Starfield’s greatest strengths lie in What’s New.
Microsoft concluded the Xbox & Bethesda Showcase 2022 with a 15-minute extended preview of Starfield gameplay. Starfield had to impress with this first glimpse of the game’s design. It may not have been possible, depending on who you ask.
Starfield was not that different from other Bethesda RPGs over the years. Starfield looked like Fallout with a new coat of paint in the first half. This was especially evident when you look at the animations, character models, and conversations with other characters. Although the character creation tools are more detailed than Skyrim and Fallout, it doesn’t seem revolutionary or significantly improved over previous games.
Even though it is not dissimilar to Fallout, the gunplay looks a little underwhelming. Starfield’s core gameplay was disappointing, whether it was because of the bullet sponge enemies that didn’t seem to react when they were shot, the performance that wasn’t next-gen, or the poor demo that didn’t show off the best of the combat engine’s capabilities. That was the only thing that stood out in Starfield’s core gameplay. The player activated their jetpack and shot some enemies from high above. It’s not revolutionary, but it is still fun.
Starfield must be commended for the stream’s ineptness at showcasing Starfield’s game. However, Starfield could rewatch the presentation back and make the graphics pop a bit more. Surprisingly, a 4K video could be as good as a 1080p stream. It didn’t fix some obvious framerate issues. Starfield felt at this point like it wasn’t accomplishing anything that a game such as The Outer Worlds had already done.
