Starfield blows us out of this galaxy with first gameplay reveal

We’ve been waiting a long time to see footage from Starfield and on Sunday during the Xbox Games Showcase, Bethesda finally delivered with what was 15 minutes of stunning gameplay. My initial impressions: Starfield is Fallout mixed with No Man’s Sky — and I mean that in a good way.

Before we get into the gameplay, let’s first catch up on what we know about Starfield. The game takes place in 2330. Humanity has ventured beyond our solar system and is now settling new planets as a spacefaring people. You are part of Constellation — the last group of space explorers seeking rare artifacts throughout the galaxy.

And now, let’s get into the gameplay of Starfield. Buckled up, you’re in for quite a treat.

At first glance, Starfield reminds me heavily of what No Man’s Sky strived to be — a truly open-world game where you are free to go and explore thousands of planets as you please. In the video, we’re taken to Kreet, the moon of Anselon. From the beginning, Starfield gives off big No Man’s Sky vibes, especially as the character scans the environment and mines the planet for resources.

The action kicks in when we reach Kreet Research Lab, which is currently overrun by pirates of the Crimson Fleet. Combat seems pretty run-of-the-mill. The AI doesn’t look too bright. It’s basically Fallout combat minus the VATS.

Following the run-in with the space pirates, we travel to New Atlantis, a city on the planet of Jemison. New Atlantis is the United Colonies capital city, a melting pot of residents from all across the galaxy.

While New Atlantis feels like the central hub of Starfield, it’s far from the only location you’ll be visiting. There seem to be multiple factions you’ll be able to join, each with its own motivations.

But ultimately, Starfield is your journey. And it begins with an in-depth character creator.  You’ll not only customize your character’s look, but assign them optional traits with unique advantages and disadvantages that will impact your gameplay experience.

There’s also a skill system that you can unlock as you progress. Each skill can then be further upgraded as you use them and complete challenges.  And remember those resources you were mining for? You will use those to research weapon upgrades and craft weapon mods.

As you explore the galaxy, you’ll be able to build your own outposts which act as a home away from home. You’ll be able to custom-build each one and even assign NPCs to work in them to help farm resources.

Here’s where things really started to blow me away — you’ll even be able to build your own starship. The ship customization looked incredibly impressive with hundreds of ship modules and manufacturers to choose from. But why is this important? Because Starfield will feature actual flying and space combat!

Starfield is shaping up to be Bethesda’s biggest game ever with over 100 systems to explore and over 1,000 planets to visit. And every one of these planets is fully open for you to explore.

I was skeptical that Starfield wouldn’t live up to expectations but based on what I’ve seen so far, the hype feels justified. Starfield is undoubtedly an ambitious game, but it looks like Bethesda is on track to deliver one of the greatest sci-fi RPGs we’ve ever seen.

Unfortunately, no release date was given. Starfield remains with a vague 2023 release. It will be available for Xbox and PC only following Microsoft’s acquisition of Bethesda.