Summary
Bethesda’s sci-fi space adventure, Starfield, has a lot of amazing features that are borrowed from the developers’ other properties, such as the Fallout and Elder Scrolls games, but there is still one seemingly insignificant piece that was overlooked. For the most part, systems of these older games were used as a foundation to build upon for Starfield, most notably, the immersive narrative that has followed many of Bethesda’s titles. Many of the in-game mechanics are similar as well, including the available customizations and skill systems in place.
Despite being called “Fallout in Space,” there are a lot of differences between Starfield and Fallout. These differences are generally warranted, as it is an entirely different game set as a space exploration adventure with planets to explore. Developers were required, and even expected, to make Starfield vastly different from the post-apocalyptic wastelands of Fallout. Yet, there was one very small feature of Fallout games that became iconic to the series in a way that makes it noticeably absent from Starfield, and it needs to be added.
Starfield Needs Radio Stations To Listen To
Technology in the year 2033 should be able to allow for some form of music broadcasting to extend beyond a city boundary and be available in spaceships or even tied into the helmets of space suits. Starfield does have background music currently that adds to the general ambiance for the sci-fi game, yet this just isn’t the same. Radio stations that could allow players to choose from different styles of music can help provide a better gaming experience, and the extra features that came from the radio stations in Fallout could give greater immersion to Starfield.
In Starfield, it is possible to listen to the Settled System’s preferred news network, SSNN, but only while standing next to the SSNN towers while in cities. A questline for Starfield even involves reporting for the news organization, which will affect the broadcast. However, idly standing by random towers in a city while not doing anything else is a practice many will likely avoid or miss altogether.
Fallout’s Iconic Radio Stations Are More Than Just Background Music
Fallout’s radio stations are more than just background music or chatter from DJs talking about nonsense; but will include bits of story exposition related to what the player has been doing in the world. In Starfield, the news network works similarly by reporting on events that have transpired in a way that adds to the realistic feeling of the game and helps players feel that the galaxy evolves and changes with them, but a lack of radio makes this feel almost pointless. If Bethesda wanted to, they could even create some small eerily subtle changes to announcements for the New Game Plus mode.
The radio stations in Fallout, and other major games that are not by Bethesda, add a lot to large and immersive games like this one. Particularly in a universe where so much is possible within the narrative of the game, and so many choices can be made, having commentary could be an extra reason to want to replay the game to see what changes with different choices. Ultimately, having an increased choice of music would create a better gameplay experience for many players who might otherwise turn off the game sounds entirely to have their own sounds playing. Hopefully, Starfield devs will consider adding radio stations as a feature in future DLC or expansions.
