Starfield first gameplay trailer promises over 1,000 planets to explore

metro.co.uk:

Microsoft has finally explained exactly what Xbox exclusive Starfield is and it looks like a cross between Mass Effect and Skyrim.

Near the start of the Xbox & Bethesda Showcase on Sunday, Microsoft teased that they would be unveiling the ‘most anticipated open world role-playing game of the last 20 years.’ They didn’t mention The Elder Scrolls 6 at all though, and it later transpired they were actually talking about Bethesda’s other new game, Starfield.

Although it was originally due out this year, until it got delayed into the first half of 2023, Bethesda has never explained exactly what the game is, and yet according to them it’s the most anticipated title in Xbox history.

There was no need for such hyperbole though because while it turned out to be, as most people expected, Skyrim in space the space exploration elements, and sheer scale of the game, made it the most exciting game of the show.

There are a lot of very obvious influences behind Starfield, including previous Bethesda games such as Skyrim and Fallout 4 and the likes of Mass Effect and Elite. It’s also clear that movies such as Interstellar and Prometheus have been key points of reference, in terms of the visual design and tone.

The first bit of gameplay footage they showed off was easily the least interesting though, as while the initial landing on an alien planet looked intriguing, with weird alien trilobites and space scorpions, it then devolved into a worryingly generic first person shooter, complete with very ordinary looking assault rifles and shotguns and a lockpicking mini-game.

It’s clear that the core gameplay works very similarly to Fallout 4, the most recent offline game from Bethesda Game Studios, in terms of the movement, combat, skills and