The PC Game Pass Updates are coming thick and fast on NVIDIA GeForce NOW with one of the years’ biggest games appearing on the service.

Starfield has arrived and is a massive statement of intent for the relationship Microsoft have established with the cloud streaming platform in the early stages.

With other major PC Game Pass titles also available like Warhammer 40,000: Darktide and Gears Tactics, Starfield has popped up much sooner than expected.

But does it offer up the definitive way to play Bethesda’s latest RPG?

How does it work?

As we mentioned in our playthrough of Deathloop, you will, unfortunately, need to keep authenticating and individually logging into your Xbox account each time you boot up the game if going through PC Game Pass. Whether this will always be the case remains to be seen.

The first time you boot up Starfield there’s also quite a wait, but I assume that happens if you’ve already played the game elsewhere while it brings your saves across.

You can also access the game from your Steam library, of course, and this doesn’t require the aforementioned authentication step.

Once in, though, everything runs like a charm.

How does it perform?

I made sure to dial everything up to High and Ultra, setting the game up so that it can look at its absolute best. And I was not disappointed with the results.

Even in the murky beginnings as you traverse the dark mines, up close facial reactions, character movements, the use of lighting and the way sound travels, is seamless and crystal clear.

But as the game progresses, once you flick through the character creation screen, see the outside world, have those first conversations, and get into battle, everything is so silky smooth you’d be convinced you’re playing it natively.

And it looks so incredibly impressive. Even after spending time with the game on my 4K TV with an Xbox Series X, I couldn’t believe how much better, sharper, more refined and polished the presentation was through GeForce NOW.

Starfield really benefits from the uplift of being maxed out on Ultimate and as we’ve said before, this might just be the cheapest way to experience the game. No matter how many sandwiches you’re looking at on screen.

You can even play using a DualSense if you’re so inclined and are feeling a little bit rebellious.

On the whole, though I was incredibly impressed and continue to be blown away by just how impressive the platform is and how it handles the biggest and best games on the market right now.

Anything else to be aware of?

With a huge selection of Game Pass games already available on GeForce NOW, this is the one people have been hoping for. And it does not disappoint.

No slowdown, no hiccups, just super smooth, raw power moving steadily, composed and blowing you away with striking detail.

By just having a Game Pass Ultimate – or the game on Steam – and NVIDIA GeForce NOW Ultimate subscription, with a decent internet connection to sustain them, you can play Starfield at its absolute best on just about any piece of hardware for under £30 for the month.

When you consider an Xbox Series S will cost you £249 or if you want to go full 4K, a Series X costs £449. Or if you want to play on a PC, you’ll be looking at a rig costing you over £1,000 to get even close to this level, that is frankly astonishing value.

But such is the mind-blowing possibilities of this platform, being able to maximise the potential of Bethesda’s biggest, most ambitious game ever, putting it through its paces and playing it as the developers intended.

I can hardly believe it and may not have believed it had I not seen it with my own two eyes. Games like Starfield and Baldur’s Gate 3 on GeForce NOW are proof that a digital, cloud-based future is happening right now, is very real, and it’s truly excellent.

I know where I’ll be continuing my adventures in space…

Code for PC Games Pass and NVIDIA GeForce NOW provided by publishers

For more on Starfield, visit…

A full overview of the GeForce NOW platform will follow.

A selection of PC Game Pass titles are now available for streaming.