Starfield Direct Gives Us Our Best Look Yet At Bethesda's Space Epic

We've just received our best look at Bethesda's upcoming space-based RPG yet thanks to the company's "Starfield Showcase" broadcast. It contained glimpses of gameplay, character creation, interactions, and the initial story — alongside interviews with Bethesda staff that contained even more detail about the upcoming title.

The game itself seems very Bethesda. The graphics are certainly improved when compared to the company's last major release, but everything else is there: a grand scale, wide-open story choices, detailed character customization, and even the characters' movements have that Bethesda feel to them. There are even nods to previous Bethesda games, like a perk that will burden you with a space-faring version of the Adoring Fan from "Oblivion." The fan is equally annoying, and during the showcase seemed to be executed on a mountaintop in what was yet another nod toward the classic "Elder Scrolls" game.

One reassuring sight was the diverse array of scenery on offer. The game has over 1,000 planets, but that scale would be pointless if everything was basically copy-pasted a bunch of times. Instead, you seem to have a wide array of locations based on various elements of sci-fi and pop culture. The range is vast, going from space-cowboy-packed frontier worlds to "Blade Runner"-like dystopia and the towering, white, futuristic cities you'll remember from games like "Mass Effect." The variety doesn't stop there.

The game is an RPG based around space exploration, so you're obviously going to own a spaceship of some kind and spend a lot of time in it. Bethesda seems to have gone all out to give you plenty of choices when it comes to your own personal craft. To start with, there are several styles of ship on offer. Types we saw during the showcase included a fighter, which the demonstrators said would be a great choice for bounty hunter-type characters, as well as a larger cargo vessel. But the choices don't end there.

Once you have a basic ship, it can be heavily customized. The customization system is modular, so you can add or remove sections as needed. These modules are apparent on both the inside and outside of the ship. Some store cargo, some contain crafting benches, and others can act as armories. You can also arrange them in any configuration you want, and create a ship that looks like a cat, or a mech, or a gentleman's tallywhacker. The sky, and beyond, is the limit.

Ship combat is also a large part of the game, and can happen any time you're flying through the black void that separates the 1,000+ explorable planets on offer. The combat system itself seems intricate, and players will apparently have to rely on numerous skills if they want to survive. This includes allocating power to help them survive a fight or make a quick getaway, using their piloting skills to gain the upper hand, and accurately targeting enemy ships.

Fitting with the theme that you can be who you want to be in this big pirate- and mercenary-filled universe is the character customization system. Bethesda has apparently scanned thousands of real people's faces to create the NPCs you're going to encounter, then used the scans in such a way that means you can make a character that looks like anything in between said thousands of faces. You start by picking one of 40 basic models from the "crew records" and can customize almost any aspect of the character from there. 

As far as skills are concerned, the character's backstory plays into it. You can select previous jobs like "chef" that add skills and create unique opportunities and events throughout the game. In terms of skills, the leveling system has had a tweak: you get one skill point per level and this point can be used to expand your character's abilities. The skills themselves can be leveled up, though this can only be done by completing increasingly difficult tasks. 

There are skills for almost all gameplay aspects, including combat styles, stealth, speechcraft, and piloting your starship. That starship, and the bases you can build on various worlds, are also staffed by crew members that you can pick up at starports or in random spots throughout the galaxy. Some of them can also be romanced from the looks of things. Disregard this if you intend to take your real-life hatred of other people into the game world and play the whole thing as a big loaner. You have that option, too.

Combat is a huge part of "Starfield," and it's fair to argue that combat isn't always something Bethesda has done well. Blending RPG systems with realistic combat can be difficult, and that's probably why the gunplay in the "Fallout" series has never been particularly refined, and the swordplay in the "Elder Scrolls" series is lacking when compared to more combat-focused titles. But the combat system in "Starfield" actually looks surprisingly good.

There is a wide array of weaponry — and weapon types — to choose from. Want to spend the entire game shanking people with a combat knife? Apparently, you can. There are also pistols, shotguns, and a "lever-action rocket launcher" in the conventional boom-boom category. Then you have energy weapons because it is space, after all. Finally, there are "mag" weapons, which seem to be powerful and based on magnetism. You can back up your weapon preferences with various perks, one of which seems to give you the ability to uppercut someone clean over a guardrail.

Gravity is also a factor because, again, this is set in space. You have a jump pack that adds a new element to combat and gives you the ability to bring a bit of death from above. This pack is more effective in lower-gravity environments. Then there is zero-gravity combat. If you use a gunpowder-powered weapon in a zero-G environment, each shot will push you in the opposite direction to where you are shooting. This may or may not be a disadvantage. If you don't like this feature, energy weapons don't have recoil.

There's a sort of main quest involving a group called Constellation, a couple of major factions, and a bunch of minor factions, but you can just ignore all of that and blast off on your own adventures if you want. You can spend time hunting space pirates, become a space pirate, explore a Martian mining colony, or hit the beach — there is a beach from the looks of things.

Random encounters play a part, too. During the showcase, the demonstrators encountered another ship and were invited on board for lunch. There are also high-class galactic cruise ships you can board or presumably raid and rob. If you get into a fight, you can either blast the enemy ship into nothingness or board it, steal everything on board, and add it to your fleet afterward.

There are over 1,000 planets to explore, many of which are procedurally generated so you'll never have the same playthrough twice, and your adventures will be different from that of your friends. Once you're on these planets, the way the sun breaks through the atmosphere is "calculated" so everything should look very cinematic and pretty. You can then raid said pretty little world for resources and use those resources to expand your network of fully-staffed bases.

"Starfield's" release date is fast approaching. Assuming there are no more delays, the game is set to be available from September 6. The game is exclusive to Xbox and PC for now and will be available via Xbox Game Pass or outright purchase. There is also a special edition available that comes with a watch and presentation box. Microsoft is also selling a custom "Starfield" controller and headset.