WE’VE been waiting a long time for more information on Xbox’s biggest release of the year, Starfield.
Luckily, it was worth the wait as we were treated to almost an hour of gameplay for the upcoming game.
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From the team behind Skyrim, we learned a lot about the wide open world.
Here’s what you need to know about Starfield from the Xbox Games Showcase.
Starfield – Release date, price, and collector’s edition
Starfield will be released on September 6, 2023, but there will be five days early access for those who order the Premium or Collector’s editions, starting on September 1, 2023.
A standard copy will set you back £70, the premium edition £100, and the collector’s edition an eye-watering £300, and is exclusive to Xbox Series X|S and Windows PC.
Aside from the early access the premium edition will include the first set of DLC once it is released, a digital art book and soundtrack, and in-game cosmetics.
The collector’s edition includes everything the premium copy does, plus a Steelbook case, a watch like the one in-game, and a fancy box to put it in.
It should be noted that the collector’s edition does not include a physical copy of the game, and only a download code is included.
There is also a Starfield-branded Xbox controller and headset on sale separately.
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These are a little more expensive than the standard controller and Xbox headset, at $80 for the controller and $125 for the headset.
Starfield – How big is the open world?
The exact map size wasn’t revealed, but Bethesda did explain that there are over 1k planets and moons to explore.
Some of these are hand-crafted, and others are procedurally generated.
These planets will be used for exploration and resource gathering, as there are points of interest, enemies and encounters on each one.
You’ll be able to find these planets via your star map where you can plot a course based on how well your ship is built.
Each planet is full of its own societies and wildlife created for that planet.
Starfield – What are characters and customisation like?
Just like how you can upgrade your ship and customise it from new resources you gather, you will also be able to customise your character.
There is a very deep and detailed character creator where you can choose exactly how you want to look, or simply choose one of 40 preset options.
This is also where you customise your character’s background, giving them certain skills.
These can help you out in the world, as certain NPCs will need people who can do certain jobs.
You’ll be able to level up different skills as you progress, and can design your character how you want to play, whether that is as a smooth talker, stealth character, or brawler.
Three traits were also shown off, which give you different buffs, though there are more to come.
Hero Worship gives you an obsessive super-fan, Kid Stuff gives you parents who help you but you need to financially support, and Wanted gives you a damage buff at low health, but you’ll be hunted down.
The ship customisation is also surprisingly deep, as you not only add new parts, but you can design the shape and look of the ship from scratch if you want.
Customisation continues onto the weapons, which have a huge amount of mods to suit your playstyle.
Starfield – Who can you meet?
You can gather companions and crew who will be able to take care of the ship while you go out exploring.
They can set up research, or mine for resources while you’re out exploring. You can also get to know them and even romance if you want.
There are also different groups of people that you can meet on your journey, and we were introduced to several during the showcase.
Constellation is an organisation of explorers trying to assemble an ancient artefact.
United Colonies is a big space corporation, and Argos Extractors are a mining colony.
There’s also Freestar Collective, a group of space cowboys, Neon, a free spirit society and the Red Mile maniacs.
Starfield – How does the combat work?
As we’ve said, you can choose how you approach combat whether that is stealth, head-on, or by using a jetpack to rain down bullets from above.
However, there is also ship-to-ship combat that you can enter into as you fly around the galaxy.
Gravity will also play a role during combat, and ballistic weapons can send you flying backwards more than you might expect.
However, there also appears to be some sort of Telekinesis magic system to help you control the gravity in action.
During this combat you can reallocate power from certain parts of your ship to either escape or improve your battle abilities.
If you succeed you can also loot the destroyed ship, or board the opposing ship and take it for your own.
Written by Georgina Young on behalf of GLHF.
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