I loved Starfield, but it was one of those games where I could see clearly why it had its fair share of criticism. 70 hours deep and I still had plenty to do, before even starting Shattered Space. But after playing Shattered Space, the remainder of my space romp may be delayed until further notice.
Shattered Space doesn’t require a completed playthrough of Starfield in order to begin. As long as you have joined Constellation and thus acquired a ship of your own, just travel to any star system you have no objective markers pointing towards, and a mysterious looking space station will be waiting for you. It does recommend you are at least level 35 before starting, but I cheekily jumped in at 29 and didn’t have too many issues.
This mysterious space station, known as the Oracle, warns you not to board it beforehand, but it would be a pretty short DLC if you went along with their wishes. Yet, after boarding, you see why you were advised not to. Strange apparitions of human’s phase in and out, and there is a blue substance on the walls that reacts very strangely if you enter it. I would advise against doing so, but hey, you’ve got this far already…
Sometime later, this space station will jump back into the orbit of Va’ruun’kai, home of House Va’ruun and the sole setting for the Shattered Space DLC. You will quickly learn that some sort of experiment has gone terribly wrong and blown a hole in the city of Dazra. And despite the world being inaccessible in the main campaign, and the ill timing of your arrival, you seem to be welcomed in with open arms, even allowed to fully convert to their religion at the first opportunity. Again, doing so is a requirement in order to progress through Shattered Space, and the religious quote/unquote “mumbo jumbo” is firmly front and centre of the DLC. Remember, these are the faction that believe in the Great Serpent coming from space someday, and they’ll not entertain any other vision of the future.
It would appear though that even the Great Serpent cannot unite the various in-factions of the wider House Va’ruun. Each house has their own methodology for dealing with the tragedy, and there is only one person who can unite them – You.
One big problem I had with Starfield: Shattered Space was the destruction of Va’ruun’kai didn’t seem all that believable; whether that was because we had not seen the city of Dazra pre-explosion to have any comparison to make, or whether it was just a lack of debris surrounding the landscape itself.
And whilst everyone is more than happy to spill their guts to you about the explosion, I had a hard time engrossing myself in their stories. That’s because, quite frankly, it never looked like there was one. You do get to explore the site itself, but everything feels conveniently placed: convenient paths to lead you to your destination, convenient zero-gravity bubbles that lead you to a penthouse office or apartment of some sort. I just struggled with the world-building, which was something that never once occurred to me in Starfield. Or a Bethesda game ever for that matter.
Being set on the home planet of the Va’ruun, I thought it best to bring along Andrea as my companion for Shattered Space. Well, that and the fact we had some sort of ceremony involving a knife and a skull which means we’re apparently now married.
I was expecting this to help me get the most out of the DLC, having someone by my side who had grown up on this planet. But, aside from the occasional comment, I could have really brought any other companion and got a virtually identical experience.
And that experience is generic in itself if you have played a Bethesda game. Not necessarily a bad thing, but for those who were hoping Shattered Space would be the thing that gets Starfield to tick with them, you may be left slightly disappointed.
What follows are a series of quests to appease each individual house, whilst piecing together exactly what happened here. There will be plenty of combat, some dungeons to explore, moral dilemmas to solve and new weapons to grab. All par for the course for Bethesda. But it does mean that Shattered Space feels like there is something missing compared to previous DLCs from Bethesda.
And, whisper it, I kind of miss being able to fly across the galaxy for the next clue or objective marker. Shattered Space takes place entirely on Va’ruun’kai and whilst it is great to see a fully realised city and environment used to its potential, this is a space RPG after all.
The new weapons in Starfield: Shattered Space are fantastic though, feeling very otherworldly whilst packing a hefty punch. Most new enemies will be carrying one of the new weapons with them; the brutish Redeemed are usually armed with a Schimaz that is a melee weapon that shouldn’t be passed. Other Vortex enemies will typically be carrying a new weapon on them, but keep an eye out for the Starshard pistol. In roundabout terms, it’s a bit of a beast. It uses Light Particle Fuse ammo, which you will be falling over in throughout Shattered Space, and I don’t think I will need to use another weapon ever again in Starfield.
That is, when I do return to it, as it is time for a break after Shattered Space. A perfectly serviceable DLC for Starfield, Shattered Space never pushes the envelope in any way, shape or form. It is par for the course for a Bethesda DLC but, even coming from someone who enjoyed the base game of Starfield a lot, it isn’t what the spacefaring RPG needs right now.
The Starfield formula needs shaking up, with a content dump of assets over story. And sadly, Shattered Space is not that.
Shattered Space: A New Cosmic Threat Emerges in Starfield’s First Story Expansion – https://www.thexboxhub.com/shattered-space-a-new-cosmic-threat-emerges-in-starfields-first-story-expansion/
Buy Shattered Space now – https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/store/starfield-shattered-space/9N77PDNB7CWZ/0010
