Starfield’s latest update brings forth the Trackers Alliance as a joinable faction. Previously, the group had a hollow existence in the universe, as they were often mentioned but seldom involved in gameplay. To be recruited into the Alliance, you’ll need to complete “The Starjacker”, an introductory mission that provides the player with an idea of what can be expected if they continue down the bounty hunting path.
Once you’ve been contacted by the Trackers Alliance and accept their invitation, you’re tasked with hunting down Hannibal Eutropio, the Starjacker. Eutropio is a career criminal wanted for countless acts of ship theft. Supposedly, Eutropio has evaded the TA time and time again, making him as elusive of a villain as he is infamous. Right off the bat, I’m left wondering why the potential recruit is being sent off to find one of the most notorious criminals the faction is hunting, rather than have us start off with something lower profile. It’s a narrative sacrifice that allows players to jump right into a story deemed grand and worth their time, but it does leave you scratching your head. Granted, I’m certain Bethesda is aware of the context this quest is releasing in – players are eager for new content, so they are cutting right to the point and letting us start with the big stuff.
Our first step is to find Adrastos Dakota, a supposed informant who has information about Eutropio’s repurposed space station, the Chop Shop, that floats on the far fringes of space.
For the entirety of the mission, you’re assigned a partner, Roach. He’s a hard-headed tracker with the typical “out of my way, rookie”, militaristic attitude, but the dialogue choices allow you to initiate banter that shows he’s not completely one-dimensional. So far, though, there’s nothing striking about his character apart from this.
After running through the streets of Akila City and using the updated scanner to identify people with outstanding bounties, I located Adrastos, performed a quick intimidation check, and he tells us Eutropio’s Chop Shop can be found in the Andromas system. At this point, I couldn’t help but think it was odd that we’re told Hannibal has evaded the Trackers Alliance dozens of times in the past, but as soon as we find someone he works with, they’re all too eager to confess everything once they learn we’re with the Trackers Alliance. I understand that having Adrastos fear us makes the TA feel like a force to be reckoned with, but it cheapens the difficulty of finding Hannibal when it was so easily done. This will make more sense once we’ve reached the end of the mission, though.
From here, we set off for the Chop Shop in a decoy ship that’ll pass for one that’s coming in to be scrapped. We’re forced to bring Adrastos with us to man the comms as our ticket in. It would have been nice to be given the option to run-and-gun and blast your way into the station. Again, the story’s conclusion explains why this wouldn’t have worked, but there’s multiple parts of this that feel contrived up to this point.
Upon docking on the Chop Shop, you’ll find it filled with run-of-the-mill Spacers. Although the enemies are no different than what we’re used to, it’s a unique location that calls upon the underutilized zero G combat. You’ll glide your way through the station that is admittedly a little cramped and difficult to navigate, but it’s a new environment that the developers seemed to have created solely for this mission rather than reusing one of their previous templates, which I appreciate.
Turns out, when you find Hannibal Eutropio at the end of the station, it’s just one of his workers operating under an alias and assuming the master thief’s identity. It’s then revealed that Adrastos, who the player and Roach leave on their decoy ship, was the real Starjacker this whole time. He hijacks the ship we arrived in, tells us he’s left us some new gear in a nearby locker, and goes on his way, slipping through the TA’s fingers once again. The bounty is then marked as closed, and … I guess that explains Adrastos’ essential part in the quest.
Ultimately, “The Starjacker” never reaches a meaningful ending. I’d like to think that one day, we’ll have the opportunity to chase Eutropio again, but it’s not clear if this is the case. The high-priority bounty screen at the TA Headquarters shows Eutropio (the lackey that assumed his identity, not the real Eutropio) crossed off as if the bounty was completed, seemingly indicating this chapter is closed. Even Roach, who is painted as this competitive, challenge-seeking bounty hunter, just seems to laugh off the loss of our bounty and accepts the failure.
In either case, I’ll admit it’s not a twist I saw coming. Watching our ship fly off into the distance was a well-executed sequence and a satisfying change of pace from getting the exact outcome the game tells you to expect.
Eutropio leaves us the Extreme Temperature Entry space suit. While it may seem out-of-place at first, this is a fitting armor set for a crew that disassembles starships for a living. I picture the crew wearing this as they weld, repurpose and melt down ship components, protecting them from the, well, extreme temperatures. However, it’s a shame we don’t ever see this or the new Plasma Cutter weapon actually being used at the Chop Shop. It’s possible this is Hannibal Eutropio’s personal gear, but that only makes it more strange that he allowed us to have it.
The Plasma Cutter has an incredible design, but it ultimately isn’t as fun to use as it is to look at. Unlike the very similar Arc Welder, the Plasma Cutter seems to share a similar range as the stock Cutter that is used to mine rocks and minerals. When you do hit enemies with it, it’s satisfying and carries the same “oomph” as its aesthetic, but I never seem to be close enough for the laser to hit my targets.
“The Starjacker” makes good use of grand and exciting set pieces. I like launching a missile inside the Chop Shop to break down the massive bay doors. I like being forced to watch Hannibal soar away on our ship through the station window. I want more moments in Starfield that make you feel insignificant and small in the game’s world. I know this is one of the pillars of Starfield’s design, but it’s something preached, not practiced, outside of wandering around empty planets.
As a final point, when we return to the TA Headquarters, although having failed to capture Eutropio, we’re accepted into the faction’s ranks and are finally incentivized to meet our fellow trackers. I’m really glad that Bethesda took the time to add a handful of characters that have varying personalities to this group. To me, this is extremely reminiscent of Skyrim’s Dark Brotherhood, where we have people from contrasting backgrounds unifying under a single, albeit menacing, banner. The same goes for the TA, and I can only hope that these characters play a larger role in future quests.
I think it’s fair to view these additional Trackers Alliance quests through a critical lens, especially considering “The Starjacker” opens the gates to additional quests that will be paid moving forward. However, as someone who is revisiting Starfield because of this content, I can wholeheartedly say I enjoyed this quest. It sits coherently within the world, and is a lot of fun to play through. Analyzing and identifying faults is important to understanding how the game can be improved, but at the end of the day it’s about having fun, something that was absolutely achieved here.