One of the most highly anticipated games leading up to the Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase at E3 2021 was Starfield. First announced three years ago, Starfield was unveiled at E3 2018, and fans have been waiting for any tangible piece of information on the game since then. Todd Howard and company have finally come through with a teaser trailer, the game's release date, and some intriguing news on the game during the event today, and fans are extremely excited. Some of that includes information on the Constellation Faction within Starfield.
Bethesda had a lot to share in the Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase, including 10 more games heading to Game Pass. But it is hard to deny that Starfield was its heavy hitter. The entire event opened with Starfield, and it closed with another brand new Bethesda/Arkane Studios game announcement with Redfall. And even though the trailer for Starfield was a teaser, it still held plenty of hints for what is to come.
Starfield's Official Teaser Trailer Provides Answers
The official teaser of Starfield reveals a few important key details. While it is not explicit gameplay, it is shown in-engine and there are images and details that are significant. In fact, Todd Howard himself has said that he wants fans to look deeper into the trailer to find details big and small. He thinks that if fans look at the 4K trailer, specifically, that they will find answers by looking frame-by-frame throughout the teaser trailer. There are already fans who are having fun with things like the cheese sandwich, but other aspects of the trailer have a deeper meaning.
An important thing, of course, is that the game's release date was unveiled in the trailer: November 11, 2022. The trailer itself breaks the fourth wall in a unique way. The protagonist of the trailer enters in the numbers 11-11-22, which was how the announcement was made that Starfield would be released on that date. Starfield's release date likely means that Elder Scrolls 6 has a long development time to go.
Some small but notable details of the trailer include changing animations on the gun, a mirror plastered with notes that fans will assuredly dive into, a charming waving robot/mech, a map, and a ladder. But along with the obvious release date and answers that fans will figure out in time, there are other things that the trailer may or may not have already made clear, and Howard has discussed.
Explaining the Constellation Faction
According to Howard, Starfield takes place 300 years in the future. The game is obviously fictional, but it is within the context of Earth's history and future. The Constellation is similar to NASA; Howard says that it is a space-exploring group that is a mix of Indiana Jones and the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
Interestingly enough, Bethesda is currently working on an Indiana Jones game by way of Machine Games, but that likely is not what Howard is referring to with the Constellation's inspiration. Instead, he says that the group is looking for answers in the infinite space. The trailer has two voices: a narrator and a command-style voice over a radio. The protagonist of the video is clearly a part of Constellation for many reasons, one of which is that she has a Constellation Spacefarer's Guide book on her shelf. Another is that she has the Constellation insignia on her shoulder, showing that Constellation appears to be a well-organized group.
When the narrator does speak, they appear to take things very seriously. It seems that being a part of Constellation is like being a part of a family. The group is all about searching for answers. The group has been working towards an end goal for quite some time, but this is just the "beginning of humanity's final journey." Constellation is here to discover what is out there, but Constellation is not alone.
The Constellation Faction is Just One of Many in Starfield
Starfield went on hiatus for a considerable time after its announcement, so its teaser trailer feels like a full-blown reveal in many ways. However, there is so much about the game that is yet to be divulged. Starfield looks like a game about exploring the great unknown, but that could be just one small portion of the game, and Todd Howard hinted at that recently.
The Constellation Faction is just one of many factions in Starfield, as players will be able to be whoever they want to be in the Starfield universe. According to Howard, the team is hoping to create the tools to allow players to express themselves however they want, and the factions would be one way for them to do so. It may not be that one faction is simply competing against another in the same realm, it could be that they are drastically different from one another.
Howard specifically said that the Constellation Faction is the last group of space explorers. This would lead one to believe the other factions in the game are likely not competing with Constellation in the area of searching for answers in the intergalactic cosmos. Instead, it could be that there are factions of war, factions of mining, factions of building cities and expanding territories, and so on and so forth. With the boundaries being as endless as space itself, the options are quite limitless. In some ways, Howard and Bethesda would need to be careful to set those expectations, however, as Starfield could quickly sound like No Man Sky and set the bar unrealistically high.
Starfield has the chance to be the future for Xbox. Microsoft will be more than happy if it can simply reap the rewards of games like Doom, Fallout, and Elder Scrolls. But if Starfield somehow becomes a behemoth in the world of gaming, then the 7.5 billion dollar purchase will be a drop in the bucket and the acquisition will be that much more worth it for both sides.
Starfield will release on November 11, 2022, for PC and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: Telegraph