The Week In Games: Pocket Monsters And Simulated Goats<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Bethesda has not advertised Starfield<\/em> as a potential space pacifist sim (it was made perfectly in clear back in August that a no-kill run is not possible<\/span>), but I wanted to jump in and see just how much freedom I had to play the game at my own pace and with my own approach. Can I outmaneuver and outwit violent situations? Can I strive to be above aggression and explore the game holding to the ideals of pacifism? Frustratingly, no.<\/p>\n

Read More:<\/strong> I Can\u2019t Stop Playing This Titanfall-F.E.A.R.-Killzone-Doom-<\/em>Like<\/span><\/p>\n

Look, I love a shooty game<\/span>. Probably to unhealthy degrees. And I love a shooty game in space<\/span>. Especially with big explosions. But Bethesda\u2019s first-person action is not what I come to these games for. Fallout 4<\/em>\u2019s point-and-shoot mechanics were a massive improvement, for sure, over Fallout 3<\/em>\u2019s, but it still didn\u2019t compare to the likes of even Borderlands<\/em>, let alone a dedicated shooter of the kind we\u2019re all familiar with. <\/p>\n

There I go killing again<\/h2>\n

Everything I saw in the trailers for Starfield<\/em> promised me the fantasy of video games: Shoot stuff! Blow shit up! Isn\u2019t this so freaking awesome?? But I wanted something different, quiet, contemplative, with risk of death for sure, but also an opportunity to be my own character in this world. Something more like what I\u2019d find in an Ursula K. LeGuin novel instead of John Wick<\/em> in space. I wanted to gaze into the abyss of \u201cthe blackest sea,\u201d marvel at the celestial bodies above, and try to avoid getting riddled full of bullets as best I could without returning the aggression.<\/p>\n

Starfield<\/em> didn\u2019t care for my desire for peace in its early moments; and thus far that doesn\u2019t look like it\u2019ll change much. In drawing me into its combat, it broke a sense of freedom I was after and<\/em> reminded me why I loathe gunplay in Bethesda games. Yes, Starfield<\/em> has the best-feeling guns to aim and shoot in comparison to previous releases from the studio, but the RPG mechanics under the hood shatter my immersion and its confusing ammo management immediately frustrates me. <\/p>\n

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In Starfield<\/em>\u2019s opening moments, I emerge from some space mines where my character has a little Commander Shepard-esque vision after touching a spooky space object\u2122. A dude comes down from the sky and says \u201cyo, you\u2019re special, let\u2019s go talk to people.\u201d (I\u2019m paraphrasing.)<\/p>\n

My pacifistic and somewhat skeptical gal doesn\u2019t want to go anywhere with this stranger. She wants to stick to mining. But then pirates show up and start shooting people. Just another day in the galaxy. <\/p>\n

The HUD prompt reads \u201cHold off the pirates\u201d and \u201c(Optional) Grab a weapon.\u201d Cool, I think, I\u2019m not doing either of those things. Remember, I\u2019m a coward and so is my character. <\/p>\n

I run into the ship. And it\u2019s locked. That makes sense. Gunfire echoes off in the near distance and I figure I\u2019ll just park myself here while people shoot each other. Maybe the pirates will win and I\u2019ll be fucked. Could be a short end, but that\u2019s the price of trying to play this way. <\/p>\n

The gunfire continues. I get bored, so I start walking around the perimeter of the firefight. Occasionally, a pirate catches sight of me and fires off a few rounds, but they rarely pursue me. I am content with parking myself on the roof of a space building, or hiding behind random objects, and just letting these people kill each other. <\/p>\n

That takes just over 10 minutes as the AI struggles to find each other\u2013when they do land their shots, it matters little, as characters in this game are immersion-shattering bullet sponges. <\/p>\n

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