Starfield's first 'review' has dropped 85 days before launch, and oh boy

For many, a review is a source of information that can help us decide if a product is for us. However, what if that review was based on a product that’s not actually been experienced?

Well, that’s exactly what has happened with Bethesda’s highly anticipated sci-fi RPG, Starfield. At the time of publishing this “review”, the game was 85 days away from being released.

As reported by GamesRadar, someone has reviewed Starfield even though they’ve obviously not played the game. Following the Xbox Games Showcase last weekend, Starfield had its own dedicated direct event. It featured a generous helping of gameplay footage as well as an extended deepdive from the developers that are working on the game, including Bethesda chief, Todd Howard.

As far as we’re aware, only a single video game media outlet had the opportunity to go hands-on with Starfield during its event. So there is no way that this Metacritic review is genuine, especially as it’s very much in jest with an accompanying score of zero.

The “review” that was posted by Joppsta360, which was very tongue in cheek, said: “Bethesda - because making games that work out of the box is less important than figuring out all the ways to extract as much money from your bank account as possible.”

It continues: “Starfield Super Special 76 edition includes the expected disappointment. Comes with a shot glass so you can participate in the recurring Internet Historian drinking game. Take a shot every time Todd Howard lies. Or don't, you will be dead from alcohol poisoning 5 minutes into the 20_ minute masterpiece highlighting yet another Bethesda disasterpiece."

The review which was posted on 13 June 2023 has now been removed. Thankfully, Twitter user ElrondGaming managed to get a screenshot before Joppsta360’s words of wisdom were lost into the abyss of an intergalactic black hole.

In more relevant Starfield news, this single-player adventure looks to be one of the biggest video games of all time, quite literally. Not only does it feature the largest city that Bethesda has ever created, but it also includes over 1000 planets for players to freely explore. However, some fans feel disgruntled given that Starfield is locked at 30fps.

Starfield will be released on 6 September 2023 for PC and Xbox Series X|S.