Starfield: Here's what we know about Bethesda's new universe

Starfield

It does not often happen that you are faced with real game-events of which, however, practically nothing is known yet a few months after the expected release. That is precisely the situation in which Starfield is currently, so we try to put together all the (little) information we have on the new science fiction universe of Bethesda. The company in question, to be sure, has accustomed us to in-depth presentations only at close range from their respective releases, but in this case there is a fundamental difference: Starfield is the first completely new intellectual property launched by Bethesda in over twenty years. years, for this reason the project is particularly mysterious and curiosity, consequently, is skyrocketing. So far it has been Fallout and The Elder Scrolls, or universes already well established, whose characteristics were never completely new, but with this new experience we have no point of reference.

The fact that it is then space-based sci-fi RPG makes things even more difficult to predict, as the terms of comparison are even less than in fantasy or post-apocalyptic settings.

What is certain is that this is a project Todd Howard and his companions have been working on for a long time: not only in terms of actual production, which has been underway for years, but also as ideas and elaboration of the concept, so much so that the developers have talked about a decades-long journey.

As reported by Howard, the first ideas on such a game date back to the 80s, but the implementation of the project was made technically possible only with the arrival of modern platforms, so Starfield presents itself like the real fulfillment of a dream for Bethesda itself. The launch of a new intellectual property of this magnitude requires not only a great deal of technical work, but also an extensive elaboration on the front of the construction of an entire game universe, one thing that the team in question particularly cares about: the "lore ", in short, it is essential to provide a solid context to an RPG, especially if it is a title of this magnitude. So let's see what has emerged so far between the history, setting and characteristics of Starfield.

Setting: Colonized Systems

Starfield, an image from the presentation trailer The Starfield universe is in truth a well-defined space, although it covers enormous widths: everything takes place within the Colonized Systems, that is a complex group of planetary systems that host different settlements, in a part of the Milky Way that has undergone a certain colonization by humans, placed approximately 50 light-years from the Solar System in which the Earth is located.

It is not yet clear how the explorations in the game will take place and how many planets or sections of space can be visited, but some characteristic environments have been presented that have a certain importance in the economy of the system, in addition to representing zones influence of the various factions and therefore offer the possibility of developing the story and quests. Perhaps the most important is New Atlantis, the capital of the United Colonies, the most powerful faction in the game with great political influence and military strength. This predominant position is reflected in the construction of a huge and ultra-technological city, a veritable futuristic utopia that recalls the classic style of 1950s-1960s science fiction.

Starfield, an illustration by Neon, one of the main settlements Akila City is the base of the Collective Freestar, that is the rival faction of the UC, against which it fought the war of the Colonies, years before the launch of the game. The Collective is composed of a confederation of three different systems, united by similar ideologies but with a much less compact and militaristic structure than the UC. This is also reflected in their capital, which is immersed in a wild natural environment and much less technologically advanced than the wonders of New Atlantis. The planet where it is located is populated by very aggressive alien races, against which they had to defend themselves by building mighty walls.

Finally, the third main city revealed by Bethesda is Neon, a very particular location: become the base of the Xenofresh Corporation, Neon is located on a planet almost completely covered with water, where in theory there should have been some outposts dedicated to fishing.

Chance has it that these seas hosted a particular aquatic species with psychotropic properties, which the inhabitants decided to exploit in a rather different way than the fish market: by producing drugs. Neon has thus become a kind of space Las Vegas, attracting customers from various other planets to experience the effects of its amazing alien fish. In addition to the cities in question, there should be numerous other minor locations, waiting to understand the degree of exploration possible in Starfield: a few weeks ago, an image released by Bethesda made it clear how there may be more or less inhabited planets in which to explore various ravines such as caves or other natural or artificial settings.

Background: the Wars of the Colonies

Starfield, an image taken from the presentation trailer The period in which the events in which you participate are set the protagonist of Starfield is placed around the year 2330, therefore just over 300 years from now, when various upheavals and technological progress have clearly changed the social and political order of humanity. The closest and most significant event of historical importance, at the start of the story, are the Colony Wars, a series of interplanetary conflicts that broke out around the year 2310, or twenty years before the events of the game and which effects are still visible in the Settlement System. The clash was mainly fought between the Freestar Collective and the United Colonies, a highly destructive wide-ranging war, which could be compared to the one described in Skyrim between Imperials and Stormcloak, most likely stemming from Freestar's and the factions related to this against the strict control by the United Colonies.

At the beginning of Starfield, the war has now passed for some years, but it has left an indelible mark on the lives of everything within the System, and the incurable differences between the factions probably remain intact, dormant under the apparent normalization of relations. We have no details on the story that will be narrated in the game, but it is likely that these contrasts have a role in the development of this and the secondary quests, in addition to the various sub-plots more or less related to the different factions present, as per The Elder tradition Scrolls. However, it is also likely that the game pushes us more to explore than to heal relations between human settlements, with the usual freedom offered by Bethesda's RPGs in the approach to the open world, here in theory even more extensive. >

The protagonist and his mission

Starfield, the game poster recalls classic science fiction As per tradition, the protagonist (or protagonist) of Starfield can be completely customized by the player through an editor, but some traits of his background emerged from the E3 2021 in-engine presentation trailer. Our character is an explorer who is part of Constellation, an organization that brings together various scientists and astronauts dedicated to space exploration and discovery of new planets, in search of solutions to an unidentified "mystery" behind the whole movement. The protagonist, in command of his spaceship Frontier, seems destined to discover a "key" to interpret the mystery in question, around which his entire mission around the Colonized Systems revolves. This is obviously a traditional MacGuffin, but one that can give rise to a space epic of considerable caliber, as Starfield promises to be.

Considering the precedents, we can expect a diluted main plot along the experience of game that will be studded with a large amount of sub-quests, probably related to the various factions that populate the universe.

Starfield, the illustration of a Constellation ship seems a neutral group, from the point of view of the ideological and political direction, aimed above all at scientific discovery and in search of the truth about the famous "mystery" at the basis of everything , leaving the field free to any choices and inclinations of the player on how to position himself within the intertwining of power and ambitions of the various planetary contenders.

Among these, the main factions will certainly be the United Colonies and the Freestar Collective, but something - probably bizarre - will also come out of the Xenofresh Corporation, head of Neon and holder of the exploitation rights on the psychotropic fish Aurora , and especially from the Crimson Fleet. The Crimson Fleet is made up of real space pirates, a group of free warriors who do not exactly represent a compact faction, but find themselves united under the sign of the Jolly Roger, as tradition dictates: in addition to representing possible enemies, these pirates space could also offer interesting insights from the point of view of history, perhaps with the possibility of joining their movement. Among the other factions, the presence of the mysterious Casa Va'ruun also emerged, which seems to be composed of a group of faithful who follow a cult in a more or less fanatic way.

Exploration and style

Starfield illustrations mix realistic technological elements with pure science fiction While the mystery remains about all the actual gameplay elements and the details of the story, one thing has been made clear by Bethesda since the beginning of the communication relating to Starfield: exploration is the cornerstone of the gaming experience, and on this you will play a large part of the charm of this space title. Bethesda defines it as a sort of cross between a space simulation and an adventure that puts us in the role of Han Solo, making us understand how it points above all to the fascination of discovery rooted in a rather realistic science fiction, but with totally fantastic elements that still refer to a fantastic vision of space exploration.

The construction of the world typical of the US company leads us to think that, despite the vastness of the proposed setting, we will hardly find ourselves faced with a totally procedural construction like the one we can find in No Man's Sky: in this case we are dealing with a more structured RPG, and the modus operandi typical of Bethesda requires a rather rigorous construction of the game lore, something also made clear by Todd Howard in the Starfield presentations. The long work, apparently, has led to the construction of a sort of "code" containing all the elements of the game universe, which the developers have always followed during development, while obviously expanding the details at the same time.

Details inside the Starfield protagonist's Frontier ship It is likely that dungeons and similar elements (such as the caves to be explored that were explicitly mentioned by one of Bethesda's "preparation" tweets) are still built in a procedural way - on the other hand this is a recurring element also in The Elder Scrolls - but the main locations will be built in a more traditional way, which leads to think of a mixed approach in world building, in order to manage an explorable space so wide.

An element that stands out particularly from the few materials published by Bethesda is the style adopted for the creation of this universe: although some illustrations seem to derive directly from the classic sci-fi imagery also of the 60s, with features and ideas that seem to recall illustrators like John Berkey, set on imaginative and visionary design, the technological elements appear decisively and more rooted in reality. This mixed approach has been dubbed "NASApunk" by lead artist Istvan Pely and is definitely a defining element of the game, which greatly increases its appeal.

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