Frustrated Starfield players say controversial low review scores are justified

Starfield players voice frustration, saying the game's controversial low scores are justified due to glaring shortcomings.

[ThinkThink]

Everyone Is entitled to their own opinions, I have no problems with 7s, 8's, 9's and 10's. It's my game of the year for sure. I can't remember the last game I played for 9 hours straight and still didn't want to stop.

[GoodGuy09]

That's good. I will probably just wait for a sale on this game. Seems this is game is very much a you like it or not kinda game.

[Christopher]

I dislike about as much as I like about the game. It's frustrating to play with knowing you'll have to do things that you don't find fun, but that's how it is. I just do my best to speed through the parts I don't like as fast as possible. I just want to explore the parts I do like, though, and I think that tells you how good those elements can be if people choose put up with the parts they don't like.

[Agent75]

At £70 in the UK, I'll have to pass at launch. And that's for the (shall we say) basic edition.

[Astrokis]

@goodguy
That’s a good way to put Bethesda games, I loved fallout 3 - maybe because I was a teen and it was something to pour time into. But fallout 4 didn’t hit me the same way and Fallout 76 I couldn’t get into at all

[neomahi]

@ Astrokis - But now you're adult whose day is filled with responsibility so you have to pick and choose how you spend it, and if it's something that REALLY commands your time, you pretty much just avoid it altogether. I think that's why so many teenagers got into RPGs, they had all of this time but they were old enough they could understand it but as an adult with a job, family, another job and other responsibilities I won't mention, you just don't have as much time to game as you used to, and I think games like Starfield are for that age range, but a game that long, especially with so many other games there are to play that demand less time, you're gonna leave the longer games to play many of the 8-10 hour games to have a more diverse pallet and experience. Yeah

[LordoftheCritics]

From all the games of every platform this year, I feel motivated to play this more than anything.
Just like I used to with Skyrim.

It's my fav game of the year.

[Jin_Sakai]

I know my favorite GOTY will be Super Mario Bros Wonder. Starfield reminds me of NMS except made by 450 people with a huge budget.

[crazyCoconuts]

Opinions are fine, but imo, a 10 should be reserved for something pretty near perfect. From what I read Starfield is nowhere near that.
I'm gonna look through what sites gave this game a 10 and make a shill list and avoid those sites from now on

[ModsDoBetter]

"Shill list"
Subjective opinion that doesn't align with mine, hmm, must be a shill. 😂

[VincentVanBro]

Some of us blindly trust IGN, others are a bit less simple minded and don’t label all dissent “shills” lol to each their own. That existence sounds miserable though.

[crazyCoconuts]

Not like I trust IGN to always line up with me, but I'm sorry, 10/10 needs to be a masterpiece or close to it. Any of you really believe Starfield is a masterpiece at this point?

[Ninver]

Please provide us with a list of the sites who gave it a 10/10. The game is no where near that standard of polish.

[BaughJaughs]

Could equally do that with the websites that gave it a 7. Make two shill lists while you are at it.

[raWfodog]

“I can't remember the last game I played for 9 hours straight and still didn't want to stop.”

All the games that I play are like that with me. Nothing worth my time will make it past my pre-purchase research. I have too much of a backlog to just pick up and play random games. I will get around to playing Starfield eventually once it releases a complete edition with all DLC included. I’m sure that I will enjoy it.

[Zombieburger638]

Best to wait for modders to fix all the bugs Bethesda will refuse to patch.

[Godmars290]

Still, more than rather sick of you defending "Your" GotY against general contenders and actual games of the year.

[VincentVanBro]

English isn’t your first language is it lol

[RedVest]

Literal defend your goty ill defend mine spam.

[execution17]

🤷‍♂️ idk doesn't feel like it has that Bethesda magic for me since their previous games had me me wanting to keep on going after turning it off or wanting to play it first thing in the morning. But that's just me since I find the space exploration a bit tedious and the bugs and glitches are annoying to deal with when they do pop up

[Weallgame]

What bugs have u dealt with theres truly Hardly any to no game breaking

[MrNinosan]

@Weallgame
Does a bug need to be game breaking to count us a bug?
I had 5 "game breaking" bugs in my 20 hours, if we count getting stuck and you're forced to fast travel out from your position and then walk all the way back (or load last save).
Also Vasco dissapeared when I met Sarah and can't be find anywhere. Not listed as crew so can't set him to any of my ships/outposts, and nowhere to be found in New Atlantis (where he decided to leave me).

First I thought he was supposed to leave me, but after some google searches I realised that wasn't the case.

The we have tons of the normal Bethesda bugs that you mostly laugh at, like flying npcs, npcs stuck in the ground, npcs not looking at you when speaking to them etc

[Sonic1881]

"I can't remember the last game I played for 9 hours straight and still didn't want to stop."

That's the way I feel about Baldur's Gate 3. I put in over 100 hours in that game already

[ThinkThink]

I love that! This year has been fantastic for gaming. I'm going to give baulders gate 3 a go later this year.

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

I wasn't going to get Baldur's Gate 3, but seeing so many people enjoy it, and having several friends/co-workers recommend it, I'm seriously reconsidering.

[neutralgamer1992]

This game needs 4-6 months of patches TBH. This could get a lot better and faster since they have more resources and 450 person team compared to NMS team and it’s limited resources

NMS improved so much with patches ghat many ideas which may have been cool for starfield were implemented before in NMS. So there are obvious and rightfully comparisons

There are very few objective gamers. To Xbox fans this is the GOTY and to PlayStation its a 6/10. The truth lies somewhere between. As someone who bought a XSX for this game there is no way there is fallout 3 or Skyrim type legendary game (IMO) but it has potential and thing could drastically improve

We should praise games that deserve it and give fair criticism/feedback to those that need it. That’s the only way developers can improve games. Let’s be honest NMS started out bare and today is definitely a 8.5-9/10 game and I hope Bethesda can get this game somewhere over 9/10. Right now it’s 7.5/10 for me

[Sonic1881]

They had a whole year to patch up the game🤔

[crazyCoconuts]

That sounds fair and balanced to me.
I'll give it a year or so and then try it out.

[neutralgamer1992]

Sonic

I really believe developers get valuable feedback from gamers. Q&A can only get you so much feedback. Once the game is in gamers hands they can provide the best feedback on what works and what needs to improve. NMS improved so much because of that too. Hello games were able to get so much feedback and make a list of features/improvements gamers wanted

If we are being fair and objective

NMS does travel-exploring and moment to moment gameplay better while starfield has better hand created story content. NMS can use better more curated content whole starfield needs to improve in its gameplay

[ChiefofLoliPolice]

Maybe you just have too much free time on your hands and nothing else to play on Xbox seeing as how you were all starving for exclusive content.

[Takwin]

There is no way possible it is even on the same tier level al Baldur’s Gate 3 or Zelda Tears of the Kingdom. Lol

[EvertonFC]

"I can't remember the last game I played for 9 hours straight and still didn't want to stop"

That's because you've had nothing for 10 years 😂😂

[sadraiden]

Sounds like self-gaslighting. In this day and age, a 7 generally isn't worth your time when there's dozens of 9s and 10s to play.

[Broncob]

played for 2 hrs deleted and uninstalled

[Binarycode]

its not a 10. No way.

I'd say a 7 or 8.

Performance alone should take off a point. Graphics are a mixed bag. Not flying around, cut scene for entering planets.

[EvertonFC]

complicated map, too much time in inventory UI, enemy AI practically stationary

[XiNatsuDragnel]

I think the scores are fair regardless because these are your opinions and we can't stop that.

[blackblades]

Right but professional review leans more on facts and less on opinion or balance state. With all negs on it its not a 10/10 or 9/10 maybe a 8/10 or 7/10 nothing more nothing less which is still rated as a good game but actually shows the flaws and not just ignore them and slapping a perfect score on them

[Christopher]

This is an industry issue, not really anything tied to Starfield or the like.

[Seraphim]

that's just it, journalism has become paid opinions instead of objectively looking at the matters of fact. As a matter of fact this game simply can not be scored a 10 solely due to its issues. Especially but not limited to when you compare it to the standards of modern gaming. 2 cents.

Everyone wants to talk about nintendo getting a pass, but what's happening w/ Starfield, by large swaths of journos is giving the game a pass simply due to it being Bethesda, or because it's leaps and bounds more polished than their past games which is an incredibly low bar to set. Reviewing this game based of Bethesda previous games is simply asinine. Reasonably speaking, from a matter of fact this game should be scoring between about 7-8 with some 6's and 9's sprinkled in. Anything above or below would be an outlier, clickbait, etc. No matter how you slice it this game does not equal a 10. Like Christopher said, this an industry issue, a glaring one at that. again, 2 cents

[wiz7191]

@Blackblades they don’t always lean on facts , how many times games got bad reviews just because the person reviewing them was just bad at games.

[blackblades]

.

[Garethvk]

I would say Cherry Picking which sites get reviews is a bigger issue as when established sites are excluded from the review process it does raise questions about the selection criteria which is only magnified when those picked to review the game heap praise on it yet when it is available to the masses a different narrative appears. The most important rule is to be fair and objective. You cannot accept or appear to accept benefits for a positive review or your credibility is shot. It becomes an Influencer based marketplace where anything will be praised if the price or perks are met and this is simply wrong. A game like a movie should stand or fall based on merit.

[EvertonFC]

Unfortunately if you say 7 or 8/10 it means you`re a PS fanboy lol. I haven`t played it yet but lots of xbox and bethesda die hards cog and matty from duke or the team over at KFG have all pointed out its faults but agree its a good game overall.

[Flawlessmic]

Anything below a 7 for starfield is very harsh.

I means it's defs not game of the year and very much not game if the decade and it has a fair few issues, namely inventory management, fetch quests, fake space travel, time spent in menus and the aggregious act of not having a map for the main citys at minimum but outside of that really enjoyed the 18 hrs iv spent so far and look forward to countless more.

It's a solid 8.5 for me at this point so overall I think the critics have got it right seeing as its sitting at 88-87

[MetroidFREAK21]

A 7 is a good score. Not every game needs to be the greatest game ever... like people have different opinions and that's okay. You can like it, can dislike it. The discourse will never end

[ModsDoBetter]

I honestly don't know when gamers started raising the bar to the point 7 is considered low.

5 is average so low to me should be anything below 3 & high is anything above 7. Just doesn't make sense. Like games are reviewed on this skewed scale of 7-10, you may as well just make it 1-3.

[MetroidFREAK21]

I've played and enjoyed many 5-6/10 games before. Just because a game reviewed lower than some expected doesn't mean it's bad or anything. Just has some flaws that you'll need to take into account. Like I'm eager to jump into Starfield when I buy a digital copy on my Series S Friday. Am I expecting groundbreaking gameplay? No, I've heard it's a but tedious the first few hours but it looks fun and the idea of going to far off areas and leveling up traits/exploring sounds appealing to me. I don't play games based on reviews or specific platforms. I play on everything and anything that interests me

[crazyCoconuts]

@metroid I'm curious...what are a few of the 5-6/10 games you've enjoyed playing?

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

I don't understand how we got to this point either, 7 should be above average, then again, review scores lost all meaning when everything reviewed became a 8, 9, 10 out of 10.

[Rocketisleague]

7 is fine. He is due is...there are so much...better games. Constantly. There are 8s+ out every month or 2. Unless you stick to 1 platform I spose

[sadraiden]

7 is low because there's a sea of actually high quality games and people who hyped the game up before launch are experiencing buyer's remorse so they have to remind us all that "ackshually 7 is a great score and not a milquetoast, passable, forgettable score!"

[yeahokwhatever]

Starfield realistically is a good 6. Too many bugs for it to be good enough to merit a 7. But i still think its better than average. Need for Speed being average.

[EvertonFC]

I played "Prison Break" on PS3 which scored 3/10 across the board yet the game was a blatant rip off of
riddick: escape from butchers bay which was a PC cult classic and scored 9/10 and 10/10s
I literally don`t think anyone actually played prison break and just automatically scored it low cause it was a tv series game.
Prison break was a great game, unfortunately the studio closed down due to low sales because of incompetent journos.

[ChasterMies]

Whoa, sanity. Some folks won’t like that.

[MetroidFREAK21]

Heh accurate

[VincentVanBro]

A 10 is a great score too, and I’m not a huge IGN fan anyway. Although, I’m shocked to see the IGN loyalty on N4G. Oh well.

[MetroidFREAK21]

Some people swear on review scores and I never understood why...

[Father__Merrin]

this game would have been better off with just one large planet to explore as its game hub

[XBManiac]

The Outer World? It has just been done before. Maybe for The Outer World 2 they include a portal to visit other planets and some space fights.

[Christopher]

I mean, you do need other worlds to support the main quest, though. Do you mean it would be more like Mass Effect w/one main hub world of massive size to explore and then smaller quest-specific zones to support the story but not their own 'worlds'?

I think with the story they're telling, they would have had to make a different game all together to do that. I also think that's just a bigger copy of games like Mass Effect. Regardless of how I may or may not enjoy certain elements of the game, I wouldn't want to play another ME or OW game.

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

What about just having a solar system with a dozen or less planets? We don't need a whole galaxy worth of planets to explore.

[Agent75]

If anything scores 5 out of 10, 2.5 out of 5 or 50% out of 100%, that's an average score. Be it reviewing a biscuit to a house with 1,000 bedrooms. It's called reality.

[crazyCoconuts]

Believe it or not, the average GPA is not 2.0.
And the average review for games is not 5.0.

[VariantAEC]

No one wants a 2.0 GPA, but it doesn't change the fact that a 2.0 GPA is bog average. If you are under 2.0 (a "C" in the letter grading scheme), you aren't showing that you are learning at an average rate and therefore are failing. So a 2.0 out of 4.0 game would be taking stuff from other games... kind of like how Starfield is just another Bethesda game with a fresh coat of paint taking bits from NMS and chunks from Mass Effect.

[jartoon]

Yea, that's not at all how averages work.

[VariantAEC]

As far as the scoring measurement itself is concerned, it totally is.

[Shane Kim]

The median would (or could) be what you say, not the average.

[Becuzisaid]

Someone failed math in school.

[crazyCoconuts]

What do you mean? He got a 50%!

[Knightofelemia]

I am not buying a Series X to try this game out on Gamepass. I am not paying for Gamepass to try this game out on PC. And I am not paying $90 on Steam for a space game that has boundaries and lack of some type of life on a planet.

[Knightofelemia]

A space exploration game with boundaries is not exploring. And exploring empty boring planets is well boring. I have seen this game on Twitch I won't touch it. People are either going to like it or hate this game. Me I am not buying a Series X to play it on Gamepass. I am not paying for Gamepass to play this game on pc. And I am not paying Steam $90 Canadian to buy this game.

[ThinkThink]

Does not compute. Does not compute.

[ModsDoBetter]

So desperate to tell people they're not buying something that they posted it twice.

[Knightofelemia]

I am human I am not perfect like you think you are.

[Abear21]

Agreed! If Starfield was a true must play I would have bought a X for it. As it is, I’m still waiting on my reason to buy a Xbox this Gen. Or another 8/10 (other than Forza) reason.

[VincentVanBro]

You felt the need to post the same thing twice 🤣 I can’t even

[got_dam]

Some of these negative reviews seem legit. Some of them just seem to be calling out small stuff to lose their mind over. I'm sure there are reviews out there that hav their asses chapped over the MS exclusivity, and fair enough for that. Personally, I had lost faith in bethesda a long, long time ago and have no interest in starfield. That being said, I very much doubt this is a 5/10 game. I read one review claiming this is "bethesda's biggest failure ever" and I just can't believe it is anywhere near THAT bad. Maybe I'll try it for myself and get proven wrong. Or, more likely, I'll just never play it. Too many good games have been or will be released for me worry too much about starfield.

[anast]

It's a solid 6 in 2023 and a 10 in 2005.

[ThinkThink]

@anast, How many hours in are you? Have you see the space onions?

[MrNinosan]

I found the "space onions" less than 2 hours in. Doesn't have to play for too long.
However, no, Anast didn't play the game and probably never had the intention.
He's one of the Sony fanboys that are as awkward as the Obscure, Obscurare etc from the Xbox side here.

However, I almost agree with him, with the difference that I have put 25 hours down.

It's a 7/10 for me, which is fine by me, but the biggest let down is that this was the game I bought Series X for, and would've hoped to be wowed, which I haven't.

It feels like this game is a perfect game from 10-15 years ago but aged badly.

[VincentVanBro]

Still going 🤣 no life confirmed

[goldwyncq]

Looked at his comments history and it's all just saltiness about Starfield lol. Who'd waste their time that much talking about a game they apparently hate?

[goldwyncq]

So games like MGS3 and GTA San Andreas are a 6 now?

[TwistedXenos]

Ill probably buy it after a year when they have fixed bugs and stuff

[Tedakin]

It's one of the best reviewed games of the year, yet is suffering from "low review scores."

[Abear21]

88 on Metacritic, same score as Deathloop. That was an enjoyable game as I’m sure Starfield is. Just not the must play experience people were hoping for.

[Sonic1881]

You should know there will be 50 more Starfield reviews coming up on metacritic. Let's not forget that Bethesda didn't give review codes to everyone on the embargo review date. Eurogamer and a few other websites just got their review codes not to long ago. So I expect the overall review score to fluctuate and change in the upcoming days and weeks

[CrashMania]

@sonic and IGNs 7/10 also isn't there yet, that's been live for days though, seems a bit weird to me..

I'd give it a 7, as someone got a pretty early copy the exploration is the biggest letdown, just barren, procedural generated wastelands with boundaries.

[blackblades]

@Crash that is weird maybe a bug/glitch

[goldwyncq]

That's higher than FFXVI by one point btw. Is FFXVI a failure now?

[MrNinosan]

It's around 25-30 games higher rated this year

[Armaggedon]

Not every game is made for everyone. Bethesda didn’t invest resources in the usual factors or standards that people would label as necessary for a good game. People are also comparing it to Baldurs gate etc. Lets stop comparing games with such a competitive mindset, and just pick the games you like to play and enjoy them. Starfield is a hell of a game, its strengths just dont manifest in the same way as games that are more aligned with the expected standard.

[Christopher]

***Lets stop comparing games with such a competitive mindset, and just pick the games you like to play and enjoy them.***

Don't do the thing that helps you to determine if one game is for you or not.

***Starfield is a hell of a game, its strengths just dont manifest in the same way as games that are more aligned with the expected standard. ***

It literally manifests the exact same way as every Bethesda RPG in the last 15 years.

---

In defense of the game, let's not try and gatekeep complaints and hyperbolize the Bethesda method. The game is good, it has its strengths and its weaknesses like most games, AAA or not. People are going to like or dislike it based on those strengths. Simple as that. Nothing more, nothing less.

But, this game is not breaking any mold or elevating gaming to any new levels. It's just making a good RPG w/quasi-exploration and survival elements. Not even the first to do that. But it is doing it well for the context of the game. And that's great for a lot of people who are playing it and that's good.

[Armaggedon]

“There is nothing new under the sun.”

[alexkarkar]

The game is really bad. 2 out of 10 for me. It was torture to play it. I hate it.

[ChasterMies]

The other way of saying this is that they believe the high scores are unjustified.

[MrBaskerville]

I think I'm between a 7 and a 8. Lack of spacetravel is a big minus for me. But also trying to change how I view the game, might fare better if approached as a mass effect than if approached like a Fallout + Elite.

Though my opinion also changes by what I do in the game. Some sessions have been more enjoyable than others.

[RhinoGamer88]

Starfield for me, is a an analog of Cyberpunk77...not so much with the technical issues (it has much fewer) but with the balancing, usability, uI/ux, enemy ai, etc... I bought game pass for it, and I will wait to dive in after the 3rd or 4th patch.

I would have expected, after Redfall, the Xbox team to perform better here.

[Destiny1080]

what's the matter all the fake tens, not doing it for ya

[ChiefofLoliPolice]

This seems like one of those *you either love it hate it* kind of games. I'll try it on gamepass and if I like it I'll still wait for a sale.

[HyperMoused]

Im having fun with it so far, the only thing ive found frustrating is, ive managed to dislocate a limb and get CO2 lung, med kits dont just fix this.

[RedVest]

As an avid player of elite and SC, im glad they cut out the boring stuff. It's cool moving system to system your first 10? Times until you get bored during traveling? My only complaint keeping it from a 10 or maybe a 9.5 is the no vehicles, with some planets I've seen its a huge missed opportunity, no way to sugar coat it. I'd take a few quick loading screens if I can get to content faster. Actually once I learned I can fast travel in cities proper it only made it better. Also another bad thing no city map. Maybe an 8.5. However still not a bad game at all. Personally I'd give it a 9 myself I don't think I've ever given a 10/10 before except for BoTW initially not at launch but when I played it like 2 years later. /Rant

[CantThinkOfAUsername]

If the game was as interesting as Skyrim or The Witcher 3, you wouldn't fast travel in the first place.

[talocaca]

To me it looks like a decent (probably even good game).....but it definitely sounds like a strong 8, not the 100 that some websites gave it 🙄

Only 2 days to find out.

[M0chit0]

"Frustrated Starfield players".

[BaughJaughs]

The article could also be: delighted starfield players believe 10 scores are justified. See how that works, just more garbage biased opinion articles. Move along

[mkis007]

Ya I'm trying, really trying... I can't deal with how much the gameplay goes through the menu...I'm calling it quits for a bit. I can't fathom a 10/10 score right now.

[neomahi]

Maybe they wanna reconsider reinstating the Game Pass Trial Period again ... Since they're so into reversals

[AnotherGamer]

How it got 10s, I got no idea.

[Grave]

Seems to me now that it's not much of a surprise Microsoft pushed so hard to get Baldur's Gate 3 on XBox Series X before end of year. They knew Starfield was good, but not near as genre-defining as BG3. Definitely didn't want the probable GOTY only on PS5/PC.

[yeahokwhatever]

bethesda tried, i guess. ive been playing it and its even buggier than i remember skyrim being. it feels sort of like fallout 4 in space with tons of (at least this far in my game) useless filler. LOTS of repeated NPCs, weird dialogue, bad pathfinding, horrible enemy AI. I want to like this game so much that i bought it early despite having gamepass, but oof. they really dropped the ball on this game. For me, one of the dumbest things about the game is the dialogue mini game where you're trying to convince people things. it tries to introduce this awesome mechanic but then it just falls flat on its face because the dialogue is just so bad. its like the characters in the game all know they're characters in a game. "oh oh, ill accept HALF PAY because you asked twice. lol"

[Dazelya]

7 is very good for Xbox.

[mastershredder]

The I spend “100+ hours playing it” does not equate to a great game when by design, consumes countless hours due to it’s pacing and size. It’s the stupidest go-to statement this review cycle.

[Agent75]

If you take say 100 game reviews, you can calculate an average score. But a game on its own, 5 out of 10, 50% out of 100% etc. is an average score. Been gaming for over 40 years. I'm not OCD with review scores. There has and never will be a perfect game. Any game scoring 100% our 5 out of 5 etc., it's a load of tosh.

[X-23]

I did not like it after about an hour or so, I was kind of put off and annoyed by certain things especially the combat. It seems directionless for the most part, I got to the point where I said whatever I'll just focus on a thing and do it which was the Vanguard story/mission side quest stuff it became kind of interesting then because of the story that was associated with it.
I'd say 12 hours later I enjoy the game it's a slow burn, but just because I enjoy it doesn't mean I'm in love with it I still find it kind of uninspiring and soul-less in some elements. It's not a 10 out of 10 get Bethesda out of your mouth right away it's a 7 or a 8, some people who don't give it time to see at least a little bit of what it has to offer are probably going to give it a 6.

Once you realize it's just Bethesda producing a new game that's just a space mix of Fallout, (Fallout 76) and Elder Scrolls instead of expecting something innovative like Star Citizen then you'll be alright. It's like you're playing the game to see what it has and what you can do rather than playing to have fun, the game doesn't really hand you the keys to pilot the vessel you have to go out and find them yourself.

This game isn't going to be a 9 or a 10 out of 10 until Modders have their way with it. Starfield with a complete Star Wars coat of paint would be pretty solid, not gonna lie.

[UltimateRacer]

Overhyped and massively underdelivered.