The Bethesda Game Studios (BGS) game could set a high bar for sci-fi games, so BioWare’s task might be difficult.

Launched over a decade and a half ago, Mass Effect has become one of the most iconic sci-fi game franchises, but Mass Effect: Andromeda has failed to live up to the original trilogy, which has since been re-released under the Legendary Edition moniker. It had good combat mechanics, great writing, and excellent world-building, but despite the new installment, everyone is now focused on BGS and Todd Howard’s next game, released in a month for Xbox Series and PC.

The tension is palpable: Starfield will be BGS’s first game since Fallout 76, and admittedly the studio’s most ambitious project yet. And Microsoft, having already failed with Redfall (Arkane Austin), is now looking to boost its Xbox Game Pass subscriber base with this game, and the delayed release from November last year to September this year could be a good thing for Todd Howard’s new IP. However, BGS has never been outstanding in terms of story, so Mass Effect 4 may have the edge in that regard. BioWare may also be ahead of the game regarding companions, as it’s not certain that Starfield will be able to match the level of Garrus or Tali.

Mass Effect has never been weak in sci-fi environments, but Starfield can do better because you can explore an entire galaxy. However, only about 10% of the planets will be hand-made (the rest will be procedurally generated, similar to the planets in No Man’s Sky). It is questionable how large the open world areas will be, but they will almost certainly be more significant than in Mass Effect. NPCs, missions, and base building could have great potential to maximize immersion in the game, and your spaceship will be customizable and upgradeable down to its parts. Normandy, although we could modify it in Mass Effect, did not affect gameplay, except for the perfect ending to Mass Effect 2.

So it will be interesting to see what Microsoft’s hopefuls come up with.

Source: GameRant