Starfield was center stage at the Xbox/Bethesda joint presentation at E3 this afternoon, and although we got a release date and a brand new teaser trailer, no gameplay or even a plot-driven cinematic was shown to give us an idea of what Starfield is really about.
Despite leaked images and trailers, Starfield remains largely shrouded in mystery. However, The Washington Post recently got an exclusive interview with Bethesda’s Todd Howard and several top Starfield developers to tell us what we’ll likely experience in the upcoming sci-fi epic.
The comparison to Skyrim, arguably still one of the biggest games ever made, came right away from Howard. “It’s like Skyrim in space,” Howard said, although Bethesda managing director Ashley Cheng said it was more like Star Wars.
“For me, ‘Starfield’ is the Han Solo simulator. Get in a ship, explore the galaxy, do fun stuff,” said Cheng.
Starfield will take place 300 years in the future, according to Howard. You’ll start off by choosing your character’s background and then immediately join Constellation, an organization described as the last group of space explorers. Mankind is living amongst the stars, and you’ll pilot your spaceship “Frontier” to the very edge of known space.
Starfield’s aesthetic is described as “NASA-punk,” and it’s not hard to see why. The robots, space ships, and interiors of the Frontier have a very lived-in, practical appearance that will seem familiar to anyone with an aeronautics background.
We’re still not sure how all the RPG mechanics will work, but the E3 trailer shows a character that seemed to have come armed with a gun of some kind, and space suits seem like a natural substitute for Skyrim’s armor.
As for the game’s plot, both the trailer and Howard’s interview made it clear that Starfield will answer some tough questions. “Are we alone? What are the origins of space and time and all of those things? What role does religion play in some of that as well? So, we do get into some big questions.
“I think a game like this is a good place to do that,” Howard added.
Starfield is scheduled to release on November 11, 2022, a date that Howard said he’s “confident” he’ll achieve. “Otherwise, we wouldn’t be announcing it.”
