Summary
Comparisons betweenStarfieldandNo Man’s Skyhave always been inevitable. BothBethesdaandHello Gamesbilled their respective releases as an opportunity to explore a vast interstellar map, discover planets, mine resources, build bases, and leave your own mark on the galaxy.
Thoughthe similarities virtually end here, a lack of space games that aren’t established IPs, generic shooters, or worryingly boring simulators means that these two, whose development and origins could scarcely differ further, are going head-to-head. Though it suffered greatly at launch, the small team at Hello Games has since devoted years to improving and updating their game, fully delivering on their initial promise. Can Starfield, which has seenits own share of criticism since release, say the same?
Exploration: No Man’s Sky
No Man’s Sky was announced in 2014, a mere three years after Skyrim’s release, but its developers promised players 18 quintillion planets to explore. What followed was a frenzy that Hello Games hadn’t anticipated, as audience expectations were elevated beyond what its dozen developers could realistically accomplish in such time constraints.
Despite this, exploration has been a cornerstone of No Man’s Sky from the beginning and has improved considerably with updates since 2016. Hello Games have populated their worlds with enough settlements, trading outposts, and detailed ecosystems that exploring the galaxy is not only completely seamless but also an engaging experience.
Quests: Starfield
For all that Starfield suffers as an out-and-out exploration game with its tile-based seed generation and invisible walls, you mustn’t lose sight of what Bethesda games are really about. Sure, the game will let you go to a random planet and look at nothing, but what it really wants is for you to complete its quests, interact with its NPCs, and engage with its many storylines.
Starfield is an RPG, and as such, exploration is secondary to storytelling, be it a main quest or a random encounter you come across. Exploring points of interest in the settled systems also reap considerable rewards, whether you find great side missions, fascinating abandoned locations, or a zero-gravity casino where your numbers are up.
Community: No Man’s Sky
Whether from the studio’s continued support of a game many players assumed was dead in the water at launch, the attractiveness of the game’s promise of boundless space exploration, or a combination of the two, No Man’s Sky has grown a community of dedicated fans who eagerly await new updates and are in turn rewarded as the game continues to improve.
The shift between having one of the worst user-based ratings on Steam only two months after launch to being “mostly positive” five years later is a redemption arc most studios only dream of. Although Hello Games made it a reality by persevering and believing in the game, the community that developed around it is a positive, welcoming one. Between the two, they provide a valuable lesson to the rest of the gaming world, consumers and corporations alike.
Gunplay: Starfield
Starfield wins this one easily, but that’s not to say that its combat is perfect by any stretch. Battling in low (or no) gravity is entertaining, but enemy AI continues to be the bane of Bethesda’s existence, much as in previous games. Starfield continues with Fallout 4’s focus on vertical combat, so you’ll find yourself in a number of engaging locations when beset by Ecliptics, Pirates, or Spacers.
Though the environments might impress, the combat itself is a shortcoming, as Bethesda fans might expect. The number of weapon modifications is impressive and allows for a lot of customization. Still, the sheer number of combat encounters you’ll find yourself in might leave you lacking ammunition or the desire to continue playing.
Settlements: No Man’s Sky
This aspect of the game came with 2021’s Frontiers update and offers yet another level of depth to the game in the form of… town planning? Touch down on a planet in an inhabited system, and one of the points of interest on your HUD may be a planetary Settlement, home to a number of local denizens trying to turn enough profit to sustain themselves and their home.
you’re able to offer to assist these settlers by becoming their overseer, from which point you’ll make policy decisions, direct building construction, and resolve disputes between your citizens. From here, your No Man’s Sky experience can become a management sim, where you’ll need to ensure that your settlement is productive, populous, and profitable.
Ship Combat: Starfield
A new feature for Bethesda’s new IP, Starfield’s ship combat is among the game’s strengths, although it’s found its own share of detractors online. With the ability to divert power between your ship’s weapons, defenses, and operational systems, you can go all-out attack or simply try to survive long enough to grav jump away.
Upgrading your ship as you improve is a must, as you’ll gradually encounter more difficult enemies as you progress, and the Frontier just won’t cut it. Another key aspect is your crew, who give you boosts to skills they’re proficient in. If you tailor your ship to them or vice-versa, you’ll find yourself considerably more powerful than your opponents, and once infuriating situations will become a walk in the park.
Choices: No Man’s Sky
Many complain that No Man’s Sky’s universes are empty, that its exploration offers infinite nothingness, or that its story is bare bones. Sure, quest-giving NPCs aren’t exactly at a premium, and large swathes of planets might be uninhabited or largely featureless, but nobody’s forcing you to play it if you don’t like it.
No Man’s Sky is a game all about choice, about playing the game in precisely the way you want to play it, and each subsequent update adds another avenue to this growing list of options. Whether you want to explore, develop a fleet, fly a space whale, become a pirate, or just fly to the center of the universe, Hello Games offers all this and much more. And if you may’t pick a way that suits you, maybe the correct choice is a different game?
Story: Starfield
Starfield scores another home run in a department that its opponent largely ignores, although the win is warranted this time. Through its grounded sci-fi future and impressive worldbuilding, the game comes strong out of the gate, and its main plot tackles weighty themes like the cost of humanity’s search for knowledge and understanding.
Though it may sound dry, it’s complemented by enough action, drama, and levity to keep you entertained, even if the philosophical themes aren’t to your taste. And despite some claims that quests become repetitive, Starfield actually features some of Bethesda’s finest missions, even if a few could use some refinement.
Winner: No Man’s Sky
The winner, by margins so fine they were reviewed under a microscope, is No Man’s Sky. Though these two games have little in common beyond setting, No Man’s Sky has an advantage over Starfield in the years of care that Hello Games has put into expanding and refining your experience.
It’s a lesson the whole industry would do well to listen to. As the game ages, it seems to be as young as ever, and its developers are just as eager to add new ways to play. If what you want is pure exploration, the feeling of being a nomadic space traveller in a striking, colourful galaxy, then No Man’s Sky is the game for you.
Next:Starfield: Hidden Details And Secrets In New Atlantis
