It seems strange to say after all this time, but Starfield is just three months away, and Xbox and Bethesda have decided to go all out on marketing. Right at the end of the recent Xbox Showcase, Bethesda took center stage to debut a whopping 45 minutes of Starfield gameplay, covering just about every system at the heart of the game, from ground combat to characters to world-building and everything in between.
Starfield's recent deep-dive demonstration genuinely had something for everyone. For fans of Bethesda's past RPGs, Starfield's revamped Skill system is sure to be one of the biggest highlights of the presentation, and for those longing for an expansive new Sci-Fi world to jump into, Starfield's many different factions, weapons, and planets should give them exactly what they're looking for. And for those who can't wait to take to the stars in their very own spaceship, Starfield's extensive ship customization might be enough to blow the competition out of the water, even when that competition is Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
Starfield's Ship Customization Could Rival Tears of the Kingdom's Vehicles
One of the big new features of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was its Ultrahand and Fuse abilities. Gained during the game's tutorial mission, Ultrahand and Fuse allow players to forge together a variety of different weapons, shields, arrows, and structures by combining items, materials, building blocks, and devices. One of the best applications for this new tool set is the creation of vehicles, allowing players to traverse Hyrule and its new Sky Islands and Depths much faster.
To create a vehicle in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, all players need to do is stick together blocks and devices. Sticking together a few logs and a fan will make a boat, a Zonai Wing and a rocket can make a glider, and a simple stone slab, balloon, and fire can make a primitive hot air balloon. With the sheer number of crafting materials and devices players have access to, the possibilities are practically endless, and that's something that Starfield looks to borrow for its own ship customization system.
Around 20 minutes into the Starfield deep-dive, Bethesda puts the spotlight on the game's ship customization system. In an incredibly smart move, Starfield allows players to engage with as much or as little of the ship customization as they want. For those that aren't too fussed about what they fly, a selection of pre-made ships can be purchased and then upgraded via a simple menu, but for those that really want to dive head-first into everything Starfield has to offer, the shipbuilder is ready and waiting.
When at a spaceport, players can talk with an NPC to open up Starfield's shipbuilder. This system allows players to manually change every module of their ship. These modules are broken down into simplified categories, such as cockpits, weapons, dockers, engines, reactors, landing gears, and cowling. Each of these modules is then attached to the base framework of the chosen ship. While Starfield's shipbuilder has plenty of cosmetic-focused modules like cowling and landing gears, it also has plenty of modules that can significantly impact gameplay.
The most obviously impactful modules are weapons and engines, affecting the firepower and speed of the player's ship respectively. But then there are modules like the habitat module, which increases the ship's overall crew capacity. Most of Starfield's ship modules will also change the look of the ship's interior. Pair all of this with the ability to upgrade each individual module and change its cosmetic look, and Starfield's ship customization could easily rival, if not outdo Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom's vehicle creation.
Starfield releases for PC and Xbox Series X/S on September 6.