Starfield: Shattered Space

Shattered Space takes advantage of the latest additions to Starfield to create a great adventure full of new content on a mysterious planet to explore, either on foot or at the wheel of our vehicle. The Va'ruun house becomes an exceptional protagonist of a new political plot in which we will have to choose once again our path in the stars. New content, allies, secondary missions and factions put the icing on a cake that more than fulfills as an expansion.

Starfield: Shattered Space returns to Bethesda's design roots, giving a singular location to explore in a DLC that's tinged with terror. Despite not exploring this science-fiction horror tone as much as I'd have liked, it's still a fun experience worth checking out, with art direction that's genuinely stunning.

Shattered Space offers up a good time, and shows off just what a great state Starfield is in after the various post-launch updates. It draws players into a thrilling new tale, ending in yet another enormous moral dilemma. Va’ruun’kai is an interesting locale to explore, although the atmosphere is far more ghost town than bustling metropolis. The expansion excels in its cosmic horror fuelled opening that sadly fades out into something that’s far less intense. This expansion, while hardly ground-breaking, reminded me of just why I enjoyed the base game so much in the first place. I only wish this DLC had been a tad bolder in the realisation of its vision.

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.

Starfield: Shattered Space is a compelling but messy addition to Starfield and could be recommended to Starfield fans.

I don’t want to come across as too negative because I still think there’s a lot of good in Shattered Space. While the planet of Va’ruun’kai itself may not offer much unique to the game, it looks great and the core quest line here is worth your time. The amount of content you get for nearly half the price of the original game, though, is wildly underwhelming, and there’s nothing here that is going to change the mind of anyone who doesn’t already like Starfield. Fans of the game should absolutely check Shattered Space out when they get the chance, but I might consider waiting for a sale.

Starfield: Shattered Space is a solid addition if you’re looking for a deep, story-driven experience or a chance to level up while exploring a new society. But if you expect a major shift in the game’s scope or mechanics, this isn’t it. Still, it’s a satisfying ride for fans of the universe.

It shows good intentions and is visually pleasant, but it offers almost nothing new to enjoy. It could have gone a longer way, but we see it as a wasted opportunity.

Shattered Space is a fun and meaty addendum for those who enjoyed what Starfield's base experience had to offer, but those hoping for any significant improvements will be left disappointed.

Starfield Shattered Space is a solid expansion that presents lots of choices and exploration, but it doesn't really deliver on the horror aspect Bethesda teased. There's plenty of intrigue to be found in Va'ruu'kai and the city of Dazra, and some side quests offer some memorable highlights. But as one of most elusive factions in Starfield, Shattered Space feels like a missed opportunity to go all in on the weirdness and the unsettling atmosphere the opening did so well to establish.

Shattered Space will certainly revive Starfield for those who fell for the Premium Edition, but it won't convince others to spend 30 euros to give it another chance. Building on various strengths of the base title, such as the developed lore and captivating missions, the expansion of Bethesda's software turns its back on other of its pillars. This would not have been a problem if Va'ruun'kai, the only new planet in this DLC, had offered something truly different/innovative/surprising... which is not the case. Short on new content, Shattered Space is content with fast-paced faction quests with multiple choices, which unfortunately do not breathe the wind of renewal that we would have liked after a year of waiting. As such, not everything that is handmade is necessarily in exquisite taste.

Again we were promised a lot but again it seems that the whole is less than the sum of its parts. Yes, those who liked the original game will also enjoy the expansion just like me, I have no doubt about that and it is definitely a wonderful way to add another 10 hours, depending on how fast you are, I'm just not sure it's worth another $30. At the end, there is no pain like the feeling of finishing a game that you have invested dozens or hundreds of hours in and for a moment you are not sure how to continue. I didn't feel that way about Starfield in the base story, and unfortunately not in the expansion either. I forgot almost it and immediately and moved on.

Starfield: Shattered Space had the potential to be a good expansion, but it felt unfinished because it uses the same structure as the base game, only adds little content (with the exception of narrative and new weapons), and has plenty of errors and bugs. It isn't bad at all, but it could have been better.

Shattered Space is just more of what Starfield couldn’t deliver. Although its focused, single-location experience and engaging quests provide a refreshing change, its overall lackluster quality proves that no updates or expansions can truly transform Starfield. While moments of brilliance remain, and Shattered Space does add some memorable moments to the pile, it's a DLC that ensures that Starfield doesn't go out with a bang like a Supernova, but rather fades into the vacuum of space without so much as a whimper.

Starfield: Shattered Space is a boring and disappointing add-on that can be put on par with Operation: Anchorage for Fallout 3.

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.

Starfield: Shattered Space is a big disappointment in almost every way. We loved the base game, for all its flaws, and we were willing this to be the big, exciting DLC drop that'd make us love it all over again. However, what we've got here is a very average narrative expansion that fails to add any big choices, upgrades, new enemies, biomes, loot or anything that could potentially excite or draw in new players. It's buggy, janky, badly acted in places, and there are a myriad of bugs and performance issues to be ironed out. What a missed opportunity.

Even putting the awful rhetoric aside, Shattered Space is a tone-deaf, regressive, poorly blueprinted, and poorly executed sorry excuse for a story expansion, favoring looks over substance and regression over progression.

The exact opposite of what Starfield needed, with a DLC expansion that magnifies the parent game’s failings and sidelines its more positive elements.