Beloved Fallout composer says Bethesda's Todd Howard is a "visionary" — and that critics of Xbox's Starfield "were just not ready" for the controversial RPG

If you're a big fan of the music in the Fallout series, you have composer Inon Zur to thank for quite a bit of it. Though he's worked on tons of different video games, films, and TV shows over the years, Zur is arguably best known for the soundtracks he's made for Bethesda's fan-favorite post-nuclear RPG series.

He composed for Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas, Fallout 4, and Fallout 76, with the main theme of Fallout 4 in particular standing out as one of his most iconic creations. He also did some work on Amazon's Fallout TV show, and he composed the soundtrack for Bethesda's 2023 Xbox, PC, and Xbox Game Pass RPG Starfield, too.

Most players love Starfield's music, though the same can't be said about the actual game, which proved unusually divisive for a single player Bethesda title. For lots of players — yours truly included — Starfield felt very boring and shallow despite having over 1,000 planets to explore, and lacked the rich depth and world design found in the studio's other games.

Zur, though, believes that players "were just not ready" for Starfield when it released, and thinks that in time, we'll all consider the game to be a "legendary" title when we look back at it. He also says Bethesda's game director Todd Howard is a "visionary," and one of the most creative individuals in the gaming industry.

"Todd is one, if not the most creative and invigorating human beings in the industry. He just doesn't stop. He always has new ideas. He always knows what he wants. He is very persuasive and has a very strong character," he told RPG Site in a recent interview. "He will also find ways to describe what he wants without really calling it a name. He knows how to allow freedom of creativity on one hand, but also how to steer it to his own vision. He is a visionary. He sees things that people will start to find out years later."

"This also applies to Starfield. When Starfield released, I believe people were just not ready for it. It's a different way of looking at it, but Todd is really strong, and he said very, very lightly, 'Look, if you don't like it, then you don't like it, but this is the new thing that we're doing, and we're sticking to it,'" he continued. "He believes in his way, and it just has proven time and time again that eventually people will understand his vision. It just takes time and this is a common thing for all the big visionaries."

"Sometimes people really don't understand them correctly, but they were strong enough to stay on course, and Todd will stay on course on Starfield. Starfield will eventually become something that will be legendary. I have no doubt. It's just a matter of time," he continued.

While I do think the bones of a good game are there — the writing is decent, the background lore is great, Starfield's combat systems and ship mechanics are enjoyable, and there's some solid RPG crunch in the game's larger main areas — there's very little meat on them, and ultimately, there's not much about Starfield that feels truly remarkable.

Ultimately, I'm not sure what brilliance I'm missing here, and I don't think what's next for Starfield will change my mind, either; Todd Howard has said that the game's next big content drop won't be a transformative "Starfield 2.0" that fundamentally reworks it, and will instead be something aimed at people who really like the RPG as it is.

With that said, I do think the outright contempt many hold Starfield in is harsher than what it deserves. I don't think I'll ever call Starfield a "legendary" game, but it's not a terrible one, either. It's just...fine.

🗨️ What do you think of Starfield?

While I can't say I agree with Inon Zur that Starfield was misunderstood, that we "were just not ready" for it, or that the game will one day be regarded as a "legendary" title, his stance does make me curious: what's your opinion of Starfield?

I'd love to hear your thoughts about Bethesda's space exploration RPG below, so please share them in the comments, and make sure to vote in our poll as well:

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Starfield (Xbox): was $69.99 now $54.95 at Amazon

Starfield is the latest single player RPG from Bethesda Game Studios, and takes players to a far future in which humanity has colonized the stars. It's available to play through Xbox Game Pass, and there are noteworthy deals on copies of the game as well.

PC version: $61.19 at Loaded
Premium Edition: Xbox | PC

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