I am not trying to get on board the hype train for Starfield, but the recent Starfield Direct presentation makes that difficult. The presentation was the deepest dive that we've seen yet in terms of what the game will be, and what was shown was a sprawling procession of gameplay features that kept building additional layers into what we might expect when the game releases in September 2023. There was a lot to unpack, but it left me with some genuine excitement.

The world-building isn't surprising considering this is an open-world Bethesda game that we're talking about. The presentation touched on a few of the factions featured in the game, from the player's ability to join Constellation and explore the mysteries of the universe to pirate gangs and straight-up dusty space cowboys. The presentation didn't go into detail about the main story behind the mysterious artifacts that show up in the game trailers, but I suspect that will be kept under wraps so players can experience it themselves.

Starfield will be the first title to release using Bethesda's new version of the Creation Engine, with the original version powering Skyrim, Fallout 4, and Fallout 76. The improvements in the second version of the engine look to be significant, and from the presentation, it seems like the fluidity of character animations in combat have improved, as have the player's ability to traverse. The on-foot gameplay footage featured using the boost pack to fly around and rain gunfire and grenades on enemies, but there seemed to be plenty of room for players who want to run around with shotguns or sneak around with silencers and knives. Of course, the game looks gorgeous, and a lot of time was spent talking about how the new lighting is meant to give the title a more cinematic aesthetic.

More detail went into the shipbuilding aspect of Starfield, and the presentation also noted that you'll be able to have your own fleet of ships to choose from and won't be limited to one. Each one can be customized to a dizzying extent, and not just in swapping out different weapons or engines. You can use the shipbuilder to disconnect the cockpit and put additional modules between it and the rest of the ship; this also change the internal layout of the ship. Crafting stations, command centers, sweeping bridges, and crew consoles all featured in the presentation.

The implications of this system are significant. It appears you will be able to tailor your fleet of ships to whatever roles you want them to fulfill, and design them to your own whims. The presentation mentioned animal-shaped ships or ships shaped like blocky mechs, but it's exciting to lay things out as you want them and then have it represented in a space that you can then walk within. A lot of games use phrases like "your ship," but being able to personalize yours to this extent gives the player a level of ownership that few games have touched on before.

They showed off some space combat, and like the rest of the game, there are layers to it. On the one hand, ships appear to have health bars, and turning them to starstuff is a matter of bringing down that bar; this isn't exactly a simulation of star-faring structural integrity. With a later talent, you can target subsystems of ships to whittle down their weapons or engines to make them easier to kill, but at that point, the presentation dropped that you can also board enemy ships. If you clear out the ship, you can claim it as your own, like the space pirate you've always fancied yourself to be.

The presentation touched briefly on the ability to build bases on planets, which are procedurally generated. Some planets are teeming with life and questlines, while others are barren, but all of them have resources that can be gathered. By making an outpost on a planet, it was noted you can make gathering resources easier, but I suspect a lot of players will use the modular-style approach to base-building to create a home away from home on a picturesque planetoid.

I'm hopeful that Starfield has truly been given all the time it needs to have a strong launch. Thus far, 2023 has seen quite a few games that were released as messes. Starfield genuinely looks to be the kind of space game that I've always wanted, but games that have shared similar ambitions have often failed to hit their marks. This presentation gives me a lot of hope, and although we didn't see too much of the game, there was a lot of polish in the showcased elements. Here's hoping that we're in for something special when Starfield launches this September.