It may not have made quite the same impact as Fallout or The Elder Scrolls, but I still had a lot of fun with Starfield. In fact, Bethesda's open world sci-fi RPG was easily one of my favorite games of 2023. I devoured it, completing every faction quest and spending hours going on space adventures with my crew in my customized ship. For me, Starfield captured sci-fi magic in a way that few other games have, and so I have always been excited to jump back into its world with the Shattered Space expansion. Unfortunately, Shattered Space is not exactly Starfield at its best.
I played Starfield to death and while it certainly had its fair share of technical hiccups, it was still easily Bethesda's most-polished game at launch. I didn't encounter any serious bugs in my time with Starfield's base game, but the same can't be said for Shattered Space. I ran into multiple bugs that kept important events from triggering, forcing me to leave areas and come back to continue quests. One such bug made it so an important NPC wouldn't talk to me. Whenever I tried to initiate the conversation to turn the quest in, the camera would zoom in on her face, she'd start speaking her first line of dialogue, and that would be it.
Quests are plagued by other issues as well. In a different quest, I was tasked with examining a campsite for clues. The problem was that some of the items needed to investigate the site weren't appearing. Luckily, I was still able to "examine" them and complete the quest, even though the items were invisible. However, that required looking up a YouTube video to see where these things were supposed to be. Some bugs and glitches can be waved away, but things like this that impede progress are a big problem, and it's disappointing that they seem to be so much more prevalent in Shattered Space than they were in the base game.
There are other oddities throughout Shattered Space. Every time I entered a new area, my companion would sprint full-speed ahead until an object stopped them, and one of the vendors in Dazra, the main city that players explore in Shattered Space, hilariously never stood at the counter of their shop. Instead, they stood behind a plastic sheet a few feet behind it. It's possible that's by design, but it doesn't make much sense and led to plenty of silly conversations where I was talking to them through the plastic.
Dazra city and the surrounding open world of Va'ruun'kai suffer from stuttering and chugging frame rates, especially with Starfield's 60 fps mode toggled on. The game runs smooth as butter in interior locations, but exploring open areas is somewhat of a chore thanks to the lackluster performance. I came away from the base game surprised and impressed with its polish, but Shattered Space has largely left me disappointed in that regard.
Shattered Space's Opening Has Serious Alien Vibes
It's a shame, too, because Shattered Space starts off so promising. Players receive a distress signal and make their way to a seemingly abandoned space station called the Oracle. Players have to explore the Oracle in zero gravity, with their investigation eventually leading them to House Va'ruun's mysterious home planet Va'ruun'kai. The space station segment is a real highlight of Shattered Space, and one of the few areas in the DLC that capitalizes on the cosmic horror vibes that the trailers hyped up. Exploring the Oracle feels like something out of an Alien movie, and it's pulled off very well.
The subsequent main quests are all mostly solid, with some memorable plot twists and tough decisions players have to make. Bugs aside, the main story quest in Shattered Space is great while it lasts. The thing is, it doesn't last very long. With only eight quests available, I was able to complete Shattered Space's main quest in roughly four hours. Granted, Shattered Space does have some quality side quests for players to pursue as well, but it's still disappointing that the main story is so short.
On the bright side, Shattered Space's main quest takes players to interesting areas and gives them the chance to collect helpful new items and weapons. Shattered Space adds some cool new guns to Starfield's sizable arsenal, plus it lets players craft grenades. Combat otherwise plays out like it does in the base game, with players encouraged to utilize their special powers to get an advantage in any given firefight. Shattered Space has some tough fights that can stand up to the base game's more challenging battles, and so players should definitely make sure they're prepared before journeying to Va'ruun'kai.
Shattered Space Phantoms Are Not a Great Addition to the Enemy Roster
Shattered Space introduces fresh enemy types for players to contend with, with the most notable being the Phantoms. These mysterious, glowing beings teleport all over the place and are honestly not particularly fun to fight. They sometimes regenerate their shields and health after teleporting, but also teleport so fast that it sometimes feels like no progress is being made on their health bars. Now, this complaint mainly applies to the "boss" Phantoms and not so much the grunts, but regardless, there are multiple fights in Shattered Space that feel like a chore.
Shattered Space combat is a mixed bag, but at least everything looks amazing while it's happening. Shattered Space is gorgeous, with some truly impressive lighting that gives certain areas a photo-realistic look. Va'ruun'kai is bathed in a pink glow that gives it a unique appearance when compared to other Starfield planets, and there are many incredible sights to be had.
I started the Shattered Space expansion with House Va'ruun's own Andreja as my wife. There were some unique dialogue options that popped up because I had Andreja with me, so Starfield players may want to consider bringing her along for the DLC.
At times, I was blown away by Starfield: Shattered Space's beautifully rendered new areas, but other times, my immersion was ruined by the annoying progression-killing quest bugs and weird graphical oddities. The DLC is uneven to say the least, and that's something Starfield fans should take into consideration when deciding if they should spend $30 on the expansion.
$30 for a four-hour main quest sounds a bit steep, but the new weapons and side quests may make it worth the investment for diehard Starfield fans that simply want more - once the bugs are ironed out, anyway. Future updates will likely make it a lot easier to recommend Shattered Space, but for now, fans may want to hold off until its more egregious bugs and glitches are addressed.
Final Score: 5/10
Starfield: Shattered Space
- Released
- 2024
- ESRB
- Mature 17+
- Base Game
- Starfield
- Developer(s)
- Bethesda Game Studios
- Publisher(s)
- Bethesda Softworks
- Engine
- Creation Engine 2
WHERE TO PLAY
- Va'ruun'kai looks incredible
- Fun new weapons
- Engaging stories with tough choices players have to make
- Frustrating bugs that can completely derail quests
- Short main story campaign that can be completed in about four hours
- Immersion-breaking graphical oddities
- Chugging performance in the open world
- Some Phantom fights are more annoying than they are fun
Starfield: Shattered Space is available now for PC and Xbox Series X. The Best War Games was provided with an Xbox Series X code for this review.