It seems as if Microsoft have had their backs against the wall for some time now, in regards to first party releases. Even though their Game Pass subscription service appears to be a success, the slow drip of first party studio titles has caused frustration amongst players.

Certainly the release of Forza Horizon 5 in 2021 went some way to appease them, but since then, releases have been few and far between. And then there was Redfall of course, which didn’t help matters.

But in the distance, for some time, shining bright has been Starfield. First announced by Bethesda game Studios in 2018, it has been a beacon of hope for gamers and no doubt Microsoft, who acquired Bethesda’s parent company in 2020.

It was given an initial release date of November 2022, but it was then delayed. A revised date of early 2023 was then given, and again delayed. This did not help the growing level of frustration by gamers, who were keen to take Bethesda’s first game set in space for a spin.

And now it’s here. But the question is, is Starfield the great digital hope Microsoft have been praying for?

It is the future, and you play a character who goes on quite the epic journey, after discovering something unusual on your first day on the job mining on a planet. This leads you to take it to the planet Jemison, where you are introduced to the Constellation, a collective of space explorers keen on seeking answers in every corner of space.

They appear to take you under their wing, and before you know it, you are journeying across space, on a myriad of missions, on one epic adventure.

Although this may well be the first game that Bethesda have set in space, the game adheres to a template that players of their other titles such as the Fallout franchise will be very familiar with. It is then a sophisticated action role playing game, one that can easily overwhelm you if you let it.

Although described as open world, that term does come with caveats, as certainly its space travel aspects illustrate, but more of that later.

What it most definitely is however is narrative driven. It’s difficult to walk five steps without tripping over another storyline to distract you. It’s the kind of game where no two playthroughs could ever be the same, with each player having a very unique experience. Sure the main story is there, involving the mystical artefacts, but there is such a freedom when approaching the game, that you can freely move back and forth from one mission to another, without the need to even complete one mission fully at a time. So if you are in deep with the main story, you can always take a break and be sidetracked by numerous side missions.

It should be said that although it does resemble elements of other Bethesda games, it doesn’t mean you won’t enjoy the experience if you’re not a fan of them. For instance, we have tried many times to get into the critically acclaimed Fallout franchise, but it just doesn’t do anything for us. But something has just clicked with Starfield, hence our 60 hours plus of play thus far we’ve devoted to it. Perhaps it’s just the simple fact that it’s set in space that is the big appeal. There have been some noticeable improvements, such as combat; certainly the gun play here is much closer to a first-person shooter, which certainly makes that side of things more familiar and approachable.

It is however, a game that isn’t really prepared to hold your hand that often, sadly, as there are aspects to it that it doesn’t bother telling you about. Luckily we have the internet, and there are some really useful tutorials on YouTube that can make the whole process a little easier. For instance, you aren’t told how to make weapons favourites and therefore access them quickly with the D-pad, or about how to utilise your companion, or easier ways to access fast travel. You could stumble across them yourself, but with so much going on, it would have been far easier to just be told – by the game, and not the internet.

It is undeniably a game of space exploration, but if you go out alone with no direction, you’re likely to be disappointed. Sure there are plenty of planets to visit, but the truth is, without a mission of some kind holding your hand, you can land on a barren planet and discover absolutely nothing.

And as mention earlier, this also leans into space travel. Although you travel around in a ship, there is really no space travel. This means you can take off, find yourself in space, but if you start flying aimlessly through the cosmos, the fact is, you just aren’t going to get anywhere, except frustrated real fast. It’s more a case of pop up into space, plot a course to your next destination, give the grav drive a tickle, and you’re there before you know it. Then you open your map again, choose a place to land, and then you’ll suddenly find yourself where you need to be. And that is the extent of space travel.

There’s a little more flexibility in space combat, but not that much. You can move around within a restricted ‘space’, but you can’t fly around the planet say, and come at your enemies from a different direction. Combat is pretty linear, so you’ll beat your foes if your ship’s weaponry and defence systems are up to it, or not.

One thing we have noticed on our travels is that there are a helluva lot of doors in space. Everywhere you turn, there’s a door to walk through. Most are there to be used for loading purposes, which although aren’t extensive, all add up to be a little annoying, especially when we live in a time of SDD’s supposedly making loading times non-existent. Well, they’re still here.

And after amassing a substantial time playing, we’ve built up a nice tidy sum. The thing is, we don’t exactly know what to do with it. You can buy weapons, which we have, but with so many of them scattered around after shooting down your enemies, you can pick enough of them up off the ground.

You can buy ships too, but as you get a few decent craft as mission rewards, again it doesn’t seem a necessary purchase. Apparently you can buy a really nice house, which is expensive, but surely that would only be as a part of a retirement plan, because surely the whole point is to explore, and not just put your feet up in front of whatever their version of a telly is in the future.

We’re also not too sure about a major part of the story, which as part of the main story quest, sends you on missions that will result in you collecting things. And with these items you will have new abilities to play with, but after 60 hours, we haven’t used them once. So considering what an integral part of the story they are, you would expect more would be made of them. But no.

But that’s a very Starfield thing to do. We also haven’t built an outpost, which can help with mining for necessary minerals needed to upgrade items, such as weapons. But we also haven’t bothered with upgrading either, as there is even more faff involved. The same could be said for building spaceships. Pass.

The fact that they’re there is a good thing, for those that enjoy tinkering for what amounts to little reward, but as we’ve proven, are not essential to progressing in the game, thankfully.

You also level up in the game, but do so in a way that doesn’t really benefit you. We are currently at level 33, and the only thing we can find that comes with levelling up is a full bill of health. And that’s it.

If you want to really build up your character, you will have to focus on the skills aspect of the game. They are quite daunting at first, as there are a large number of them, and like a traditional RPG, you have to decide which ones are going to be important to you. If you like things stealthy, you can go that route, if tech is your thing, put your points into that, or if you want your weapons to work harder for you, there are skills for that too. The problem is, once you’ve committed to a skill, there’s no turning back. And of course you won’t know that you did yourself few favours unlocking them, until you’re fairly deep into the game. We would have preferred if they were swappable in some way, so that you could possibly take from one section and put them in another. And obviously some are more useful than others, so it’s a shame it’s down to trial and error to work out what’s best for you.

A main part of what has not only kept us going through this epic adventure, but engaged with it, is its comprehensive missions, weaving in and out of one another, and the many characters you meet along the way. It’s also been great having a companion, like Doctor Who, with whom to share your experiences and thoughts with. These are swappable, thankfully, and you can go back and forth between them as much as you want. Which is worth doing, as they also have their own storylines that are worth dipping into.

From a technical point of view, it’s a very impressive universe, with a lot of attention to detail gone into the vast environs. The only downside are the facial expressions of the characters, which are basic at best; they are competent, but not exactly what we’d consider next-gen.

What is quite impressive however is how lacking in bugs it is. It could be argued that considering all the delays along the way, they’ve had more than enough time to iron out all the niggles, but it is a relief that it is not a game that often freezes or glitches horrendously making parts unplayable. It may well be a very Bethesda thing to do, but not here, thankfully, which makes it a real technical achievement.

So to re-iterate, Starfield isn’t necessary the type of game that would ordinarily appeal to us; Bethesda games have left us cold in the past, and in all honesty, we weren’t expecting much from this one either. And yet this sprawling space adventure has had us hooked from the start. The reason, we believe, is the fact that story is king; it’s a game about characters, and your interaction with them, it’s about quests and how you tackle them physically and morally, it’s about making friends – and enemies – and embracing the position of being a space explorer.

It’s by no means perfect, but considering its hugely ambitious scale, Starfield is one incredible, amazing, and truly astonishing space spectacle. So if space is your thing, sign up for the Constellation and reach for those stars.