Although the former designer has insisted the action-RPG is a “good game”, Bruce Nesmith thinks Starfield is not “in the same calibre” as Fallout and The Elder Scrolls.
Starfield former systems designer Bruce Nesmith has admitted the game is not “in the same calibre” as Fallout or The Elder Scrolls.
While the developer has insisted the action-RPG is a “good game”, Nesmith doesn’t think Starfield could match the quality of Bethesda’s other works like Fallout and The Elder Scrolls.
During an interview with FRVR, he said: “I think it’s a good game. I don’t think it’s in the same calibre as the other two, you know, Fallout or Skyrim, or Elder Scrolls rather, but I think it’s a good game.
“I worked on it, I’m proud of the work I did. I’m proud of the work that the people I knew did on it. I think they made a great game.”
When Starfield launched in 2023, the title was met with a mixed reception, as some fans felt the game was lacking content.
However, Nesmith argued Starfield “would have been received differently” had it been made by another studio that doesn’t have Bethesda’s reputation.
Nesmith also said he felt Starfield’s space sections are “inherently boring”, and the different planets players can explore “feel very samey”.
He explained: “I’m an enormous space fan, I’m an amateur astronomer, I’m up on all that stuff, a lot of the work I did on Starfield was on the astronomical data.
“But space is inherently boring. It’s literally described as nothingness. So moving throughout that isn’t where the excitement is, in my opinion.
“But when the planets start to feel very samey and you don’t start to feel the excitement on the planets, that’s to me where it falls apart.
“I was also disappointed when, pretty much, the only serious enemy you fought were people … there’s lots of cool alien creatures, but they’re like the wolves in Skyrim.
“They’re just there, they don’t contribute, you don’t have the variety of serious opponents that are story generators.”
Starfield ex-designer says it’s not ‘in the same calibre’ as Fallout and Elder Scrolls
