Bethesda, the studio behind the immensely popular open-world RPG series The Elder Scrolls, and Fallout, has quietly been working away at a new intellectual property – in truth it’s one they’ve had on the backburner for over 20 years. Early attempts to bring this title to life were dashed by technical and financial limitations, neither of which pose the same obstacles today that they once did. Named Starfield, this new game looks set to be the Skyrim-in-space experience that all Sci-fi gamers have dreamed for. With many worlds to explore, factions to cooperate with and alien lifeforms to discover, it’s shaping up to be the most significant space-RPG since BioWare’s Mass Effect trilogy concluded back in 2012.
What Do We Know So Far?
Like other Bethesda RPGs, Starfield’s goal is to facilitate the player to create their own adventure by effectively giving them a huge sandbox world to explore and interact with. Of course there are major plot-points, and potentially dozens of hours of side-quests to uncover, but Bethesda have always tried to commit to showing, rather than telling, their players how to progress through their games. Starfield appears to belong very much in this vein – set in a post-apocalyptic world, a favorite theme of the studio, your player is one among a severely diminished human population seeking to find their way around the galaxy.
Bethesda have stated that Starfield will have more crafting options than any previous title in their catalogue, which is impressive given the in-depth medicine, potion and building crafting tool-kits available in the likes of Skyrim and Fallout. Players will be able to build, maintain and fly their very own space-ships, and participate in a huge range of pursuits from mining to space piracy.
Starfield’s present release date is on the cards for 2023, with no clear indication of when in the year it’ll launch. That’s a long wait, especially for space fans who have been on the hype-train for this title since its initial announcement all the way back in 2018. Fortunately, there are several compelling space games to check out in the meantime for even the boldest galactic adventurer.
Starburst
Those uninitiated in the ways of modern slots games could be forgiven for thinking they resemble the likes of their brick-and-mortar counterparts, but this is not the case in 2022. Modern online slots are a hotbed of creativity, stunning visuals and engaging gameplay. One of the best out there is Starburst, a title with a stellar aesthetic that’s out of this world. Voted consistently among the top 10 most played games on reputable online casinos, this title is a modern classic of the genre and worth your time and interest, particularly if you’re a space-faring one-armed bandit fan.
StarCitizen
On paper, StarCitizen has a lot in common with Starfield. There, though, some key distinctions. For one, StarCitizien is an MMORPG (short of Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game), and as such it takes place in an online universe populated with other players. StarCitizen is also a record-breaker for a crowd-funded game, having generated over $350 million so far by way of this method. This, also, makes it one of the most expensive games ever, period. The sheer ambition of the game is staggering. Still technically in development, this is a game that keeps growing and building out its vision to become the ultimate space sim.
No Man’s Sky
One of the all-time great redemption arcs in the history of gaming, when No Man’s Sky was first released it under-delivered on virtually every promise it had made over the course of its multi-year development. In one of the greatest hype-implosions witnessed in the modern game industry, the title was slammed for failing to live up to even the most basic elements of its bold concept. That concept was to create a massive procedurally-generated space survival game with a huge universe to explore. Fortunately, over the years, a series of free expansions and updates has gradually brought the game in line with that initial promise, and now, 6 years after its initial release, No Man’s Sky is the game everyone hoped it would be.
