Starfield Shattered Space Review

One year after the release of Starfield, Bethesda and Xbox are returning with the Shattered Space expansion. With a promise of moving away from the conventional to a hand-made planet, this DLC attempts to seduce anyone who may have found Todd Howard’s production too big, too empty, or too scattered. It’s time to step on the gas and see if the Great Serpent of the Va’ruun doesn’t bite its own tail.

Shattered Faith

Shattered Space opens its doors (to the stars) by teleporting to another system. Through the stars, you’ll be lured by a strange floating space station sending out a distress signal. On a loop. Sci-fi movie fans know that landing in this kind of place usually means the start of serious trouble. That’s exactly what happens here. After various adventures, the cosmonaut who serves as our hero is propelled into the Kavnyk system, and more precisely into the city of Dazra on the moon Va’ruun’kai.

There, he meets the Great Serpent worshippers of House Va’Ruun, and must try to prevent a major disaster by combining the power of guns with the power of words. In fact, while there are more or less human creatures to defeat in order to progress, a large part of the main adventure involves negotiations with three Va’ruun houses (Dul’kehf, Veth’aal, Ka’dic) who are looking for trouble with the High Council. Much like in Game of Thrones, politics occasionally leads to immoral acts of violence. But here, the main protagonists have no real depth, unlike Game of Thrones. Which is a real problem, since the plot is focused on them.

Starfield has often brought science and religion face to face in its main adventure. In Shattered Space, the scholars of Constellation have given way to the believers of House Va’Ruun. Faith is at the core of their motivations, and it’s only after completing a ritual that the real quest begins: to restore the Mourning System in order to gain access to the Citadel of Scales. The fate of the Va’Ruun depends on it. Actually, the main quest – considered a faction quest – is divided into 8 chapters and can be completed in the same number of hours. The quality of this quest is quite good, mixing persuasion, intense gunfights, escape, and exploration in a balanced mix.

There are plenty of difficult choices to make, which is a good thing. As for the side quests, they connect perfectly with the main plot, and range from delivering packages to investigating a disease wiping out the local wildlife. Just like the ones in the base game, they take us on a tour of the new planet from top to bottom. Space exploration enthusiasts will be disappointed to learn that there’s nothing to do near the stars. Everything takes place in Va’ruun’kai, a “home-made” world.

Hand-Crafted Nightmare

Bethesda’s teams have repeatedly stated that, unlike Starfield’s procedurally generated planets, the world of Va’ruun’kai is hand-crafted. The argument “ intended for those who feel that the base game is excessively massive to the point of weakening its major assets ” is convincing. But unfortunately, the result is a little less so. Apart from the art direction, which some will love while others will hate, with its purple-reddish hues covering a ravaged landscape, the outdoor level design leaves a lot to be desired, especially due to an obvious lack of variety.

Moreover, controlling the Rev-8 in this devastated environment is not always a pleasure, with indestructible rocks and trees complicating navigation (and adding a few annoying bugs). Technically, Performance mode suffers on Xbox Series X. If you like solid 60fps, you’ll be disappointed when you’re out in the open. Of course, this hand-crafted planet is better than the game’s other worlds, even if the zero-gravity bubbles hovering over a few locations are under-exploited, but we’d have liked to see more of a difference. After all, it’s the one and only playground of this DLC!

Shattered Space’s main appeal lies in its sequences inside buildings. It’s here that the promised touch of horror shines through, where the various objectives unfold at a steady pace, and where the zero-gravity passages kick in, not to mention the most epic/scripted moments. It’s a nice touch, but a shame for a Starfield experience. The new weapons, essential for any player who might venture into the expansion without having been properly equipped beforehand, are effective. In particular, we like the Starstorm, Penumbra, Starlash, and Long Fang, essential in any player’s arsenal.

Unfortunately, the new opponents in this DLC, who are actually classic enemies with ghostly skins, aren’t much fun to face, since they regularly teleport and appear/disappear like magic. Funnier things have happened. The main storyline ends with a final confrontation, certainly thrilling, but with more questions than answers. Not sure that all adventurers will find what they’re looking for…

Conclusion

Shattered Space will definitely revive Starfield for players who bought the Premium Edition, but it won’t convince the others to pay $30 just to give it another chance. Building on various strengths of the original title, such as its well-developed lore and captivating missions, Bethesda’s expansion turns its back on some of its other key elements. This wouldn’t have been a problem if Va’ruun’kai, the only new planet in this DLC, had offered something truly different/innovative/surprising… which it doesn’t. With little new content, Shattered Space is satisfied with regular faction quests offering multiple choices, which unfortunately don’t provide the breath of fresh air we’d hoped for after a whole year’s wait. Proof that not every hand-made creation is exactly perfect.