Starfield's Aurora Lets Players Live Out Their 'Breaking…

Summary

Starfield's incorporation of mind-altering substances, such as the blue-tinted psychotropic Aurora, adds an immersive element similar to the Fallout series' chems.
The side quests related to Aurora production and distribution in Starfield provide excellent distractions from the main story and give players a Breaking Bad-esque fantasy experience.
Players can trigger Aurora-related quests in Starfield through two major avenues: by completing quests in the city of Neon or by running afoul of the law and choosing to infiltrate the Crimson Fleet. These quests offer opportunities for profit and criminal activity.

Between the review copies for the game that went out several weeks ago and the early access period that began on September 1, plenty of players have already gotten significant time within Starfield's incredibly immersive world. During the lead-up to the game's release, several details were released regarding Starfield's incorporation of mind-altering substances, similar to the Fallout series' use of various mind and body-altering chems. Principal among these is the mysterious blue-tinted psychotropic Aurora, which has more than its fair share of side quests attached to its production and distribution. Not only are these side quests excellent distractions from the game's critical path, but they also let players live out a Breaking Bad-esque fantasy.

Breaking Bad is the Emmy-winning television drama chronicling the saga of meek-mannered chemistry teacher Walter White's tragic transformation into the Machiavellian Heisenberg as he builds a methamphetamine business from the ground up. While much of the show's conflict is centered around how Walter balances his criminal empire with his original goal of providing for his family, the actual manufacturing of the show's iconic "Blue Sky" takes up plenty of screen time, as do the tense shootouts and violence associated with criminal enterprise. Not only does Starfield's Aurora share a similar hue to Breaking Bad's signature contraband, but its side quests cover the full spectrum of Walt and Jesse's activities throughout the series.

Interestingly, there's actually more than one way that players can find themselves walking down a path to an Aurora-fueled criminal empire. While Walter's initiating event in Breaking Bad is accompanying his DEA Agent brother-in-law on a ride-along and realizing a former student is a known methamphetamine cook, players in Starfield can get involved with Aurora through one of two major avenues. One of these involves simply heading to Neon, one of the major cities in Starfield, and beginning a series of quests given to you by a resident of the city named Neshar. Eventually, these quests will lead players to be able to don a familiar-looking yellow hazmat suit and craft Aurora in the Xenofresh labs.

The other, and less obvious, path to get involved with Aurora in Starfield is to run afoul of the law. There are several ways to do this, but one of the more common is to get caught in a UC scan with contraband in Starfield on board the player's ship. Once caught, players will get interrogated by UC SysDef Commander Kibwe Ikabe. Rather than get thrown in jail, he offers the player the choice to go undercover to infiltrate and take down the Crimson Fleet from within. However, in typical Bethesda fashion, players can choose to ignore the UC's mission entirely and use the mission as an opportunity to join the Crimson Fleet and complete its faction quests. What follows is a life of crime and piracy across the galaxy, complete with selling and distributing Aurora.

Production and Sale of Aurora in Starfield Runs the 'Breaking Bad' Gamut

Whichever path players choose to pursue, either of these major side quest chains will feature plenty of opportunities to profit off of the production and sale of Aurora. Considering that players can head to Neon directly after finishing the opening quest and obtaining full control of Starfield's starting ship the Foundation, it's entirely possible to ignore the main quest in favor of crafting the player's own Breaking Bad- style story. If building a life in Neon and spending days in the Xenofresh labs helping craft the city's abundant quantities of Aurora sounds like a better alternative to chasing artifacts, it's entirely possible to embrace that path.

Alternately, players can slowly but steadily work their way up to the top of a criminal empire via membership in the Crimson Fleet. While this route doesn't offer players the opportunity to make Aurora, it will offer plenty of opportunities to engage in criminal activity based on its sale. Whatever the case, Starfield's immersive world provides plenty of opportunities for emergent storytelling, including two distinct paths that allow players to become "the one who knocks".