Everything revealed during today’s Starfield Direct

We now know a bit more about one of the most anticipated games of the last decade thanks to the Starfield Direct. This special showcase ran at right around 45 minutes and featured a ton of new gameplay and info.

What’s old is new again?

As stated in the feature, Starfield “is a Bethesda game through and through.” This was revealed in the game’s general makeup: exploration will be a core facet of the gameplay. With over a thousand worlds to explore, the scale of Starfield will be vast indeed. And as Bethesda director Todd Howard says,

The choice of where to go, it’s not ours, it’s yours.”

Howard added that players will explore differently given Starfield’s scale. Players will be able to do all this discovering in either third or first person, just like in the Fallout and Elder Scrolls games. Anyone familiar with those games (we have the feeling there might be a few of you) should be instantly at home with the basic structure and feel of the game.

A city in the stars

During the deep dive we were given a tour of New Atlantis, one of Starfield’s major locations. According to the team New Atlantis is the biggest city Bethesda has ever created (and anyone who has visited Vivec in Morrowind will know just how impressive a statement that is).  Apparently New Atlantis is where the game begins, though it is only one of several large human settlements in the game.

It’s all about those spaceships

Players will be able to obtain and fully customize their spaceships. Obviously these will be integral to getting around the Constellation, and certain upgrades will be necessary to reach some areas.

Not only that, but you’ll be able to make your ship into an extension of your imagination—you will limited only by your creativity when designing your spacecraft. Think of your ship as another character in the game, and as lead ship artist Ryan Sears puts it,

I think you’ll be blown away by the amount of stuff you can do.”

Whether it’s a nimble fighter or a hulking space freighter craft, there will be a spaceship for every purpose and every style. The shipbuilder mode will allow players to modify just about every aspect of a vessel from weapons and shields to the look and layout of the ship and more.

More on space flight

Players won’t just be cruising around amongst those stars. Ship combat will involve not just firing away with your weaponry, but also skillfully making use of your ship’s power allocation system. For instance, you can power up the ship’s gravity drives to “shorten the amount of time it takes to make a jump.” As the team says, “You should always be on your toes, because you’re not alone out there.”

It isn’t just about fighting amongst the stars, however. Players can also dock debilitated enemy ships, and claim the ship to add it to their own fleet.

Also, players can hail any ship they encounter to do trade, swap info or even engage in a bit of space piracy.

Starfield’s combat

Among the new gameplay footage we got a look at, much was devoted to showing off the game’s combat, which the team says it has overhauled to be more dynamic and more fluid compared to that of say, Fallout 4.

It’s always a delicate balance between what’s like realistic, what’s SIM, and what’s Hollywood. And I think we sort of err on the side of what’s fun for the player.—Tim Lamb, Lead Producer

The combat portion of the deep dive also revealed that the weapons in Starfield will be highly customizable, with each having a slew of potential modifications and upgrades.

What else?

• The deep dive also delved into what appears to be a very robust character creation system. This will include not just cosmetic options but traits and backgrounds that will make for a unique player experience.
• The all-new skill system seems to be somewhat akin to the skill tree systems of Fallout and TES, but refined When players level up they receive skill points that can be used to rank up certain skills. Ranks are unlocked “by completing challenges associated with that skill.” Like most Bethesda games, the skill system is meant to facilitate any play style.

Starfield Direct Wrap up

After watching today’s Starfield Direct, September 6th seems oh so close, yet oh so far away. The excitement for this game is more palpable now than it’s ever been. Here’s hoping that Starfield ultimately lives up to its stratospheric potential and becomes the great Xbox RPG that we’ll be playing for years to come.

See here to watch the Starfield Direct in its entirety if you missed it.

Featured image via Gameranx.