Master the Galaxy with Starfield's Immersive Ship Battles

The Summer Game Fest season this year has been a source of immense excitement for gamers, with a multitude of announcements and reveals that have left them wanting more. From the unexpected announcement of a new Prince of Persia game to the exhilarating gameplay reveal of Star Wars Outlaws, the first open-world game in the franchise, and an array of impressive indie games, there's plenty to look forward to. However, the absolute highlight of the season for most gamers was Bethesda's Starfield, and its awe-inspiring 45-minute gameplay deep-dive that left everyone in awe.

Immediately following the Xbox Showcase, Starfield's gameplay deep-dive was an all-encompassing experience that delivered on every front. In a span of 45 minutes, Bethesda meticulously broke down every core system in Starfield, starting from character customization to ground combat, characters, and story. Each major system received ample attention, and even the ship combat in Starfield was showcased with a perfect blend of arcade shooter and full-fledged space sim.

Starfield's Ship Combat Walks the Perfect Line Between Arcade and Sim

Starfield's ship combat is a far cry from simply pressing a button to fire your weapons. According to Zachary Wilson, Bethesda's Senior Level Designer, it's more like a complex dance that requires micromanagement of the ship's various systems, including weapons, shields, engines, and gravity drive. This means that players must carefully manage each individual weapon type, such as lasers and missiles, if they have multiple types on their ship. During combat, players will have a limited amount of power, determined by their reactor type, and must manually allocate energy to each system. By putting more energy into weapons, players can unleash more concentrated bursts that deal greater damage per hit.

By simply ramping up the shields, increasing engine power, and siphoning energy into the gravity drive, ships in Starfield can become more protected, faster, and more maneuverable, respectively. However, ship combat in this expansive RPG goes beyond these basic enhancements. Starfield boasts an impressive Skill system, featuring five separate skill trees, each containing a minimum of 16 different skills. For instance, the Tech skill tree offers players the ability to target specific systems on an enemy ship, such as weapons, engines, shields, or gravity drive. Similar to Fallout's VATS system, this skill offers a strategic element to ship combat. With more skills like this expected to be available, Starfield appears to have found the perfect balance between arcade and space sim gameplay, according to fans.

Players who are solely interested in ground combat in Starfield can skip the complex ship combat systems. However, for those looking for a more immersive space sim-like experience, there is a lot of depth to explore. The ship customization feature in Starfield offers players the opportunity to live out their wildest Sci-Fi dreams, with each ship module being fully customizable and upgradable. It's worth noting that these customizations will also impact ship combat. With all of these features and more, Starfield promises to be an exciting Sci-Fi RPG. The game is set to launch on September 6 for PC and Xbox Series X/S.