Starfieldis arguably the most ambitious project undertaken by Bethesda in many years. Not only does space travel add a new dimension to open world play, the new narrative also opens up more options for players looking for a different RPG experience. UnliketheFalloutseries, where science is often a necessary evil and the gateway to further destruction in an already ruined world,Starfieldopens the door for a more utopian vision courtesy of all the resources of the galaxy. After being in development for six years,Starfieldpromises new horizons in game mirroring the new options of players.
A huge part of that will be the technology and options thatStarfieldputs in the hands of players. Tools for exploration, exploitation, and combat are expected to be more plentiful within the high science setting, and this already seems to be the case. Base building and ship customization are already a great start when it comes to players putting their personal stamp on the galaxy, but there’s one more piece of tech thatStarfieldshould definitely bring to them, and it’s one Bethesda is very familiar with: power armor.
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The Roots of Fallout’s Power Armor
Power armor is one of the most iconic pieces of equipment to ever emerge from theFalloutseries, although it by no means originated from that series. Heavy, mechanized armor run by a dedicated power sources makes up everything from background noise to core gameplay elements or central conceits in many stories and games. Other famous examples include Iron Man’s many suits andthe Javelin suits fromAnthem.
Even among all of these different power armors though, theFalloutmodels stand out for a few reasons. First and foremost is their look, being decidedly bulky and cumbersome, and sporting the iconic filter mask and shaded eyepieces. These are power suits that exist in an irradiated world, and are arguably just as much the face of the series as Vault Boy. While the power armor remainsone ofFallout’s most defining features, it should by no means remain limited to that franchise. In fact,Starfieldis exactly the place for it to grow and mature into something even greater than its previous iterations.
Mechanics Over Aesthetics
One thing that should be established early on is that, if power armor comes toStarfield, it most likely will not bear the iconic visage ofFallout’s power armor. Certain varieties of power armor, such as one designed for irradiated biomes, might bear a resemblance, but most of them probably won’t. The reasons for this are twofold: firstly, it wouldn’t make sense for a radiation proof warsuit with a rebreather to be deployed in other environments. The other is that that iconic visage should stay with its franchise, especially since the helmet fromStarfieldis on its way to being the game’s icon, as opposed to theFalloutpower armor helmet.
That said, the mechanics of power armor as built inFallout 4andFallout 76are ripe for implementation inStarfield. Originally, power armor simply provided a massive boost in stats to characters who could find and use it, especially in the defense department. Beginning withFallout 4onwards, thepower armor became an entirely separate gameplay system. Players could build their own suit out of a standard frame, and it gave both baseline abilities and modular perks depending on parts and upgrades. These are the primary systems that should be adapted intoStarfield, and which have a lot of room to grow.
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Power Armor Has Solid Fundamentals
The baseline power offered by theFalloutpower armor is already really useful in an exploration based game likeStarfield. Even the most basic suits provide resistance to all fall damage, one of the major killers when exploring new territory in open worlds. One bad fall in anopen world gamecan undo a lot of progress, and the damage dealt to everything nearby on a particularly large fall would be nice to keep too.
Similarly useful is the ability to walk along the bottom of a large body of water and remain under for a long time. Paired with major hazard repellent, this could provide easy access to hostile underwater biomes, whichanySubnauticaplayerknows is vital. Finally, power armor comes standard with headlights mounted on the helmet, useful for exploring caves. Beyond this, there is also the increased strength, useful for high carrying capacity. In a resource gathering game, increasing carrying capacity is king, and power armor can really help with that. All of these upgrades would allow power armor to fit nicely into a slot as a late-game powerup inStarfield, letting players reach new environs that were previously impassable and making the worlds they encounter more accessible overall.
Room for Improvement in Starfield
The first and most obvious upgrade that could come to power armor inStarfieldis flight.The flight system fromAnthem’s Javelinsremains a gold standard, and even after the game flopped, players still came together to discuss their favorite suits. Adding it inStarfield, a game about exploration in space, seems like a no-brainer. It could prove the only way to explore certain parts of planets, or provide an extra element to combat. If this is combined with vacuum protection, perhaps it could also let players repair their ships in space without having to find a planet to land on.
Next would be equipment integration, making the power armor a sort of Swiss army knife for taking apart the worlds ofStarfield. It’s no secret thatStarfieldis being compared toNo Man’s Skya lot, and onelesson thatStarfieldcan take fromNo Man’s Skyis how it implements heavy-duty equipment.No Man’s Skyrolled out multiple vehicles with multiple uses over many years of DLC, butStarfieldcan take many of the most useful and give them to players at release. With power armor as a universal mount for these, players won’t have to switch vehicles and can pair these useful tools with huge defense and offense.
Whether any of this comes toStarfieldwith launch remains to be seen, but hopefully at least the basic power armor system makes it into player’s hands. It’s decidedly hard to make a game worse by adding power armor after all. In the unfortunate case that power armor does not come with day one launch, it’s worth remembering thatStarfieldwill support mods.
Starfieldis scheduled to release in 2023 for PC and Xbox Series X|S.
