Starfield: Shattered Space (Xbox Series X) Review
One year ago, Starfield launched globally for Xbox owners and Xbox Game Pass subscribers, receiving a mixed bag of reviews. Some fans alleged the developers misled the audience, while CGMagazine’s own review called it “one of the premiere titles in Xbox’s library and a strong addition to Bethesda’s storied history.” I fall into the latter camp. I thoroughly enjoyed Starfield‘s fresh outlook on exploring the Settled Systems and eagerly anticipated the Shattered Space expansion, with promises of a “better gameplay experience.”
Starfield: Shattered Space brings everything fans love about Bethesda games into the Starfield universe but ultimately delivers a watered-down experience compared to what fans might expect from a “Fallout in space.” Poor performance affects most of the gameplay and gone are the docking sequences that fans loved to gripe about, further distancing this DLC from the original vision of Starfield.
Shattered Space starts when players explore the outskirts of a random galaxy, with no mission destinations. An incoming transmission interrupts this aimless wandering, and a large space station, The Oracle, appears from nowhere, sending a distress signal. Like every other Bethesda game, this sparks excitement and a strong desire to investigate. The introduction to the DLC is perhaps its strongest point.
“Shattered Space introduces the civilized (non-Zealot) Va’ruun, whose beliefs mirror real-world pagan religions, adding an organic and engaging connection to the lore.”
Aboard the zero-gravity station, it quickly becomes clear something went wrong. The station’s captain, resembling Fallout‘s Glowing Ones, retains his wits and explains that The Oracle hails from the Va’ruun homeworld. Yes, the same Va’ruun who constantly disrupts the player’s peaceful moments by attacking on sight.
Shattered Space introduces the civilized (non-Zealot) Va’ruun, similar to the Constellation companion Andreja, and their beliefs mirror real-world pagan religions. They worship a Great Serpent, a cosmic force that guides their actions, evoking parallels to real-world organizations like Scientology. This connection between real-world belief systems and Starfield‘s lore feels organic and engaging.
After discovering The Oracle, it’s apparent it is another experiment gone wrong, and it’s up to the player to restore power and return it to its home. Unfortunately, this mission suffers from poor design. Navigating the zero-gravity hallways is filled with dead ends, making it feel like a chore. Glowing blue walls deal significant damage if touched, and the zero gravity almost guarantees you’ll hit them, slowing progress. While this is the worst-designed level in the DLC, it leaves a bad first impression.
Once gravity is restored, the mission becomes more manageable, and the story moves to Dazra, the Va’ruun’s home city. Dazra is a visual masterpiece, with landmarks and city construction that far surpass the design of New Atlantis. However, as soon as you land, the story takes a turn. Within minutes, you’re hailed as the chosen one—a common Bethesda trope that feels unearned and inorganic here.
The Va’ruun, a secretive faction that doesn’t welcome outsiders (even Andreja isn’t accepted back home), suddenly embrace you because you utter a key phrase, “All Must Serve.” This quick shift feels like an Isekai anime filled with fan service, undermining the established lore.
After a monologue about becoming one of “The Promised,” you’re led to a cave for a ritual that initiates you into the Va’ruun religion. The ritual, while filled with references to classic sci-fi like Dune and Star Trek, is anticlimactic. You perform a series of small tasks (or don’t, as they have little effect on gameplay), and the experience feels underwhelming. Bethesda magic takes over afterward, granting you free rein to explore Dazra.
“For a game that’s been out for over a year, now with paid DLC, it’s hard to overlook how much time was wasted aimlessly searching for quest items.”
Starfield: Shattered Space opens up the game similarly to how the main story concludes—you are free to do whatever you want. My exploration led me to a small house where two brothers were fighting because one of them, Amila, got drunk and sold their mother’s urn filled with her ashes. This prompted the older brother, Borhal, to challenge Amila to a knife fight to the death. Amila, known for being irresponsible and drinking too much, asks you to be his ‘second’ in The Duel. This setup fits the mould of a classic Bethesda side quest, though it quickly devolves into something less impactful than expected.
This quest feels horrendous, and the events that follow are just as frustrating due to their implications. The world is falling apart, yet two brothers can’t agree to show basic kindness, even when one might die. It feels forced as if it’s included just for the sake of being there. Amila is utterly unlikable, and even when you try to get him to open up, he doesn’t improve. Worse, Borhal behaves in a similarly frustrating way. Where games like Skyrim and Oblivion have organic, believable questlines, this one feels contrived and out of place. Lead writer Emil Pagliarulo usually excels at crafting small, memorable quests, but The Duel might be one of his weakest efforts.
You’re given multiple options to influence the outcome of the quest, all involving spiking a beverage and watching the events unfold. If you choose the option to keep both brothers alive, they still treat you with disdain, though behind closed doors, they express some happiness about your intervention. Ultimately, it feels inconsequential, more like busy work than anything meaningful. This sentiment applies to much of the DLC. The main characters feel too stubborn to be believable, often going out of their way to sabotage the well-being of Va’ruun, making the story feel forced and disconnected from the larger narrative.
Starfield: Shattered Space introduces the player to one of the worst fathers in gaming through the Conflict in Conviction questline. A Va’ruun house leader orders you to hunt down his son and everyone who helped him escape, instructing you to kill them all without mercy—for the Serpent! Without spoiling too much, the questline does offer positive outcomes and delves deeply into the relationship between duty and freedom, providing some of the most thought-provoking moments in Starfield to date.
However, the quest is riddled with bugs. I had to restart my save six times because key activators failed to appear. For a game that’s been out for over a year, now with paid DLC, it’s hard to overlook how much time was wasted aimlessly searching for quest items, only for them to appear after reloading the game.
This is a recurring issue throughout Shattered Space. Performance problems plague the entire experience, and whenever the game starts to build any semblance of momentum, technical issues quickly strip away any sense of immersion. I experienced frequent crashes and performance stutters that make the base game look far more polished in comparison than I initially thought possible.
“…the DLC falls short of Bethesda’s previous high standards, with performance issues, clunky quests, and underwhelming execution…”
Performance issues are a constant thorn in the side of Shattered Space. Frequent crashes, stutters, and lag disrupt the flow, especially during key moments in the DLC’s later acts. It’s a major letdown when compared to the more polished DLC offerings from The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine or Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, both of which are available at the same price point but provide more complete experiences.
Starfield: Shattered Space is a decent start. By taking away all the busy docking and loading screens, Bethesda injected a more streamlined experience into players with the Va’ruun storyline. The Great Serpent is a compelling antagonist, and the city of Dazra is Starfield’s best-constructed city. Quests that explore the despair of humanity and freedom being taken for granted are awesome inclusions but bogged down by performance issues that grind gameplay to a halt.
Starfield: Shattered Space introduces a new story and setting within the Settled Systems, offering a deeper look into the mysterious Va’ruun faction. However, the DLC falls short of Bethesda’s previous high standards, with performance issues, clunky quests, and underwhelming execution preventing it from reaching the heights of the base game or other beloved Bethesda titles. Shattered Space shows potential but has a long way to go before it matches the greatness of its predecessors.
