When Bethesda first dropped this massive space RPG, it sometimes felt a bit like playing a spreadsheet interrupted by loading screens. But years of patches and loud fans forced their hand. Now it’s on PS5 with the huge “Free Lanes” update and the “Terran Armada” DLC. Against all odds, the game is much better now. It’s no longer just a fast-travel menu. It’s an actual, fun space trucker simulator. And more.
Fixing the damn ship
Space Navigation: Real-time system travel via Cruise Mode. You route ship power and fight in dynamic space Incursions.
Planetary Exploration: Deploy the REV-8 or Moon Jumper vehicles to cross terrain fast. Scan wildlife and clear out pirate or Terran bases.
Gear & Economy: Hoard X-Tech to reroll weapon stats. Upgrade ship parts at onboard terminals and link outposts to build a massive crafting network.
Duct Tape, X-Tech, and Cruise Control
So, how does Starfield feel now? You’re still managing cargo, hoarding junk and shooting robots. As expected, it’s not Starfield 2.0, but the loop definitely feels different.
The biggest win is Cruise Mode. You can finally fly between planets in a single system without opening a menu. Point your ship into the black, hit autopilot, and stand up. You can craft gear or listen to your crew complain while the stars slide past the windows. It fixes the broken immersion from launch.
Space isn’t empty anymore, either. Random encounters yank you out of warp.
This leads right into your new obsession: X-Tech. You’ll hunt this stuff like an addict, just so you can use it at the new Ship Optimization Terminal to boost your shields, or burn it to reroll weapon stats. Hitting a rank-four tier and equipping the “Reckless” modifier on a sniper rifle drops your magazine to one bullet and halves your health. The trade-off? A 500% damage spike. All of a sudden, ground combat turns into a high-stakes shooting gallery. Throw in the new Moon Jumper vehicle to bounce over craters, and planetary exploration is lightyears faster. No more agonizing walking simulator.
Then there’s the $10 Terran Armada DLC. You get a solid, grounded enemy faction made up of Colony War defectors in heavy, NASA-tactical ships. The new Incursion system traps you in massive space battles. You can’t just grav-jump to safety. You either fight your way out or shut down their tech. It gives space combat some actual teeth.
PS5 (Pro)
Bringing a massive Creation Engine 2 game to the PS5 is a heavy lift. You can feel the console sweating.
Bethesda dropped over a dozen patches before this console jump. They brought thousands of fixes. They even nailed the DualSense controller. Adaptive triggers fight back depending on your weapon, and ship intercoms play right out of the controller speaker. The new Database feature finally cleans up the messy UI. You can track recipes and linked outpost storage from one screen. You can also pull the ship camera way back now, which cures the visual claustrophobia.
This all sounds great but it’s far from perfectly optimized. The PS5 Pro offers 4K/30fps and 60fps modes, but the reality is rough. Severe technical glitches are dragging the launch down. Hard crashes and overheating consoles are sparking PS Store refund requests right now. The physics engine still loses its mind when a robot explodes. Honestly, your biggest enemy isn’t the Terran Armada right now. It’s the game crashing to the dashboard. Despite these issues, the game maintains a user rating above a 4. This suggests that most PS5 players are willing to overlook the current friction rather than miss out on Bethesda’s sprawling space opera.
Hey, did you also know that:
The game features over 1,000 community and developer-made Creations, letting you mod the experience directly from the console menu.
Upgrading Starborn powers in New Game+ used to require running through repetitive temples. The Free Lanes update completely bypassed this grind using Quantum Essence.
The new Terran Armada DLC companion, Delta, is a reprogrammed enemy robot designed for players who are tired of the strict, “good guy” morality of Constellation.
Engage!
Starfield used to be a somewhat sterile sandbox begging for some dirt. The Terran Armada defectors finally inject some much-needed military grit into the squeaky-clean Settled Systems, and the new robot companion Delta brings a welcome dose of moral grayness to the crew. Add in the tactile joy of active space travel in Cruise Mode and the obsessive gear grind fueled by X-Tech, and Bethesda has successfully salvaged the core loop. It finally feels like a messy, breathing universe you want to live in rather than a sterile checklist to finish. It’s exactly the game it was supposed to be at launch—assuming you can look past temporary (fingers-crossed) PS5 hard crashes that keep fighting you the whole way down.
ID Card
- Developer: Bethesda Game Studios
- Publisher: Bethesda Softworks / Xbox Game Studios
- Engine: Creation Engine 2
- Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC
- Genre: Action RPG / Space Flight Simulator
Dev & Play Media 
Leave a comment