Keith David has some big-time sci-fi videogame credits to his name, like Fallout, Halo, Mass Effect, and Destiny 2. But this may be his most impressive role yet: Making me think that Starfield sounds pretty damn cool.
David’s dramatic reading in the new “This is Starfield” trailer, marking the long-awaited release of the Free Lanes update and Terran Armada DLC, is genuinely good stuff, leading from a seated ‘let’s talk’ intro to a fist-clenched, finger-pointed, eyes-cast-upward crescendo: “This,” he says, with all the dramatic gravitas of a man who’s just saved galactic civilization from an extinction event, “is Starfield.”
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The impetus for this great work, as I mentioned, is today’s release of the Free Lanes update and Terran Armada, the second DLC for Bethesda’s sci-fi RPG Starfield. The DLC sounds mostly like new dudes to shoot at, going by the Terran Armada Steam page:
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“A ruthless faction of military deserters has built an army of robots to unite humanity by force. Explore new locations, discover new technologies, and unlock powerful new weapons as you battle the enemy threat from hostile takeover in this story DLC for Starfield.”
The Free Lanes update is probably the bigger deal, although Bethesda, and in particular Todd Howard, put in some real effort to temper expectations leading up to Terran Armada’s release. Howard, you’ll recall, said in February that it’s not going to be Starfield 2.0.
That said, the update is clearly going to have a more direct impact on the underlying game for all players—”a game-wide evolution,” Bethesda said—than the story DLC, and it’s free, which is nice.
The headline feature is the addition of Free Lanes and Cruise Mode, which gives you the ability to actually fly your ship between planets, like a real spacer. The update also adds new encounters for those flights, “to give you even more reasons to get out there and explore space.” New resources, customizable effects, outpost features, and NG+ enhancements are also on tap.
The very preliminary reaction to the update seems positive, and there’s clearly curiosity: The concurrent player count on Steam has spiked to its highest point since September 2024, when the Shattered Space DLC dropped. The figure is still far short of the big numbers Starfield put up when it launched in September 2023, but it’s still a notable uptick.
The strongest response, though, is clearly reserved for Keith David’s performance. “Keith David could get me excited to play anything,” one YouTube commenter wrote.
“Keith David could read a recipe off a muffin box to me a hundred times and I’d be mesmerized,” another added.
Others include “I love Keith David in every universe,” “Keith David – the sci-fi gaming king,” “Keith David is the Morgan Freeman of video games,” and the timeless, “I fucking love Keith David.”
It’s basically the same on the Starfield subreddit.
Sadly, as far as I know Keith David isn’t actually in Starfield or Terran Armada, but some players are holding out hope for that too.
As for me, I’m not a Starfield player but I am a Keith David fan, as much today as I’ve ever been: That’s a damn good video. At least one redditor opined that it’s a shame Starfield didn’t go his hard when it came out, and I can’t disagree.
The Starfield Free Lanes update and Terran Armada DLC are live now Free Lanes is free for all players, white Terran Armada will set you back $10/£9/€10.
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