Starfield review: Set phasers to slow burn in this epic new sci-fi game

radiotimes.com:

To some, the arrival of Starfield has taken on near-mythic status.

Fans of Bethesda’s previous games in the Elder Scrolls and Fallout franchises have long hoped this could be the company's biggest and best release of all time. Others will look at Bethesda’s current ownership, Microsoft, and argue that anything short of a perfect landing could spell trouble for the Xbox brand on the whole.

With the game launching into early access tomorrow, with its full launch next week, we’re here to tell you that Starfield is just a game. It’s a very good one at that, but if your expectations are epic in themselves, you might want to realign them somewhat.

If you were hoping this release would change your life, maybe think again. It will certainly take up a fair chunk of your life, with a main story that will take tens of hours and plenty of side content on top of that, but it doesn’t so much reinvent the wheel as it does mush a few different wheels together to make something reasonably impressive.

Starfield is a sci-fi RPG in the vein of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect and The Outer Worlds, with all of the planet-hopping missions and collectible companions that you would expect. It’s also a Bethesda RPG, so expect numerous factions and plenty of choices to tailor your experience. It's a galaxy exploration game, too, with base-building mechanics, a bit like No Man’s Sky or even Outer Wilds, to an extent.

Bethesda should be applauded for doing all those things pretty well, in one handy package, but we wouldn’t say Starfield is the best in class of any of those categories. It doesn’t have the humour of The Outer Worlds, the truly loveable companions of KotOR, the properly open-ended feel of No Man’s Sky, or the