We've Now Seen Starfield, But A Key Gameplay Feature Remains A Mystery

gamespot.com:

Bethesda's recent Starfield Direct gave players an incredibly in-depth look at the game, showcasing everything from ship customization to interstellar combat to the most detailed character creation system to ever appear in a Bethesda game. We also learned about the game's massive collection of 1,000+ explorable planets, but one rather vital detail was missing: How exactly are players supposed to explore a planet once they've landed on its surface?

We already know that Starfield's ships cannot fly low over a planet's atmosphere. Instead, players pick a «parking spot» from orbit, land their spacecraft, and disembark to have a look around. From what we've seen, planetside exploration takes place entirely on foot. While planets with low-g environments and what appears to be a jetpack on the character's spacesuit may allow for large leaps that make for quicker on-foot travel on some planets, one has to wonder how exactly planetside exploration works on high-gravity worlds. Because for all the neat game features seen in the showcase, one vital ingredient still appears to be missing: a rover, or any sort of vehicle meant to more easily facilitate the exploration of a planet's surface.

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Now Playing: Starfield Exploration Explained By Todd Howard

Although the original Mass Effect's Mako rover was a bit clunky to operate, it still got the job done, and was a heck of a lot faster than wandering the game's planets on foot. (It was also vastly improved in the games's Legendary Edition.) Similarly, No Man's Sky--which seems