Now available on PC and Xbox, the latest Starfield update drastically changes Bethesda’s maligned sci-fi RPG. As a fan of Starfield, despite its glaring flaws, I appreciate that Bethesda has made some amazing changes to its ambitious IP debut, but is it too late to make a difference?
With the Starfield Shattered Space release date still unknown, the new update represents the first major improvement to the RPG since its launch last year. The update adds ship decoration, proper local maps, improved AI, better item management, performance options, and more, offering much to love for fans of the game.
As an owner of a 120Hz VRR display, I immediately set Starfield to the new 40fps visuals option, a mode we’ve seen in PS5 exclusives like Spider-Man 2 and Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart. While not as smooth as 60fps, jumping from 30 to 40 brings a huge improvement, and the fluidity matches Starfield’s high-octane combat system of frantic gunplay, magic powers, and high-speed jet pack movement.
The new performance mode isn’t perfect. Taking huge leaps off the tallest structures in New Atlantis still causes the game to chug as it renders vast, complex vistas. On the other hand, combat encounters, spacefaring, and general exploration hit that 40fps target 99% of the time, and it feels great. Players can also opt to play at 60fps with less stable performance — not really an issue with a VRR display — or even completely unlock the framerate.
By far the best part of the new Starfield update involves changes to shipbuilding. Players can finally place empty sections of their ships to decorate as they deem fit, with resources now used to craft furniture on vessels instead of just in outposts. This feature was sorely lacking in the launch version of the game, and it now lets players feel closer to their ships than ever before.
As expected with any Bethesda update, this mechanic isn’t perfect. The game still lacks many craftable assets, and players can’t delete or move items in pre-built hubs, but it’s a great start.
Bethesda also added some new features that definitely should have been in the game at launch. For example, the detailed planetary maps are fantastic and help reduce a lot of the confusion in exploration, and players can now re-select their perks whenever they go through The Unity, allowing for more variety as they explore the multiverse in their endless chain of New Game Plus.
Now, players can select perks that fit with the storyline they’re planning to take. In one universe, they may have been a street rat joining up with the Crimson Raiders, but in the next universe, they could take perks that fit with a run with the UC military.
Starfield is coming together, slowly. We still have yet to get the “new ways to travel” Bethesda promised earlier this year, but land vehicles are coming. It’s also a shame that none of these additions will really pull in any new players, but it’s a good step forward.
Yes, all of these new additions come far too late to entice the majority of gamers, and Starfield is still far away from its Cyberpunk-like redemption. It’s not too little, but it is too late for these useful changes to make a big dent, but I haven’t given up hope for Bethesda’s sci-fi adventure.
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