168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Starfield tells a great story, but even the biggest fans would be hard-pressed to deny that the main quest largely consists of artificial fetch quests and samey firefights. Aside from what you’re fighting for and who you’re doing it with, Starfield doesn’t inspire much with its quest design. A compelling heist mission on Neon aside, the very best mission in Bethesda’s RPG takes inspiration from the most unlikely of places - 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Titanfall 2.
Entangled is a story mission that takes you to Nikila Research Station on a planet which seems like any other. You&rಌsquo;re here to find an artifact for Constellation, and I expected it to be a case of landing, finding a cave, and pilfering the space rock from a mineral deposit for the umpteenth time. But as I pull into orbit, a nearby satellite bellows a distress call that has been repeating for what seems like years.
I land and approach the intercom to offer my help, only to be told that nothing is wrong, and the call must be an elaborate prank. Weird, but I brush this 🐲aside and head inside to speak with the scientist in charge of the facility. After taking a few steps, my entire world is turned upside down.
Moments after introducing myself I begin blinking in and out of different universes. Suddenly, the pristine science facility is a morbid collection of insect hives and blown-up offices, all the humans I’d encouꦦntered before reduced to skeletons sitting at their desks or hunched over counters, like they were killed in a matter of seconds while going about their everyday lives.
I battle hostile creatures that emerge from the walls, struggling to find a way out until, in the blink of an eye, I’m back in the safety of the facility. The man escorting me is suitably confused, asking why I was teleporting all over the shop like some sort of stealthy high-tech thief. Turns out there’s a somewhat reasonable explanation, and this mission will soon follow in the footsteps of Titanfall 2’s ‘Effect and Cause’ as we explore the same place from two very different realities. One is safe and bustling with life꧒, while the other is a husk of what it used to be.
Hopping between dimensions is random until you gain access to a device that allows you to do so at will. Not at the touch of a button, but instead by seeking out sources of resonance in the eಞnvironment which are used to solve puzzles and avoid close shaves with giant insects and bloodthirsty robots. Your job is to reach the underground lab and shut down the strange experiment causing this dimensional rapture, choosing which reality to save before it comes to a close. It’s a great moral quandary and a mechanical marvel you’d never expect to see in a Bethesda game. Only once does Starfield ever try something this out of pocket, and it works beautifully, with jumps between dimensions taking only a second as the same items and puzzles can be found in each permutation, but in different states of disrepair.
I’d find myself waltzing to a doorway obstructed by rubble or an alarm system poised to bring an army of turrets down on my ass, but hopping into another dimension allowed me to stay out of harm’s way and find ways through the facility that might otherwise stay undiscovered. I loved how loot would double up if you were smart enough to jump around at the right time, and how I could try to figure out bespoke solutions that no other player might have seen before. Not only is it fun to figure out, but it’s also a stellar example of environmental storytelling that speaks toღ the game’s strength of curated locations over bland procedural generation. Only a human hand could have crafted this, with every object, corpse, and puzzle piece placed with purpose.
Being able to take control of environments in an RPG which otherwise feels static is quite liberating, and speaks to an approach to level designꦐ and storytelling I wish Starfield had more of. I expected this quest to be yet another dull artefact hunt, but it turned into what might be one of the best levels I’ve seen all year. It constantly surprised, required inventive solutions, and never once treated me like an idiot.
I could delve into the cause of this dilemma as much as I wanted, or instead draw my own conclusions from each new room I stumbled across. It wasn’t a bland fetch quest or another forgettable combat encounter, and in taking 🐈inspiration from one of the best shooters in recent years, Starfield was able to make something unlike anything we’ve seen Bethesda attempt before.
