Starfield's Terrormorphs Are a Step Up From Fallout's…

Summary

Starfield's Terrormorphs are a formidable and important foe, building on the groundwork laid by Fallout's Deathclaws.
The game introduces the Terrormorphs through a thrilling mission, creating an intense and atmospheric encounter.
The integration of the Terrormorphs into the game's story and stakes makes them an intriguing threat, with unique abilities that add strategic depth to battles.

The Sci-Fi genre is home to countless terrifying alien species and creatures, some of which belong to some of the most beloved Sci-Fi franchises of all time. From Alien's instantly-recognizable Xenomorph, to Starship Trooper's Arachnids, to Star Wars' Rancors, Wampas, and Acklays, the Sci-Fi genre has no shortage of fierce beasts, and Starfield's Terrormorphs are the latest to join the canon.

Bethesda has a bit of a history with big, scary monsters, and Fallout's Deathclaws are probably the developer's most iconic example. While Bethesda isn't the one responsible for originally creating the Deathclaw, it is the developer that first put the monster into 3D, and Bethesda's iteration of the creature has since become one of the most memorable monsters in all of gaming. But while Fallout's Deathclaws are great, Starfield's Terrormorphs may be even better.

Starfield's Terrormorphs Improve On Deathclaws In a Few Big Ways

There's no denying that Fallout's Deathclaws are incredibly iconic, and every Bethesda fan remembers their first encounter with one. With a dinosaur-like body, huge claws, and demon-like horns, Deathclaws have always had a strong visual presence in Fallout, and they're even more intimidating when they're running at the player at full speed, claws ready to strike. But Starfield's Terrormorphs take the groundwork laid by Fallout's Deathclaws, and build on it in some pretty big ways, creating an all-around more formidable, and important foe.

During the first few hours of Starfield, players are given multiple little teases about an alien species known as the Terrormorphs. If the name wasn't enough of an indication, the Terrormorphs are bad news, and NPCs waste no time in repeatedly telling the player that. If players visit the United Colonies museum on New Atlantis, they can find a whole section dedicated to the history of Terrormorphs. Here, it's explained that Terrormorphs just appeared out of the blue one day and wreaked ultimate havoc on a city called Londinium, decimating it and its population within just a few hours. It's also stated that wherever humanity goes, Terrormorphs aren't too far behind, appearing on colonized worlds a few decades after humans first arrive.

Of course, it's only a matter of time before players run into their first Terrormorph, and that'll likely occur during the UC Vanguard mission "Grunt Work," which introduces the spooky alien threat in a near-perfect way. In a scene ripped almost straight out of Aliens, players are tasked with activating an abandoned facility's defenses, all while a Terrormorph stalks the base's halls and alleyways, with a motion-tracker's beeps being the only indicator of its location. This mission ends in a big climactic battle with the Terrormorph, which is suitably intense, challenging, and atmospheric.

This mission alone is probably better than any Deathclaw encounter in Bethesda's Fallout series, but it doesn't end there. This encounter is only the start of an entire questline centered around the Terrormorphs and an impending galaxy-wide invasion. While the Deathclaws admittedly have a more iconic and unique design than Starfield's Terrormorphs, the latter's integration into the game's actual story and stakes makes it an undeniably more intriguing threat. On top of that, the Terrormorphs themselves are pretty fun to fight. Though their attacks can be pretty easily dodged with a well-timed Boost Pack jump, the Terrormorphs have some fun tricks up their sleeves, such as the ability to mind-control nearby allies. This forces the player to switch to an EM weapon and stun their turned allies, leaving them vulnerable to attacks from the Terrormorph and introducing a nice layer of strategy to battles.