‘Starfield’ has a quest inspired by ‘Donnie Brasco’

Starfield is taking its players to over one thousand planets across a splintered galaxy with warring factions – and one of its quests is inspired by the film Donnie Brasco.

Lead quest designer Will Shen and studio design director Emil Pagliarulo took to the Starfield Discord server to host a question and answer session for fans. As there are five factions confirmed in the sci-fi odyssey at the moment, all with conflicting aims and principles, a fan wondered if it would be possible to be a double agent in their playthrough.

Discord Server Q&A Full Transcript
by u/ninjabell in Starfield

“All of the playable factions can be completed independently,” replied Shen. “The Crimson Fleet storyline does feature you being an undercover agent inside the Fleet on behalf of UC SysDef (a specific military branch of the United Colonies), but whether you betray the Fleet or UC SysDef is a choice you will get to make.”

Pagliarulo added that Donnie Brasco, the dramatisation of the true story of FBI agent Joseph D. Pistone who infiltrated the Italian-American mafia in New York City in the 1970s, was the vision for this quest.

“In the studio, I have been (half-jokingly) accused of referencing movies that some folks have never seen, because I’m old,” admitted the developer. “HOW FAR WILL YOU GO?!”

The five factions of Starfield are Constellation, Crimson Fleet, Freestar Collective, Ryujin Industries and United Colonies. Crimson Fleet is filled with space pirates and raiders who revolt against the actions of the United Colonies, and they will surely appeal to those who are more neutral in their alignment.

On the other hand, the United Colonies is the “most powerful, established military and political faction in the game” and has proven that in their wars with the Freestar Collective.

To let players learn more about the United Colonies, Bethesda Softworks released an official 300-year timeline of the events before the game’s beginning. Check it out here.