This year has been rich with insights into Starfield’s art direction. Between venues like E3 2021 and the 10th anniversary celebration for The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, Bethesda has offered peeks behind the curtain of its spacefaring sci-fi game. Thanks to the concept art, fans have a sense of everything from the game’s most important cities to the untamed alien wilderness of distant planets. Odds are that early 2022 could be filled with even more art, helping Bethesda build up to the Starfield gameplay reveal, but 2021 already offers plenty to see.
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Glimpses at the World of Starfield
The revealed Starfield art covers a broad spectrum of concepts, highlighting both the universe’s smallest details and its broad settings. Lots of art focuses on Starfield’s planets, and what’s been seen so far inspires some hope for the game’s future with everything from frozen wastelands to vibrant jungle planets. Aside from confirming that alien life exists in Starfield to some extent, the planets seen so far suggest players will never want for diversity. Bethesda seems determined to capture as many unique biospheres and topographies in Starfield as possible.
The concept art also sheds a lot of light on Starfield’s technology. Bethesda has explained that it wants Starfield technology to have a “NASA-punk” feel, meaning it’s heavily based on real spacefaring technology and more grounded than sci-fi universes like Star Wars. So far, it looks like Starfield will capture that feeling, as spaceships and other vehicles are large and practical rather than streamlined and idealistic, meanwhile spacefarers wear thick suits that are very reminiscent of real astronaut gear. Starfield’s technology gives it a very distinct look that goes a long way to make it stand out.
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Bethesda hasn’t revealed much information about the gameplay and plot in Starfield, but concept art hints at a lot of information that should shape the game’s cast. Just like its diverse planets, there’s a lot of different locations Starfield NPCs might hail from. Drug dealers from Neon will serve as a strong contrast to government authorities working in New Atlantis, and each Starfield planet can inspire unique explorer characters charting the edges of the known universe.
Starfield’s Reveals Draw Closer
Even if Starfield gameplay takes a few more months to come out, it seems likely there’s more concept art on the way. At the end of November, Bethesda released a YouTube video in which Howard discussed the vision for Starfield with developers working on the game. Odds seem good that it was only the first video of several. Starfield is the first new Bethesda IP in years, so the studio probably has a lot more to say about its new direction. Once it’s released, Starfield will supposedly be a game that can grip players for hundreds of hours, so even though Bethesda has shared quite a bit of concept art, there’s likely far more out there.
Starfield releases November 11, 2022 for PC and Xbox Series X/S.
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