Starfield has a "mixed" rating on Steam, and those who've played it aren't all that surprised.
Being Bethesda's first new IP in over a quarter of a century, the hype surrounding Starfield was enormous, and while it managed to surpass 6 million players to become Bethesda's biggest launch title yet, beating beloved games like Skyrim and Fallout 4, two months on things aren't looking so good for the expansive space-based RPG.
On Steam, Starfield's rating has dropped to "mixed" across the board, with just 48% of the 5,996 user ratings in the last 30 days being positive. Overall, of the 75,701 ratings submitted since the game's launch, 69% have been positive. In comparison, both Skyrim and Fallout 4 are sitting pretty with "very positive" ratings on Valve's platform.
Over on the Starfield subreddit, players have been rather unsurprised that the games received a mixed rating and have been weighing in with their views on why it's a fair response based on their own experience.
For some, Starfield simply isn’t compelling enough. "I tried hard to get into Starfield, but it just feels so boring and bland compared to my beloved Fallout and Skyrim games," says Kombatsaurus. Similarly, JumpUpNow describes it as "Bethesda's most mediocre game to date", adding that "even Fallout 76 has a more gripping gameplay loop and setting."
Many who did really enjoy Starfield initially have said that it starts to feel somewhat stale after you’ve sunk a considerable amount of time into it. "I enjoy it and it’s still one of my top games of the year," says BrotherlyShove791, "but I’m at the 80-hours played mark, and I’m starting to get bored with the game." Zuggernaught88 agrees, writing, "I enjoy it, but the luster wore off quick. The biggest issue is that there are no 'different ways to play', it is just shoot. Feels empty without dynamic ways to play and build your character."
There are also a fair few, like Talex1995, who feel the RPG would benefit from being a hand-crafted experience on a smaller scale. "The procedurally generated aspect ruined this for me tbh," they say. "Too many of the planets have repeated bases and it ruins the immersiveness. They should have focused more on a few planets and fleshed them out."
Of course, in the grand scheme of things, it's still early days for Starfield, and with updates and the help of the modding community, as well as official mod support by way of the Creation Kit, we could see that user rating turn more favorable in the future.
For more epic adventures, take a look at our guide to games like Starfield.
