Starfield Is Surprisingly Great Using Remote Play

I’m about 27 hours into Starfield and nearing the story’s end. But I’m not quite ready for my first playthrough to be over. 

I’ve started to get some answers to the world’s intriguing questions and now that I see the end in sight, I’m not sure I’m ready to roll credits (although, like any Bethesda Game Studios RPG, the game continues after credits with faction questlines, side missions, and more). My wife and I watched a movie last night instead of playing the game I was able to do. Ghost Protocol, Mission Impossible 4It is one of the most popular series. I’ve seen it but she hadn’t, so I picked up my Backbone controller device for my iPhone 14 Pro Max and booted up Starfield to continue playing. 

I should note I’ve had Starfield code for about a week, but the game launched yesterday for Premium or Constellation Edition owners or Game Pass users who paid the upgrade fee to unlock the Premium version. The standard version of Starfield, as well as its Game Pass regular release, will be available on September 6th. I say all that to preface this with the fact that Starfield’s Xbox Cloud Gaming version is not yet live – I’ve been playing Starfield on my Backbone via my Xbox Series X’s remote play feature and it rules. 

I haven’t messed with Xbox’s remote play stuff too much. It’s great to play games in front of my TV while I relax on the couch. And the few times I have tried remote play in the past, it hasn’t been great. Previously, audio clipping and laggy input have made remote play feel unplayable. But, given my wife and I wanted to watch a movie and I didn’t want to stop playing Starfield, I decided to give it a go. I’ve used my Backbone a few times and it’s been great. It’s the most premium phone-based controller I’ve used and feels great to hold. Playing Persona 5 Royal and other games that don’t require fast input is a perfect fit for remote play, but I wasn’t sure a shooter RPG would be. 

I was almost unable to resist the urge to continue playing Starfield. It was an excellent experience. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised Xbox’s remote play feature is better than it was when I tried it a year ago, but I was; I couldn’t feel an input delay, the audio was fine, and even though my iPhone is a significantly smaller screen than I prefer, it still got the job done. Two hours later I was still having fun, just as I did on the TV a few hours earlier. 

Starfield also makes a fantastic remote-play game. Because I intentionally avoided the main path – I want to save those moments for the big screen – I spent my time remote-playing Starfield doing side quests, faction missions, and various activities. Last night, my primary objective was to upgrade the ship so that it had more cargo and better weapons and shields, as well as a longer grav drive jump range. To do so, I did mostly mindless things like sell cargo when you win dogfights, steal chests or safes for credit, and complete side quests. Nothing was too intensive gameplay-wise; I could quickly go back and forth between Starfield and the movie, and I didn’t mind having the audio down low in-game either. 

It was a legitimately great experience and it reshaped how I view Xbox’s remote play feature. It’s nowhere near as great as playing on a TV – duh – but it absolutely gets the job done when I want to, say, watch Father of The Bride Part 2 or play Starfield somewhere that isn’t on my couch. I won’t be playing Starfield via my Backbone for the main quest because I do think more cinematic missions and moments call for the pomp and circumstance of my usual setup, but when I need to spend time grinding credits, completing activities, or pursuing a singular background goal like upgrading my ship or making my character look cooler? Now I have no problems doing it remotely. 

I guess I’m writing all this to say I’m an Xbox remote play believer now. Try it out and tell me what you think.

Read on to learn more about Starfield Game Informer’sStarfield review, then read our non-spoiler tips on what we wished we had known before playing the game. Read about my thoughts on why Starfield reminds me more of a science-fiction theme park rather than an open world game, then check out the latest episode. Game Informer ShowHear our initial Starfield impressions.