The Ultimate Revamp: 5 Game-Changing Combat Overhauls We Demand in Starfield

Highlights

Starfield delivers on promised features like shipbuilding, companions, romance, and weapon customization, but combat still needs improvement.

The immersion and gameplay experience of fans are affected by problems with slide ability and stealth kills, leading to disappointment. Combat scenarios are hindered by faulty hit registration and hitboxes, causing frustration and breaking immersion. Additionally, adjustments are required for close-quarters combat animations and the third-person camera.

Starfield, as showcased by Bethesda prior to its release, successfully delivers on the numerous features that were promised. The game excels in shipbuilding, companions, romance, and weapon customization, addressing the doubts that fans had. However, there are still a multitude of areas that require attention, particularly in its combat mechanics. Whether it is long-range gunfights or close-quarter battles, certain issues often disrupt the immersive experience for fans. While PC players have access to various mods, which Bethesda openly supports, fans are eager for these problems to be resolved for console players as well.

5 Faster & Smoother Slide

When players unlock the slide ability in the 'Gymnastics' region of 'Physical' skills, they seek to use this advantageously during combat. In many other FPS or third-person shooters, this ability is typically a basic skill that players can use from the beginning to maneuver out of intense encounters or dodge bullets.

While there is no issue with having the slide as an unlockable skill, fans believe that the slide itself is ineffective. In both the first-person and third-person perspectives, players often attempt to slide but find that they do not move very far forward or end up crouching instead, making them susceptible to gunfire. It is unclear whether this is a bug or intentional design, but addressing this issue in an update would greatly benefit players.

4 Stealth Kills

Despite the availability of various skills, players are unable to perform stealth takedowns or kills in the game. While it is still possible to enhance the damage of stealth attacks through skill upgrades or using better weapons, this has left fans disappointed as they had hoped for more stylish and immersive stealth executions.

Enhancing the stealth combat mechanics in Starfield would greatly benefit players who prefer a stealthy approach, especially when facing overwhelming numbers of enemies. While players can still silently eliminate foes, particularly if they start with a 'Ronin' background or attach suppressors to their firearms, the addition of close-quarters stealth mechanics would further elevate this gameplay experience.

3 Improved Hitboxes/Hit Registration

The hit registration and hitboxes in Starfield have been a major issue in some combat scenarios, greatly affecting gameplay. This problem becomes apparent during gunfire exchanges where taking cover is crucial, and when players attempt to shoot enemies hiding in cover with a visible body part, the hits do not register.

This aspect can significantly break immersion and cause frustration, especially when players are still getting hit while in cover, forcing them to expose themselves in order to retaliate. If this issue can be addressed in future updates, it would greatly improve the overall flow of combat, allowing players to focus on avoiding enemy fire and taking their opponents by surprise.

2 Takedown Animations/Close-Quarters

Starfield's gunplay is one of its main selling points and a feature of the new IP that excels despite the mentioned issue. However, fans believe that there is room for improvement in its close-quarters combat. Apart from the variations in animations with different melee weapons, hand-to-hand combat can feel rigid, especially when viewed from a third-person perspective.

Additionally, the lack of takedown or finishing move animations is surprising for many fans, especially considering how previous Bethesda titles like Fallout 4 successfully implemented this feature. If the developers at Bethesda were able to incorporate unique finishing moves or attacks that differ from the current standard melee animations, it would greatly contribute to Starfield receiving even more praise.

1 Third-Person Camera

Players who prefer the third-person perspective in combat encounters in Starfield have the option to change between two different camera distances. However, there seems to be a problem with this feature, as the camera distance often changes on its own without any player input. This forces players to constantly adjust the camera during gameplay.

Unfortunately, there is no field-of-view slider in the game, which can make the experience disorienting when engaging in gunfire with enemies in third-person. PC players can use mods to help solve this issue, but Xbox players will have to wait for Bethesda developers to address it. This can be done by implementing a field-of-view slider or making changes to the way the third-person perspective works during gameplay. Such changes would greatly enhance the game for many players.

Starfield is now available on Xbox Series X/S and PC.