Starfield: Various News and Updates
Bethesda has delved into its choice of not incorporating ground vehicles in Starfield, at least not at the game’s initial release.
Set foot on one of Starfield’s numerous planets, and in every direction, there are miles upon miles of terrain to be explored. However, you’ll be traversing this expanse on foot, with the assistance of your reliable jetpack. Unlike Luke Skywalker zipping across the Jundland Wastes in a dune buggy or landspeeder, you won’t be able to hop into a waiting vehicle and jet off.
This is a deliberate decision, as Bethesda’s Todd Howard has stated, as it creates a more immersive experience.
“It’s something we contemplate,” Howard remarked when queried by Bloomberg regarding the absence of vehicles on planets. “Once you introduce vehicles, it indeed alters the gameplay. By concentrating on the fact that once you land with your ship, you’re on foot, it enables us to truly craft an experience for the players where we have a clear understanding of how quickly they’re perceiving things.
“And in a certain sense, you do possess a vehicle. You have your spaceship, with which you can navigate through space. On the surface, you have a jetpack that you can enhance, which is incredibly enjoyable.”
In a year when even Link managed to assemble vehicles to traverse Hyrule, some players have expressed their hope that Bethesda will incorporate the ability to construct land-based means of transportation for Starfield. And who can tell? It might come to fruition in some future DLC or expansion.
But there are also other players who have stated that they are pleased that Starfield doesn’t depend on ground vehicles for getting around, as it implies that discoveries can be focused within a more confined area of the map.
During the same interview, Bloomberg posed a rather stern question to Howard as to why Starfield hadn’t been optimized for PC. “Uh, we did,” Howard responded. “It’s performing superbly; it’s a next-gen PC game. We truly strive to advance the technology, so you might need to upgrade your PC.”
For additional details on Bethesda’s grand space odyssey and what is currently present in the game, take a look at our Starfield walkthrough.
