'Starfield: Shattered Space' is outlandish enough, but won't alter your perception of the game (review)

Starfield's hopeful exploration of mankind's future among the stars (with a healthy dose of zany sci-fi thrown in too) seemed to convince enough critics when the game launched a little over a year ago, but it also faced harsh criticism from longtime Bethesda fans and players expecting much more advanced game design. Does the Shattered Space expansion fix any of those central issues? 

The short answer is: no, not really. Bethesda Game Studios seems to be quite proud of Starfield overall, and it makes sense that the studio is sticking to its guns with this new IP after being stuck bouncing between Fallout and The Elder Scrolls for more than two decades. "It is what it is," I’d say. For all its faults, the game seemingly was a financial success for Bethesda Softworks and its Microsoft overlords, and most of its rough edges (at least the ones that don't affect its philosophical and engine-related foundations) have been ironed out at this point via patches and free content updates.

BGS still wants to support Starfield for a long time, and work on a second expansion seems to be underway, but are the Settled Systems worth exploring further? After this first DLC, I'd say yes, but Shattered Space is far from an ideal refresh, at least at this point in time. 

The story takes players to the striking Va'ruun'kai, the hidden homeworld of the huge and mysterious House Va'ruun, the cult-like faction that only reared its head in the base game and, for the most part, was the stuff of legends. In traditional sci-fi horror fashion, it all kicks off with a visit to a derelict space station. Instead of Xenomorphs, however, the player faces a reality-bending catastrophe that's messed with the fabric of space-time and created aggressive 'ghosts' out of the poor souls affected by it.

This cataclysmic event took place on Va'ruun'kai, where we soon learn House Va'ruun is actually nicer than we'd been told... at least after moving on from the 'old' Serpent's Crusade. The religious zealots roaming the stars are rejected by the current leaders, so all is good as long as you don't offend them or bring more strangers to Va'ruun'kai. As for you, your arrival is seen as an auspicious sign from the Great Serpent, so you effectively become the 'main character' of yet another storyline.

Let's get Shattered Space's biggest problem out of the way first: It's too expensive for what it offers. Priced at $30 (perhaps less if you grabbed Starfield's Premium Edition last year), it largely feels like a faction questline that couldn't be finished in time for launch. It's not substantially longer than the sets of missions from the UC Vanguard, the Freestar Rangers, or Ryujin Industries. Va'ruun'kai is a new world with its own culture, 'city' (more of a town), and hand-crafted locations, yet neither fighting its cosmic horrors nor exploring the cataclysm-affected locales feels very different from what's in the base game. Weapons and equipment sets aren't as distinct as in other DLC packs from Bethesda either. 

On the other hand, it packs one of the better-written questlines in the game, and the Va'ruun lore and mythology are genuinely fascinating, especially after learning they're not this naturally hostile group of people. In fact, they're dealing with as much political squabbling and infighting as the rest of the Settled Systems. Most of the six-to-eight-hour campaign (if you beeline the missions, that is) is actually spent convincing House Va'ruun's houses (yes, their society isn't a monolith) to collaborate and fix what's been broken. Of course, that involves looking after their pressing matters first, and it's a solid opportunity to learn more about Va'ruun'kai that Bethesda's writers made good use of.

Combat encounters, while essentially identical to anything in the base game, feel quite intense very often, with the devs recommending that your character has at least reached level 35 or so. I can confirm things get hectic, especially during the final quest, and, without getting into spoilers, I highly suggest stocking up on meds and good armor.

Perhaps the biggest disappointment that isn't related to the 'bang for the buck' is that the reality-bending situation affecting Va'ruun'kai is never properly explored beyond how and why it happened. Even if you go through every log you can find lying around, plenty of lingering questions aren't answered by the end. More egregiously, there aren't any new mechanics to speak of in this expansion. Beyond getting slightly teleported around after colliding with space tears and glowing goo, there's nothing in Shattered Space that affects how Starfield plays nor permanent upgrades that substantially alter the main character.

While Starfield did 'well enough' and is slowly but steadily building up a modding community (much like every other BGS game), its redemption/improvement arc was demanding an absolute smash hit of an expansion. Instead, Shattered Space feels like more of the same, just of a different flavor and stuffed inside an expensive package. If you've played Starfield for hundreds of hours already, feel free to make the grav drive jump to Va'ruun'kai. Otherwise, get your space exploration fix elsewhere.

Starfield: Shattered Space is currently available on Xbox Series X/S and PC. The base game can be played via Game Pass, but the DLC is sold separately.