[Space is the final frontier, Starfield wants to tell you Its environment is cold, hostile, and difficult to survive; one need only read or watch "Expanse" to get an idea of what life in space might be like when its creators replace the fantasy of warp drive with the harsh reality of gravity and inertia

It is also not unreasonable to assume that "Starfield," a game that leans more toward hard science fiction, would have many semi-realistic elements that would prevent exploration of outer space

Todd Howard, director and executive producer at Bethesda, has stated that "Starfield" will have survival elements However, he said that it will not be a tedious process of gathering resources around planets or spending hours traveling between planets

"When you actually play the game, you don't actually get killed when you go out into space because it's a game," Howard told YouTuber and interviewer Rex Friedman (opens in new tab) 'But it does take some effort, and we've cut back on that as we've built the game We used to run out of fuel, jump and get stuck

"As a result, we found that your play would stop We had you playing the game and you said, 'I'm out of fuel, I'm out of fuel, I'm out of fuel, I'm out of fuel That's a fun kill now'"

That's not to say that "Starfield" isn't challenging or that you can roam the planets and travel through space carefree Howard pointed out

that we need to be properly equipped, such as with appropriate space suits that provide specific buffs against environmental challenges

In the past, Bethesda's open-world games have been rather easy to navigate, even with dangerous enemies and drop-offs (such as in "Skyrim") However, with so many open-world games on the market, such as "Assassin's Creed Valhalla," "Breath of the Wild," and "Elden Ring," "Starfield" will need more to stand out

Making exploration rewarding while avoiding tedious frustration is not a simple task However, all the noise coming from Bethesda is quite positive for "Starfield," which should finally be playable next year With no release date yet, check out these games to play while you wait for Starfield