not good at the launch state. UI is clunky and gets in the way too much. Graphics are good - not masterpiece but good.    … Expand
  15. pigroach
    Sep 11, 2023
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The ten scores are just as cringe as the zero scores, haters hating and blinkered fans white knighting. It's not a terrible game but definitely not even close to being a ten either. It's a really mediocre effort tbh. The main plot is essentially a fetch quest, the side quests can occasionally be more interesting. The ai is poor and the npcs are wooden and not very memorable. It's typical Bethesda fair. The game and graphics are dated If this came out in 2011 instead of Skyrim for example then yeah this would seem much better. Didn't have any problems running this on the highest settings but yeah even on those settings it looks bad. They really need to ditch this archaic engine and get with UE5 or something more worthy. Not something I will bother finishing.… Expand
  16. MablePooHead
    Sep 11, 2023
    5
    Vanilla Starfield: Garbage 0/10
    Modded Starfield: GOTY. 10/10

    Total: 5/10
  17. PeriUrban
    Sep 11, 2023
    5
    In a futuristic world where the wheel and mobile phones were never invented, you will click to travel instantly halfway across the galaxy. You will climb into your cockpit once, maybe twice, before learning that you can simply click and go! Except if you are docked.

    Yes, you can travel from the middle of the wilderness of one planet to the landing zone on another planet with just a    In a futuristic world where the wheel and mobile phones were never invented, you will click to travel instantly halfway across the galaxy. You will climb into your cockpit once, maybe twice, before learning that you can simply click and go! Except if you are docked.

    Yes, you can travel from the middle of the wilderness of one planet to the landing zone on another planet with just a flick of the wrist and a twitch of the index finger, but if you are docked to some space station forget it!

    You are a nobody, a lowly newb miner with a possibly interesting background that has nothing to do with mining, but for “reasons” you will be sent to retrieve a mysterious artefact that displays “gravitational anomalies”, y’know, like in Star Trek. You will have a cinematic.

    A man turns up to gift you his ship and take your place in the mine. He too has had a cinematic, and so he knows all about the mysterious gravity things. You will ask yourself, “If this guy knew I was going to have a cinematic, wouldn’t it have been polite for him to say something about that before letting me have my pixels rearranged?”

    His chums in the secret society will give you a room in their hidden base, which is cleverly disguised as a base in plain sight. They will chat to you as if you’ve always been there, and send you on missions to find more of the weird artefacts.

    Funnily enough, although they are a society of explorers it appears they have done precisely no exploring, leaving that onerous task to you, the hero.

    So, you will discover strange alien sites featuring gravitational anomalies. You will discover them many times. You will explore the full extent of the procedurally generated tile that magically appears around you. Mysteriously, the caves and bases you find on all these many, many, many, many planets and moons will all be made of the same stuff, right down to the tea trays, pens and toilet paper.

    You will find innumerable weapons and suits and helmets and medpacks and resources and junk, and you will click and click and click on your many and varied storage places. There’s storage on you, in your companion, in another companion, in your locker on your ship, in the cargo hold on that ship, in the cargo hold on another ship - so many places to lose your loot!

    You will get powers you remember from Skyrim, and pretend they are new.

    The map will be a field of dots showing no detail. Even the cities will be mapless. You will remember that the mobile phone hasn’t been invented, so obviously no maps! And no taxis or bicycles, because the wheel isn't a thing. Just a train that never moves until propelled sideways by cut scene.

    You will enjoy loading screens. Many times.

    You will shoot the same bad guys. Many times.

    You will shoot or avoid the same weird creatures. Many times.

    You will scan bushes and trees. Many times.

    You will have epic space battles. A couple of times.

    You will hardly role play at all. Unless you start rolling dice IRL.

    NPCs will ignore any behaviour you care to engage in, but they will look at you sideways no matter what you do.

    There are cities. Or are they towns? At least one of them is just a town. OK, one of them is definitely a city. It has skyscrapers and everything. Markers will appear amongst those skyscrapers, leading you believe your quest lies above your head, but the only thing that lies is the quest marker.

    On planets you will see buildings in the distance that your scanner labels “unknown”, despite the fact that they are obviously buildings. But then you remember - no mobile phones = no maps.

    Other “unknown” features will turn out to be wrinkles in the topographies of otherwise largely flat terrains.

    The vast universe will be yours to explore, and you will never notice that assets and concepts have been repeated almost infinitely. You will never see the workings of the procedural algorithms, because they are so cleverly done. Except when you do, which will be always.

    You will conclude that the appearance of plenty is better than actual plenty, because you will be happy to be enjoyed so completely by Todd and his investors. You will think of Skyrim and swallow your overdraft, and you will be happy. Yes. Very happy.    … Expand
  18. Gipsojo
    Sep 11, 2023
    7
    This is a good game but could have been much better with different imagination and management. As it is, this is a new gen version of Skyrim or Fallout. In fact it even comes across as less exciting than those games because by now we're familiar with the Skyrim/Fallout experience.

    In my opinion they should have focused on aiming higher than Skyrim/Fallout 4 instead of trying to emulate    This is a good game but could have been much better with different imagination and management. As it is, this is a new gen version of Skyrim or Fallout. In fact it even comes across as less exciting than those games because by now we're familiar with the Skyrim/Fallout experience.

    In my opinion they should have focused on aiming higher than Skyrim/Fallout 4 instead of trying to emulate those experiences exactly. The whole thing is a little too familiar and definitely a letdown when you consider the years and years of hype. If anything this game feels old fashioned in 2023.

    If you're okay playing a new version of Skyrim or Fallout then this is exactly that! Definitely big and expansive just like those games were. You can put a lot of hours into Starfield if you don't get bored and bounce off first.

    Don't buy a Series X just for this! If you already have GamePass then of course you've already downloaded it and played it for yourself.

    7/10    … Expand
  19. Gregoloko
    Sep 11, 2023
    7
    I have been able to play more than 50 hours of the game since early access and for me it is not the masterpiece that Bethesda promised, mediocre story, forgettable characters, fast travels everywhere and for everything, out of 50 hours you spend 20 hours in the menus, horrible AI, it's not because it's Microsoft,Its just because the game is not worth more than 7/10...
    We all know that    I have been able to play more than 50 hours of the game since early access and for me it is not the masterpiece that Bethesda promised, mediocre story, forgettable characters, fast travels everywhere and for everything, out of 50 hours you spend 20 hours in the menus, horrible AI, it's not because it's Microsoft,Its just because the game is not worth more than 7/10...
    We all know that Bethesda expects modders to do what they couldn't do, but how sad that they didn't put more effort into the game, especially when I see what no man Sky can do.

    He podido jugar mas de 50 horas al juego desde el acceso anticipado y para mi no es la obra maestra que prometio bethesda,Historia mediocre,personajes olvidables,viajes rapidos hasta para ir al baño, de las 50 horas te la pasas 20 horas en los menus,IA horrenda,No es porque sea Microsoft sino porque el juego no vale mas de 7/10...
    Sabemos todos que bethesda espera que los modders hagan lo que ellos no pudieron hacer pero que triste que no le pusieran mas empeño al juego mas cuando veo lo que puede hacer no man Sky.

    J'ai pu jouer plus de 50 heures au jeu depuis l'accès anticipé et pour moi ce n'est pas le chef d'oeuvre promis par Bethesda, histoire médiocre, personnages oubliables, déplacements rapides partout et pour tout, sur 50 heures on passe 20 heures dans les menus, IA horrible, ce n'est pas parce que c'est Microsoft mais parce que le jeu ne vaut pas plus de 7/10..
    Nous savons tous que Bethesda attend des moddeurs qu'ils fassent ce qu'ils ne pouvaient pas faire, mais comme c'est triste qu'ils n'aient pas mis plus d'efforts dans le jeu, surtout quand je vois ce que No man Sky peut faire...    … Expand
  20. Alias--
    Sep 11, 2023
    5
    In Skyrim you can follow a random npc around all day and they will have tasks and a home to go to and a bed to sleep in at the end of the day, if you killed them they had armor and other items that made sense for them to have that could be looted, and you could engage in at least a bit of dialogue with everyone. in Starfield a large amount of npcs are cardboard cutouts who walk around inIn Skyrim you can follow a random npc around all day and they will have tasks and a home to go to and a bed to sleep in at the end of the day, if you killed them they had armor and other items that made sense for them to have that could be looted, and you could engage in at least a bit of dialogue with everyone. in Starfield a large amount of npcs are cardboard cutouts who walk around in circles, they have no homes or schedules and they can't be interacted with or looted from.
    In Skyrim you had a detailed, handcrafted open world to explore packed full of points of interest and secrets. In Starfield the planets you land on feel empty and padded out with procedural generation.

    For everything that was gained, like the deeper roleplaying choices in character creation, something equally important seems to have been lost. It's bizarre. I sincerely hope Elder Scrolls 6 isn't like this    … Expand
  21. Entisy
    Sep 11, 2023
    5
    I was quite disappointed.. every night I turn on my pc and start playing it, after an hour I'm on time to sleep on my desk.
    This only happens to me when a game is boring and this unfortunately is. I've waited years for starfield and so I can only be very disappointed. The flaws have already been mentioned by many others. But the thing that bothers me the most is that it lacks action.    I was quite disappointed.. every night I turn on my pc and start playing it, after an hour I'm on time to sleep on my desk.
    This only happens to me when a game is boring and this unfortunately is. I've waited years for starfield and so I can only be very disappointed. The flaws have already been mentioned by many others. But the thing that bothers me the most is that it lacks action. After 30 hours of playing I'm still waiting for some fights! especially the secondary quests,..just uploads and blablabla
    Maybe I'm getting old, but then why do I like games like no man sky or cyberpunk2077 so much?    … Expand
  22. IEGallowglass
    Sep 11, 2023
    6
    Starfield: An Honest Review

    Having delved into the much-anticipated game, Starfield, I've come away with some very defined opinions that might not align with the hype. To be transparent, I rate this game a 6 out of 10. Some might argue that's even being generous. Although my experience might be skewed because I played on PC and it's evident that Starfield is a console game with an    Starfield: An Honest Review

    Having delved into the much-anticipated game, Starfield, I've come away with some very defined opinions that might not align with the hype.

    To be transparent, I rate this game a 6 out of 10. Some might argue that's even being generous. Although my experience might be skewed because I played on PC and it's evident that Starfield is a console game with an unsatisfactory PC port. It feels lackluster in supporting the features and standards that PC gamers expect, most glaringly, a user interface that is notably "console trash."

    Storyline & Quests
    The main storyline is, to put it plainly, uninteresting. The narrative introduces a supposedly mysterious plot device expecting awe from the player, but it failed to elicit any such emotion in me. Additionally, the side quests and factions leave much to be desired, coming across as uninspired.

    Combat & AI
    The combat system borrows heavily from Fallout 4, inheriting all its flaws. The enemy AI is far from competent, and the Companion AI manages to be even worse.

    Exploration & Travel
    Considering the "open-world" nature of Bethesda RPGs, Starfield's space setting could have presented an interesting twist. However, the execution is flawed. There's an over-reliance on Fast Travel, turning almost every movement into a loading screen, void of the immersive 'warp jump' scenes one would expect in a space game. Planet exploration, while likely the core attraction for many, felt mundane. Interactions, whether with resources or NPCs, often lack depth and intrigue.

    Urban Exploration
    Venturing into urban spaces has its share of disappointments. There are buildings of significance, like the abandoned embassy of an interplanetary organization, that are strangely inaccessible, a missed opportunity for world-building.

    Aesthetics
    The game's aesthetic choices are perplexing. An example I vividly remember is the portrayal of space – it is wildly different from any conventional depiction, and not necessarily in a good way.

    Some Positives
    To give credit where it's due, Starfield's lockpicking mechanism is phenomenal, standing out as the best I've ever seen in any game.

    Final Thoughts
    Starfield isn't an entirely bad game. But juxtaposed with Bethesda's previous masterpieces, like Oblivion and Skyrim, it doesn't measure up. It feels like a missed opportunity, a space RPG that could have been so much more but falls short in numerous areas. While some might find joy in this game, I regret my purchase of the premium edition.

    To players enjoying Starfield, I'm genuinely happy for you. This review is merely a reflection of my experience and by no means an attempt to belittle your enjoyment. However, for those considering the game, I'd suggest waiting. There's potential for improvement, perhaps through modders or DLCs, but as it stands, Starfield feels "super mid."

    As a side note, after playing Baldur's Gate 3, the bar for RPGs has been raised significantly, making the shortcomings of Starfield even more evident. Current RPGs that don't adjust or evolve with the times might find themselves struggling in comparison. Starfield, in this landscape, feels like a step back rather than the leap forward many were expecting.    … Expand
  23. Cys_qwa
    Sep 11, 2023
    6
    In general, I enjoy the game, but I have a lot of negative feelings about it:

    Exploration - it's the first Bethesda game where this aspect is lacking... Planets are simply boring. Fast travel everywhere - oh God, I wish there was a possibility to fly manually from planet to planet or from sector to sector. Graphics - I hope this is the last game where they use the current engine...    In general, I enjoy the game, but I have a lot of negative feelings about it:

    Exploration - it's the first Bethesda game where this aspect is lacking... Planets are simply boring.
    Fast travel everywhere - oh God, I wish there was a possibility to fly manually from planet to planet or from sector to sector.
    Graphics - I hope this is the last game where they use the current engine... It's getting very outdated.
    I have similar feelings to those I had when playing Oblivion. It's just an average Bethesda game, but... I don't know why, but I kind of enjoy it.

    P.S. Optimization sucks.    … Expand
  24. Oso_Guapo
    Sep 11, 2023
    5
    Part of me wants to say that the only thing holding Starfield back from GOTY is the fact that it was released in 2023, instead of 2015. The other part of me says that even if it was released in 2015, that Fallout 4 would still be my personal choice for GOTY. There is some real ambition here, but the game is so hit or miss some times that it is difficult for me fully give it my support. IfPart of me wants to say that the only thing holding Starfield back from GOTY is the fact that it was released in 2023, instead of 2015. The other part of me says that even if it was released in 2015, that Fallout 4 would still be my personal choice for GOTY. There is some real ambition here, but the game is so hit or miss some times that it is difficult for me fully give it my support. If you like space+BGS, it might be the game for you, but it is extremely middling for a 2023 release.… Expand
  25. Romulus89
    Sep 11, 2023
    6
    The biggest feeling I have for Starfield is one of disappointment. A feeling of what could have been. Then a feeling of betrayal, that actually all of the budget that went into the game basically went on marketing. I feel like we didn't get what was promised. Some critics have suggested its basically Skyrim in space.. how I wish that were true! That at least would have been fun.The biggest feeling I have for Starfield is one of disappointment. A feeling of what could have been. Then a feeling of betrayal, that actually all of the budget that went into the game basically went on marketing. I feel like we didn't get what was promised. Some critics have suggested its basically Skyrim in space.. how I wish that were true! That at least would have been fun. Unfortunately my experience of Starfield so far is loading screens, fetch and carrier missions (a lot of those!) and fast travelling (which also generates another loading screen). The intro didn't grab me, I didn't feel instantly immersed like I did with Skyrim or even fallout 4. Looking at it, it doesn't actually look that different from those games except with a spacey skin thrown on top. Ultimately it feels like a walking simulator, or maybe even no mans sky..before it became an actual game. It just feels like its a mile wide but an inch deep. The space element feels like it was added in as an afterthought, probably by the same person who designed the main menu screen. Ill persevere with it, but its failing on the main objective for any game which is to entertain so far. It feels like a job, and that's not good.

    The good:
    Feels like a Bethesda game
    Space ship designing- fun
    Huge potential for the mods to actually make it a fun game

    The Bad
    The story, it doesn't captivate or grab you.
    No planet vehicles- a huge sophisticated civilisation.. but no moon buggy?
    Generic planets- they promised 1000 but then forgot to fill them with anything remotely interesting.
    Space flight- or lack of it, no takeoff, landing (loading screens for those!)
    Poor tutorials- the game doesn't explain WHY you cant fast travel somewhere just that its not possible right now.

    The Ugly
    Loading screens. For. Every. Single. Door.
    Fast travel is almost the default movement option
    Repetitive missions (fetch and carry more than UPS)
    Feels like a chore rather than a fun game    … Expand
  26. dacterframe
    Sep 11, 2023
    5
    Que álguien le diga, por favor, a bethesda que en un rpg no puede haber una forma que es objetivamente mejor de afrontar los problemas, y definitivamente no puede ser la más a prueba de idiotas, que eso le quita profundidad a un rpg. O si no, que le pregunten a cyberpunk y su sistema de hackeo, que estaba ahí por cumplir, porque tenía que estar, porque nadie con un arma mínimamenteQue álguien le diga, por favor, a bethesda que en un rpg no puede haber una forma que es objetivamente mejor de afrontar los problemas, y definitivamente no puede ser la más a prueba de idiotas, que eso le quita profundidad a un rpg. O si no, que le pregunten a cyberpunk y su sistema de hackeo, que estaba ahí por cumplir, porque tenía que estar, porque nadie con un arma mínimamente competente consideraría afrontar ninguna situación con hackeo a no ser que intentara muy fuerte rollplayear como un netrunner. Igual pasaba en fall out 4 y lo rota que estaba la elocuencia, y en Starfield lo mismo que en cyberpunk, ¿para qué voy a querer dialogar con unos bandidos cuando de por sí no suponen ningún desafió? Cuatro balas y a volar.

    Los personajes siguen siendo un pedazo de cartón, y no hablo de las animaciones, que esa es otra, hablo de que en lo que llevo de Starfield, y al igual que en Fallout 4, no he encontrado ni un personaje mínimamente interesante, y no es como si el que los personajes sean una panda de siesos fuera cosa del género, hasta el comerciante de carne humana de los primeros fallouts tiene más carisma que ningún npc en starfield y no hablemos ya de Joshua Graham del Fallout New Vegas. Ahora que lo pienso todos esos juegos tienen en común que no fueron desarrollados por bethesda como tal, los primeros por Tim Cain y New vegas por Obsidian... Igual es que Todd Howard no sabe lo que hace a un buen rpg, o se le ha olvidado, no sé, no le importa a él, imagínate a mi.

    Y por cierto, muy bueno el sistema de elocuencia basado en tres emociones básicas, hasta el Persona 5 en 2017 hacía lo mismo pero mejor, y no es que en P5 fuera malo, pero los jrpg tienen sus virtudes y los crpg occidentales las suyas y no puede ser el primero le patee el culo al segundo en lo que se supone que es su terreno.

    En una escala del 1 al 5, le daría un 3, es decir, mediocre, no pasa nada si lo juegas pero tampoco te pierdes de nada si pasas de ello, pero como esta página puntúa del 0 al 10, pues se queda con un 5.    … Expand
  27. nicu_ck
    Sep 11, 2023
    6
    El juego no es malo pero tampoco llega a ser increible que es lo que todo el mundo esperaba. Es un juego mal optimizado con una pantalla de carga cada 2 min. La base esta ahi y tiene mucho contenido que es divertido de hacer pero no todo. Es el mismo juego que skyrim que salio hace 12 años. Te espera que hayan evolucionado en algo pero la verda es que no . Es un juego disfrutable queEl juego no es malo pero tampoco llega a ser increible que es lo que todo el mundo esperaba. Es un juego mal optimizado con una pantalla de carga cada 2 min. La base esta ahi y tiene mucho contenido que es divertido de hacer pero no todo. Es el mismo juego que skyrim que salio hace 12 años. Te espera que hayan evolucionado en algo pero la verda es que no . Es un juego disfrutable que podria haber sido increible bien hecho lo cual ya se encargara los moders de arreglar ya que ellos no creo que hagan nada… Expand
  28. jcpshd
    Sep 11, 2023
    7
    - All the negative and positive points that have been mentioned by other people are true. Read them and decide if they're important for you.

    - I think it's unfair giving a ZERO to this game, but it's not a masterpiece either to give it a TEN. This game is a solid 7. More good than bad, but not as awesome and groundbreaking as we thought it would be. - I'm playing it for $10 on XBOX    - All the negative and positive points that have been mentioned by other people are true. Read them and decide if they're important for you.

    - I think it's unfair giving a ZERO to this game, but it's not a masterpiece either to give it a TEN.
    This game is a solid 7. More good than bad, but not as awesome and groundbreaking as we thought it would be.

    - I'm playing it for $10 on XBOX pass (PC), so it's a good bargain for so much content. That said, it's not worth $120 IMO.    … Expand
  29. Runwin
    Sep 11, 2023
    6
    This game is a lie. I enjoyed my 60 hours of gameplay, until I knew I were lied. Since that moment I understood this is just a generic space adventure without any memorable sense or emotion, for me.
  30. Ryskim
    Sep 11, 2023
    7
    I want to be clear about something. I own the Digital Premium Edition (Steam) and I think this is a good game. But it has so many design flaws that it makes Cyberpunk 2077 look really good beside it.

    Starting with the incessant loading screens. not being able to see your own feet in first person, or the total absence of minimaps for large cities and interiors. It all shows dev laziness    I want to be clear about something. I own the Digital Premium Edition (Steam) and I think this is a good game. But it has so many design flaws that it makes Cyberpunk 2077 look really good beside it.

    Starting with the incessant loading screens. not being able to see your own feet in first person, or the total absence of minimaps for large cities and interiors. It all shows dev laziness everywhere, masked with excuses of all kinds from Tood Howard.

    There are no land vehicles. You can't use the mechs that you see in-game. You can't fly your ship in the atmosphere of a planet. It's just a quick travel simulator after some time.

    The scanner should be one of the strongest points of the game and it's so incredibly boring to use. The only notable upgrade you get is some sort of zoom and little else.

    You do not get any database of creatures, planets, locations, etc. A game that it's all about exploration does not let you store all of that. A game with 1,000 planets that invites you to explore all, does not keep track of anything anywhere outside the star map. No Man's Sky does this fantastically. Again, it feels like the devs were simply too lazy to do it.

    I have not gotten to the performance part yet. The game does not have DualSense button UI for Steam, it does not perform well, and it does not include DLSS all because some sort of shady deal between Bethesda, Microsoft, and AMD.

    Before you get this game, know that this is literally a copy-paste of Fallout 4 with an evolved engine and with a space skin. Some people will say the formula is nice. And I think the game is fun. But to mark this title as GOTY material is simply out of boundaries. By all accounts Baldur's Gate 3 is simply better. Even Cybepunk 2077 with the upcoming 2.0 release is better.

    Again, this is a good game. I like it, but it's not the legendary game that it was set out to be. And the fact that Bethesda acknowledges ZERO of the criticism from the players is what bothers me the most.

    No land vehicles? : "you're supposed to walk!"
    Poor performance? : "you should upgrade your rig!"

    And the list of excuses goes on and on. This is not what a developer should do. Relying on mods to make the game good is not a very good strategy (and let's pray they don't decide to "curate" the mods and sell them to you).

    Anyway, game is not the masterpiece some Bethesda fans make it out to be. And that is totally okay.

    Lastly I want to talk about companions. All of them are "good people" that will incessantly complay when you perform evil actions (in case you choose to be a villain). Join the Crimson Fleet with Sarah at your side and you'll see what I mean.

    There are literally zero evil-aligned companions in the game.

    Join the Crimson Fleet and you get zero pirate companions. And so on. Companions are simply forgettable. And funnily enough, only the robot, Vasco, is the one that will give you some little memorable moments.

    Maybe in the future with powerful mods and additional content released by Bethesda the game will get better.

    I say if you like the idea of Fallout with 70's NASA or Alien's Nostromo vibes, get it. You'll enjoy it. But:

    1. You better have a good machine.
    2. Do not expect a legendary masterpiece.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

30
#30 Best PC Game of 2023
3
#3 Most Discussed PC Game of 2023

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
85

Generally favorable reviews - based on 75 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 65 out of 75
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 75
  3. Negative: 0 out of 75
  1. Riot Pixels
    Jan 28, 2024
    76
    There's a lot of flaws in space in Starfield. But that does not prevent me from exploring our galaxy again and again.
    Read full review
  2. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Jan 22, 2024
    80
    I fell in love with Starfield. It's my cup of sci-fi and I can't wait to spend the next thirty, fifty, maybe seventy hours here. I enjoy the exploration, the shootouts, the art style, the ship building, and the diverse worlds. I gratefully acknowledge the good optimization and the absence of major bugs. But I can't overlook the flaws. There are bad animations, ugly faces and repetitive moments.[Issue#329]
  3. RPGamer
    Oct 23, 2023
    60
    In a year dominated by sequels to franchise favorites, there was a hope that Starfield would carve its own path to success. While the team at Bethesda should be commended for taking such a big swing, there’s no denying that the game doesn’t feel like a cohesive work. Maybe continued support and future sequels will make something more meaningful out of a work that is clearly deeply enamored with both science fiction and space exploration. Unforunately, this first launch has had far more mixed results than desired.
    Read full review
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