CheckMag | Starfield Shattered Space review: Great idea, poor execution
Todd Howard’s ‘Skyrim, in space’ finally gets its first major expansion today, a year after launch. And no, you don’t get it for free on Xbox Game Pass. Shattered Space aims to create a fresh new experience with a new campaign set in a handcrafted map. But, is it any better than Starfield’s milquetoast story? No. So, what was Bethesda cooking up for a year? Not much, by the looks of it.
Bethesda recommends that you start Shattered Space at level 35. You’re probably better off levelling up a bit more, as my NG+ level 46 character was absolutely bodied by some initial mobs (more about that later). Granted, I hadn’t played Starfield in over a year and my character was missing most of the good gear acquired in my first playthrough. Andreja is apparently recommended for the DLC because she’s a House Va’ruun native, but I’m not a fan of companions in general and decided to finish the game solo.
The initial mission that has you engage in zero-g combat, after which you jump to a previously unavailable galaxy. You’re pretty much restricted to one region, Va'ruun'kai. This isn’t necessarily bad because a handcrafted map is much better than Starfield’s procedurally generated slop. The capital, Darza, isn’t as vast as New Atlantis, or even Akila for that matter. Shattered Space is chock-full of sci-fi tropes; with House Va’ruun being the overly zealous religious fanatics. Of course, you’re their ‘chosen’ one, tasked with saving their settlement from imminent doom. We get to see a new side of House Va’ruun, one of the more mysterious factions of the Settled Systems.
Once you start the main questline, you’re thrown into what is effectively a post-apocalyptic version of Darza. There are power dynamics at play with three major families in the mix. To a limited degree, you can determine the diplomatic relation between families and unravel/cover up some dirty secrets. Initially, it feels like an intricate plot that could unravel in many ways depending on your choices. You can leave the planet and return at will; something you’ll need to do often, as the game’s NPCs are woefully understocked with ammo/materials.
Now, I’m not going to spoil how the story goes, but Shattered Space left me severely disappointed. Its only redeeming quality is that it makes melee combat viable again. Some of the new weapons are refreshing and there’s some scope for exploration with numerous points of interest on the map. Initially, it might seem small but once you get exploring, there’s a lot to discover. However, there’s no way to call the newly-introduced buggy to your location, effectively forcing you to fast-travel to your ship every time you want to hitch a ride. Besides, all I needed to get around was the booster that came with my Starborn space suit. I could easily scale even the tallest mountains with a little patience (read: non-stop jump spam). For once, my playthrough was bug-free, but your mileage may vary because there have been scattered reports about some side-quests bugging out.
Now, I don’t know if our actions in Shattered Space affect the main campaign in any way. That’ll involve playing Starfield another time; not something I look forward to. Side quests in Shattered Space include quintessential fetch quests, find person ‘X’ at location “Y”, gather samples for eccentric scientists, etc. Standard run-of-the-mill stuff, except for one. That I enjoyed because it involved paying attention to in-game pointers. Overall, I managed to get some 12 hours of gameplay with some areas still left unexplored. If you choose to speed through the main quest (and not die as much as I did), you can finish Shattered Space in as little as 4 hours.
In an earlier interview, Todd Howard compared Shattered Space to Fallout 4’s Far Harbor, which, in retrospect, borders on false advertising. Far Harbor had a ton of replayability due to its interwoven questlines, numerous outcomes and its seamless integration with Fallout 4’s main plot. Far Harbor explored deep philosophical questions about humanity and Synths. Shattered Space harbours no such illusions. Lack of replayability aside, It doesn’t bother to expand upon the game’s lore. To make matters worse, there is one glaring plot hole.
Va'ruun'kai’s location was supposed to be hidden from the Settled Systems. But, a faction from the main campaign that has no business being there makes a cameo. In the end, Shattered Space is just like its name suggests: vacuous and devoid of meaning. It felt more like something cobbled together by an enthusiastic modder than a DLC-sized expansion from one of the world’s most prolific RPG makers. There are no new companions (no, the two shipmates don’t count), all the NPCs talk in superlatives, the city feels inorganic, and my biggest pet peeve: stealth is still useless.
I got Shattered Space for free with Starfield’s Deluxe Edition. You can purchase it on Steam/Xbox for $30. I’d argue it isn’t worth that much and you’re better off waiting for a sale. Now, I’m aware that hating on Starfield is a genre of its own, and as much as I want to enjoy Shattered Space, Bethesda’s lack of effort makes the experience unsatisfying. I can only hope it finds its mojo again and recreates Skyrim’s magic with Elder Scrolls 6. What’s even more puzzling is that there are literal fan-made expansions that play better than anything Bethesda has made in the past few years. For example, Fallout London recreates the quintessential Fallout experience in, you guessed it: London. It offers an infinitely better experience than Shattered Space ever could. And the best part is, you can download it off GOG for free. You’ll need to own a copy of Fallout 4 (and its DLCs) on the platform or Steam.
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