Starfield Review Summary

One day before the start of the early access game, the Starfield reviews have been released online, and most of them seem to be very positive about Bethesda's first new game world in 25 years.

Undoubtedly, Starfield is the biggest game that Xbox has released in quite some time and holds significant importance for the company, especially considering the upcoming acquisition of Bethesda. Since Halo Infinite, we haven't seen a game that is as crucial for Microsoft. This undoubtedly means that there is immense pressure for it to be successful.

Fortunately, it appears that Starfield is meeting the expectations of many people thus far. The reviews for the game have just been released, and while there is a range of scores, almost all of them seem to be positive. It is still very early, considering everything (especially since some websites were given access to the code later), but at the time of this recording, Starfield currently stands at an impressive 86 points on OpenCritic, with 96 percent of reviewers recommending the game.

Let's begin with our own review, which comes from TheGamer's Features Editor, Ben Sledge. In his review, Ben gives Starfield 4 out of 5 stars and describes it as an "evolution of the classic Bethesda formula and a reversal of all my expectations, for better and for worse." Ben particularly highlights the story and characters as the strongest elements of the game, but notes that exploration suffers a bit.

After our own review, let's start on a positive note and mention some of the high ratings. At VGC, Jordan Middler awarded Starfield 5 out of 5 stars, calling it "the best game from Bethesda and the best Xbox exclusive in 15 years." Meanwhile, Leon Hurley from GamesRadar+ also gave it 5 out of 5 stars, stating that Starfield is "the best thing Bethesda has made since Oblivion." Another perfect rating came from Dalton Cooper of Game Rant, who said that Starfield "delivers on all its promises" and provides a "Skyrim-like experience that will be played for years to come."

Similar positive reviews can be found on sites like Game Informer, whose reviewer Matt Miller gave the game a score of 8.5/10 and noted that it is "a universe worth exploring." Similarly, Alex Donaldson from RPG Site awarded Starfield a score of 9/10, calling it "the best game of its kind that Bethesda has ever released." Emma Ward from DualShockers also gave the game a score of 9/10, stating that it is "truly something special, setting a new standard for space role-playing games and providing talking points for the next decade."

On the slightly lower end of the spectrum, IGN's Dan Stapleton gave the game a score of 7/10, praising its role-playing mechanics, quests, and rich science-fiction universe as its strongest features but criticizing the "choppy space travel, lack of maps, frustrating inventory management, and slow introduction of essential skills." PC Gamer's Christopher Livingston gave Starfield a similar rating of 75/100, noting that it "shares a lot of DNA with Skyrim and Fallout 4 but ultimately falls behind both."