Starfield Critic Reviews (2024)

85 84%

Starfield is ranked in the 95th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.

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Chris Tapsell

Eurogamer

Top Critic

3 / 5

Sep 14, 2023

Starfield pairs near-impossible breadth with a classic Bethesda aptitude for systemic physics, magnetic sidequests, and weird vignettes. But in sacrificing direct exploration for the sake of sheer scale, there's nothing to bind it together.

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Dalton Cooper

Game Rant

Top Critic

Aug 31, 2023

Starfield delivers on everything it promised and then some.

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Dan Stapleton

IGN

Top Critic

7 / 10.0

Aug 31, 2023

Starfield has a lot of forces working against it, but eventually the allure of its expansive roleplaying quests and respectable combat make its gravitational pull difficult to resist.

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Christopher Livingston

PC Gamer

Top Critic

75 / 100

Aug 31, 2023

Starfield shares plenty of DNA with Skyrim and Fallout 4, but ultimately falls short of both.

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Ben Sledge

TheGamer

Top Critic

Aug 31, 2023

I came into Starfield wanting to explore the stars, and I got a brilliant sci-fi story instead. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little disappointed.

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David Jenkins

Metro GameCentral

Top Critic

6 / 10

Sep 12, 2023

A disappointingly low-tech space exploration game that relies too much on the legacy of Skyrim and Fallout and lacks the innovation and imagination to do its concept justice.

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Michael Damiani

Easy Allies

Top Critic

8 / 10.0

Sep 6, 2023

Starfield Critic Reviews (10)

Leon Hurley

GamesRadar+

Top Critic

Aug 31, 2023

With this kind of freedom 'avoiding the main mission' is the main mission.

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Matt Miller

Game Informer

Top Critic

8.5 / 10.0

Aug 31, 2023

Go in with the expectation that it will take some time to find your footing in such a vast gameplay space, and there’s a universe well worth discovering here.

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Michael Higham

GameSpot

Top Critic

7 / 10

Aug 31, 2023

Bethesda's spacefaring adventure has its moments with impressive scale, satisfying combat, and some worthwhile side quests, but its shallow RPG systems and uninspired vision of the cosmos make for a journey that's a mile wide, but an inch deep.

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Nicole Carpenter

Polygon

Top Critic

Unscored

Aug 31, 2023

In trying to do everything, Starfield obfuscates its most compelling mysteries.

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Claire Jackson

Kotaku

Top Critic

Unscored

Jun 24, 2024

If Starfield is to grow into something beyond an impressively sized canvas just waiting for you to roll your own space game by way of mods, it needs to have these foundational issues addressed.

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Claire Jackson

Kotaku

Top Critic

Unscored

Sep 28, 2023

In Starfield, many might see a time-tested, signature charm. Others might see a time-worn, laborious monotony. These are fair perspectives. A game this large is hard to distill into one set of strengths or one set of weaknesses. As in other Bethesda games before it, you’ll likely have to make your own fun here, but in giving us not just a swath of post-apocalyptic terrain or a fantasy realm but an entire galaxy to explore this time, Starfield makes all the flaws and shortcomings of its patchwork world all the more glaring.

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Jason Faulkner

Game Revolution

Top Critic

7 / 10.0

Sep 28, 2023

When scoring Starfield, I considered that many of my issues with the game were totally subjective. However, the game does have technical and design issues that can’t be ignored. Ironically, it has many of the same problems people relentlessly criticized Cyberpunk 2077 for, like lifeless crowds, a hollow wanted system, and glitchy animations, but it’s largely getting a pass. Bethesda deserves kudos for pioneering the modern Western RPG format, and I don’t think every game needs to be some innovative revolution. Despite this, Starfield is backed by Microsoft and produced by one of the biggest game companies in the world. There’s no reason it should feel and play like Fallout 4 in space.

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Steven Mills

Destructoid

Top Critic

10 / 10.0

Aug 31, 2023

I wasn't sure if it could be done, but Bethesda has managed to raise the bar for sandbox games even higher. In the end, Starfield is a genre-defining epic open-world RPG with a beautifully immersive universe, a captivating story, and fun and addicting gameplay the whole way. I'm so happy to have experienced Starfield organically without any spoilers, and I really hope you get to as well.

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Daniel Quesada

Hobby Consolas

Top Critic

94 / 100

Aug 31, 2023

The best Bethesda Game Studios has conceived a huge, colossal and exciting game, where each adventure can be different. It's not perfect, but it's certainly one of the games of the year.

Review in Spanish | Read full review

Ramón Baylos

Areajugones

Top Critic

10 / 10.0

Aug 31, 2023

Starfield is the best Bethesda game there's been in years. A work of infinite ambition that revisits the company's classic formula when making RPGs and transports a large part of its design to the depths of the cosmos. In terms of quality, Starfield is Bethesda's best title since Skyrim. It gives the feeling that it is the work that the studio had always dreamed of doing; a longing that has ended up transforming into the proposal of an overwhelming odyssey in which every old RPG fan can get lost to meet again.

Review in Spanish | Read full review

Paul Tassi

Forbes

Top Critic

9.5 / 10.0

Aug 31, 2023

I really do love this game. Yes, Bethesda doesn’t match some of its peers in many places, but in part that’s because it’s trying to do everything, all at once. But if you wanted a giant Bethesda RPG set in space with better combat and a whole lot of time to level and build things and explore and find secrets, yeah, this is it. They did it. Enjoy.

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Donovan Erskine

Shacknews

Top Critic

9 / 10

Aug 31, 2023

Starfield is more than a welcome addition to Bethesda’s family of RPG franchises, it feels like the start of a new era for the studio. Not only is it the developer’s most technically impressive game, but it also delivers a worthwhile narrative that takes some major swings and establishes a sprawling mythos. It has some blemishes here and there, but Starfield proves to be an awesome sci-fi adventure.

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Andrea Giongiani

IGN Italy

Top Critic

9 / 10.0

Aug 31, 2023

Starfiels is an incredibly ambitious game that hits almost every target it is aimed at. If you love space, science, and the undeniable spirit for discovery innate in every human being, you will love this game.

Review in Italian | Read full review

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Starfield Critic Reviews (2024)

FAQs

Why are Starfield reviews low? ›

Starfield's negative reception is not due to woke elements but stems from Fallout 76's impact on player trust. Bethesda's failure to address technical issues and deliver a compelling experience, coupled with a revenge backlash from Fallout 76, led to widespread disappointment.

Is Starfield now mostly negative? ›

Starfield's Steam reviews continue to fall after the Creations update. Players accuse Bethesda of pushing paid mods again, as Creations include a range of free and premium products. One of the most controversial Creations is a new quest that costs the equivalent of around $7.

Does Starfield have good reviews? ›

While it has weak spots and doesn't push many boundaries, Starfield is still an excellent RPG experience. Bethesda has once again mastered the things it built its reputation on – world building, quest design, and deep customization.

Has Starfield received mostly negative reviews on Steam? ›

On Steam, Starfield's recent user reviews are now on 'Mostly Negative' after disgruntled players hit out at Bethesda for charging $7 for a single Starfield mission. The second mission of the recently released Trackers Alliance is only available as a Starfield Creation and costs $7, or 700 credits.

Is Starfield losing popularity? ›

Starfield's steep decline in active players may seem more worrying at first due to Bethesda's past titles, with Skyrim and Fallout 4 still being played years after release. And while it's odd and maybe even a bit sad that Starfield isn't retaining players like Skyrim or Fallout, it isn't disastrous.

Is Starfield getting review bombed? ›

Starfield has been review bombed due to controversial Creations pricing. It's unlikely that Creations pricing will change, but it's possible. Creations are essentially paid mods.

Does Starfield really have 1000 planets? ›

In fact, Howard would go on to reveal only 10% of Starfield's planets would have life on them. Still, over 1,000 planets. It was one hell of a number, a number that sounds fantastic in an advert. Starfield is a game so vast that exploring all those planets would take any right-thinking player an age to do.

Is Starfield better than no mans 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.

Does Earth exist in Starfield? ›

Earth in Starfield is not a very resource-rich planet, nor is it filled with much to do or find. However, there are still a few remnants of the old world to be explored.

How long until Starfield gets good? ›

A TV show might require an episode or two of table-setting before it becomes great. Starfield, on the other hand, will apparently grind on for upwards of 12 hours before you start seeing what's special. Even if the hundreds of ensuing hours are truly wonderful, that's quite a barrier to entry.

How many hours does it take to complete Starfield? ›

When focusing on the main objectives, Starfield is about 23 Hours in length. If you're a gamer that strives to see all aspects of the game, you are likely to spend around 144 Hours to obtain 100% completion.

Will Starfield be more like Skyrim or Fallout? ›

Starfield is deliberately cut from the same cloth, to the point where its own director has called the game “Skyrim in space.” If you've ever played an Elder Scrolls game or any of the last few Fallouts, Starfield will feel familiar from the moment you take control of your character.

What is the lowest rating game on Steam? ›

This has put Overwatch 2 at the very bottom of the Steam rankings, making it the worst-rated game of all time. This score was calculated based on Overwatch 2 having an approval rating of 10% out of its 123,599 votes (at the time of this article being written).

Is Starfield realistic? ›

For example, most ships in Starfield boast artificial gravity, which allows passengers to walk on the floor as if they were on the surface of a planet. However, Chambers also spotted the hallmarks of realistic spaceship design in the sci-fi technology-infused scenes.

Will Starfield be a success? ›

Highlights. Starfield's sales success in 2023 as the #11 bestselling game contradicts its mixed critical reception, making it an outlier as a profitable new IP. Despite a "mixed" reception on Steam and a 6.8 Metacritic score, Starfield's commercial performance and player engagement were solid.

Why is Starfield criticized? ›

Despite its expansive gameplay, Starfield faces mounting criticism from players. Key complaints include the lack of engaging dungeons, barren planets, and the absence of essential Quality of Life elements like detailed maps.

Why is Starfield losing players? ›

Starfield players abandon ship

Along with this, players were finding 'cut and paste' outposts, lacklustre space exploration, and a relatively dull story. Whereas Bethesda has always known long-running success with games such as Fallout and Skyrim, they can't seem to keep hold of Starfield players.

Why not play Starfield? ›

Its all repetitive. It feels empty. And playing the game feels more of a chore than fun. The writing is not good.

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