Starfield [REVIEW] – The Definitive Way to Explore the Universe 

I reviewed Starfield on the Xbox Series X back in 2023, and I loved it. It offered the sort of massive, sprawling sci-fi adventure that I had dreamt of, all whilst maintaining the kind of deep, player-driven storytelling that Bethesda is famous for. But, even as a massive fan of the game, I had to admit it wasn’t flawless, and the biggest bugbear for me (and for many others) was the space travel. It felt a bit disjointed, relying heavily on menus and loading screens rather than the seamless exploration that players had been sold -especially when compared to games like No Man’s Sky that handled it so much better. 

Now, nearly three years later, Starfield has FINALLY landed on the PlayStation 5, and jumping back into the cockpit, I looked forward to seeing if years of patches, updates, and new hardware could smooth out those rough edges. And honestly? The results are brilliant. The PlayStation 5 version of Starfield isn’t just a simple port, but arguably the definitive way to play, especially if this is your first experience with the game. 

Check out some screenshots down below: 

I’m not going to go into all of the ins-and-outs of how Starfield plays, because I did that in my original review. However, I will tackle some of the changes and improvements made, with the biggest being the Free Lanes update. This is the fix that the game desperately needed for its space travel woes, with Bethesda introducing a cruise mode that completely transforms how you navigate between planets. Instead of just picking a destination on a map and staring at a loading screen, you can now set a course and let your ship manually cruise over to nearby objectives.  

It sounds like a simple change, but it completely reinvents how traversal feels in the game. While the autopilot does its thing, you are free to get out of your pilot seat, chat with your crew, mess around with your inventory, or do some crafting, completely removing the stop-and-start friction that halted the original release. You can still use the traditional fast travel for jumping across massive distances, sure, but for local system exploration, cruising feels incredibly immersive, giving players those atmospheric moments of downtime in space that the original game was missing. 

Another massive addition that returning players will immediately notice is the X-Tech system. Loot management in the base game was fine, but X-Tech turns it into an incredibly addictive pursuit. By scavenging this rare material, you can now fully customise your weapons and gear… if you find a gun you love but hate its perks, you can just re-roll them. Plus, you can now install an upgrade terminal right on your ship, meaning you don’t have to keep landing at a settlement every time you want to tweak your gear – a small change, sure, but something that goes a long way in making the experience more streamlined and player-friendly. 

“Going back to Starfield on the PlayStation 5 with all of its fresh additions and genuine gameplay improvements has been an absolute blast.” 

The narrative content in Starfield was always its strongest suit, and the original faction storylines remain some of the best questing Bethesda has ever designed. But the 2026 version of the game beefs things up significantly, especially with the Trackers Alliance. What used to be a fairly standard bounty board has evolved into a series of massive, multi-stage story arcs, with these new missions featuring complex puzzles, brilliant level design that feels like classic dungeon crawling, and some genuinely surprising plot twists. It’s been a while since I played Starfield, and it really did feel like there was a wealth of fresh and exciting story-driven content to dive into to make the most of all of the gameplay refinements. 

Then there is the Terran Armada expansion, which leans heavily into ship-to-ship combat. The standout feature here is the introduction of Incursions, which are massive, chaotic war zones that pop up across the galaxy. The brilliant twist is that when you encounter an Incursion, your fast travel is completely jammed, meaning you have no choice but to use the new cruise mode to fly manually into the thick of the battle. It is incredibly cinematic and puts all of your ship-building skills to the ultimate test. If I’m being completely honest, they could also be a bit of a pain when you’re caught out by one when you’ve got a goal in mind, but they still stand out as a real highlight. 

So, how does Starfield actually run on Sony’s console? In short, it is a very solid port, and if you are playing on a standard PlayStation 5, the performance is right on par with the Xbox Series X version, benefiting heavily from all the bug fixes implemented over the last couple of years (and the inclusion of a 60fps mode). But if you have a PlayStation 5 Pro and a display that supports VRR, you are in for a treat. The 40fps enhanced mode is easily the sweet spot, offering a beautiful balance of sharp visuals and smooth gameplay that makes exploring alien worlds an absolute joy. 

Check out some screenshots down below: 

Of course, there are a few minor caveats. Because there is no cross-save support, Xbox and PC veterans will have to start completely from scratch, which is a pain (especially since I have a save file with over 100 hours on it that I’d have loved to have taken over to the PlayStation 5). Also, despite the massive improvements to space travel, you will still run into more loading screens than I’d have liked. It was a complaint I had with the game’s original release, and it still stands now.

Developer: Bethesda Softworks 
Publisher: Bethesda Game Studios 
Platform(s): PlayStation 5 (Reviewed), Xbox Series X|S, PC 
Website: https://www.playstation.com/en-gb/games/starfield/