Summary
Creating a Sci-Fi RPG is probably one of the most challenging things a game developer can do. When giving players a whole galaxy to explore, developers have to put an absurd amount of effort into ensuring that every inch of that galaxy is not only fun to explore from a gameplay perspective, but also interesting to learn about. And whilegames likeStar Wars Jedi: Survivorhave a whole universe laid out in front of it already, games likeStarfieldandMass Effectaren’t as lucky.
The sheer scale ofMass EffectandStarfield’s separate universesis staggering, and while players can’t explore the whole galaxy in the former, that doesn’t mean that BioWare didn’t ensure that the series' lore encompassed it all. But with so much history and lore baked into these Sci-Fi universes, it’s only natural that these games would want to deliver that expository information in a more engaging way, and that’s whereStarfield’s Hand Scanner mechanic comes into play, laying the foundations for a potential newMass Effect 4feature.
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Mass Effect 4 Should Borrow Starfield’s Hand Scanner
Available from the very get-go,Starfield’s Hand Scanner mechanicmay be one of the game’s biggest unsung heroes, and it’s definitely a feature that future Sci-Fi RPGs should borrow from. After unlocking the Hand Scanner, players can simply press LB on an Xbox controller to bring it up. This will activate a circle in the center of the screen, along with a handful of text boxes and some suitably Sci-Fi detailing around it all. When aiming at an object, ship, person, creature, or plant, the subject will be highlighted in blue, and the option to scan it with the A button becomes available.
Scanning something inStarfieldwill bring up some text based on what type of subject it is. If it’s an animal, then its health and behavior are displayed. If it’s a plant, then its origin and various uses are detailed on-screen. And if it’s a mineral or resource, then its elemental composition is stylishly broken down on the side of the screen. Each of these scans also provides a tiny little lore tidbit, and while it’s nothing major, it is a great way to provide quick little bite-sized lessons aboutStarfield’s expansive universe.
Scanning inStarfieldisn’t just a lore-centric activity either, but one that rewards the player with genuinely useful items. On the left side of the scanning screen, players will notice a checklist of scanned flora and fauna. Once the player has completed that checklist, and scanned the planet from space, they’ll be given a Survey Slate for their troubles. ThisSurvey Slate can then be sold at a vendorfor a solid amount of credits, and the player should receive quite a bit of XP in the process.
Starfield’s Hand Scanner should definitely make its way toMass Effect 4. While theMass Effectuniverse is an incredibly rich one filled with countless colorful characters and an extensive history pre-dating the games' events by centuries, it’s precisely these aspects that make it a difficult one for newcomers to get fully invested in. A tool likeStarfield’s Hand Scanner would let players understand more ofMass Effect’s universeby simply looking directly at an object or person and scanning them.Star Wars Jedi: Survivorfeatured a similar mechanic, where whenever a codex entry was added, an abridged version of it came up in the top-right corner of the screen, letting players skim the entry without pausing the game. IfMass Effect 4combinedJedi: SurvivorandStarfield’s scanning mechanics, then it could end up having one of the most engaging open-worlds in gaming.
Starfieldis available now on Xbox Series X/S and PC.
