Bethesdahas built a reputation (both good and bad) in the gaming industry with its popular first-person open-world RPGs. It’s already tackled the fantasy genre withThe Elder Scrollsand the post-apocalyptic future withFallout.Starfield, a science-fiction RPG that is cut from the same cloth as its previous games, is fueled by a more ambitious direction.
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The game is often described as “Fallout 4in space,” which is not too far off the mark, as a quick glance at Starfield’s gameplay will prove that claim. However, with such a comparison comes the question, which one did it better? And what better way to settle the debate than by putting the two Bethesda games side-by-side?
5Setting And Theme - Starfield
The most obvious difference is the setting for Starfield and Fallout 4. Starfield aims to provide animmersive experience revolving around space travel, visiting various planets, and meeting alien civilizations. In Fallout, you are stuck in a specific state or city on an irradiated 1950s-inspiredpost-apocalyptic Earth. Fallout shows a world destroyed by humanity, while Starfield shows the potential that humans can achieve. The two games' themes could not be more opposite than night and day.
Starfield is a game about adventure and exploration in what can be described as our ideal future. On the flip side, Fallout is aboutsurviving in a worldtransformed into a hellish landscape of our own making. Fallout also leans more towards socio-political themes as you try to navigate a ravaged world with different factions vying for dominance.
Starfield, on the other hand, is revealed to only have two major factions that you will need to contend with. In this aspect, Starfield is closer to Skyrim in terms of how the political environment is handled in the game. In terms of map size, Starfield is roughly 20 percent larger than Fallout 4.
4Storyline - Fallout 4
Both games are heavily tethered to their main campaign, and both also nail their individual storylines amazingly well. Starfield takes cues from classic space opera tropes with a story that will have youjumping around from one galaxy to the next, participating in space and ground combat, and discovering long-lost ancient civilizations.
Fallout 4 is far more grounded in scope, and its tale is a personal one of a parent searching for their lost child in a brutal and unfamiliar world. Fallout 4 is also more of a morality play as you navigate through the many situations in the game and carry the weight of the decisions that you make.
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One element of Starfield’s story that is quite welcome is that it never feels like it is rushing you through the many main quests and side missions. You are free toplay the game the way you wantand at your own pace, and it won’t penalize you for taking your time to complete missions. All in all, the main plot of Starfield blends well with the overall theme of the game, and nothing sticks out like a sore thumb, which is a problem with some of Fallout 4’s side quests.
The fact that Fallout 4’s story is a personal one that specifically revolves around you makes it more relatable in a way. While the story could have definitely used more polish, Fallout 4’s main campaign is better than Starfield’s standard ‘McGuffin’ cliché. Both Starfield and Fallout 4 do have memorable side quests, and here’s hoping that Starfield will open up more in terms of lore in the future as the potential is there, and the seeds have been successfully planted.
3Art Style - Tie
Comparing the graphical quality of two games that are eight years apart is not exactly fair. Starfield is, without a doubt, the prettier of the two. Now, in the essence of objectivity, let us compare the art styles of the two and figure out which one managed to hit the homerun in that regard.
Starfield holds atotal of 1,000 planets to explore, which is achieved thanks to utilizing procedurally generated landscapes. While this means that Starfield will have an astronomically larger variety of places to visit compared to Fallout 4, it also means thata lot of these generated worlds will lack detail and personality. Compare this to Fallout 4, where pretty much every location you may visit will have some interesting details and Easter eggs. Fallout 4’s world is littered with backstory, and this is due to the world being painstakingly crafted by the developers.
Starfield does have some memorable locales, but these are the ones that are part of the game’s overarching campaign. Moving past the border of the main storyline will leave you with locations that can feel soulless. Basically, the quality of the AI-generated planets is like playing a slot machine; you don’t know what you will get.
2Gameplay Mechanics - Starfield
At their core, both Starfield and Fallout 4 have almost identical controls. Not surprising, as both are made using the same engine, or, to be precise, Starfield is using an upgraded version of said engine, the Creation Engine 2. Starfield also truly dives deep into the space travel premise, as you are given theability to build, upgrade, and pilot your shipin certain sections of the game and even engage incombat with other spaceships.
Fallout shares similar controls, but most of the objectives and gameplay revolve around a lighter version of survival mechanics such as scavenging, crafting, and base or settlement building. You also need to contend with the hazardous environment due to radiation fallout, which further adds to the overall tension of venturing into a ravaged world. This is in complete contrast to Starfield’s relatively more relaxing and lighthearted vibe.
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Overall, Starfield feels like a more polished version of Fallout 4 that goes a couple of steps beyond thanks to being unshackled by the technology of yesterday. For example, Fallout 4’s base building returns in the form of ahighly detailed ship-building. Weapon customization is also present, with Starfield’s version offering a more varied and outlandish selection of sci-fi weaponry.
Think of Fallout 4 as a dry run in implementing new features and mechanics, and Starfield is the actual performance. Pretty much all the typical Bethesda gameplay trope has been improved and incorporated better in Starfield. Also, despite dropping Fallout’s signature V.A.T.S. targeting system, Starfield’s first-person shooting mechanic is noticeably superior, and this is the one aspect that Bethesda has generally fallen short.
1Final Verdict - Starfield
Both Starfield and Fallout 4 are massive games that provide players with tons of content. Tons of activities are packed into both games, which include numerous side quests, collectibles, andchallenging achievements to unlock.
As for which is better, on a gameplay, performance, and presentation standpoint, Starfield take the proverbial cake. The team at Bethesda clearly poured their heart into the development of this game, and it shows. While Fallout 4 is certainly a great game as well, it does fall short on certain elements wherein Starfield shines like a supernova in comparison.
