Starfield: Shattered Space: Is It Worth Returning?

Starfield: Shattered Space is the latest expansion developed by Bethesda Studios that brings new adventures and stories to the space exploration RPG. We’ve managed to play several hours of the expansion on the Xbox Series X consoles to gain a good impression of the experience.

Many lessons can be learned from the main game, but is it enough to warrant returning to Starfield since its initial launch on September 6, 2023? We explore what has changed and what has remained the same to answer whether it’s worth returning to the Settled Systems with the Shattered Space expansion.

Table of Contents Table of Contents

1. Key Takeaways
2. Launching Shattered Space
3. A New Curated Experience
4. Same Old Story
5. Combat Still Adrift
6. Starry Technical Issues
7. The Bottom Line
8. FAQs
9. References

Show Full Guide

Table of Contents

1. Key Takeaways
2. Launching Shattered Space
3. A New Curated Experience
Show Full Guide
4. Same Old Story
5. Combat Still Adrift
6. Starry Technical Issues
7. The Bottom Line
8. FAQs
9. References

Launching Shattered Space

Players looking to start Shattered Space will need to be aware of several factors. Shattered Space can only be accessed by players who own the expansion or Starfield’s Premium edition. Players will need to download the game’s updates and the expansion separately before loading the game.

The game is not available on Xbox Game Pass. Players will either need to purchase the DLC separately, with Game Pass subscribers receiving a discount, or upgrade to the Premium edition. It is currently available for $29.99 on Xbox.

There are several prerequisites before starting the Starfield expansion. Players will need to have completed One Small Step from the main storyline or loaded a save with the quest completed. We also recommend being level 35 at minimum before starting the expansion; otherwise, the experience will prove rather difficult, as most enemies start at level 36 or higher.

To start the expansion, players will need to travel to any system, not a planet, that is not associated with any quests. We also recommend clearing any bounties and contraband items before starting. Only after completing these steps will the Oracle station appear in front of you, and the quest line becomes available.

A New Curated Experience

When Starfield first launched as an Xbox-exclusive game, it valued quantity over quality, with over 1,000 procedurally generated planets that never stood out in any way or had very little to do.

Shattered Space forgoes that design philosophy by focusing on a singular planet with a highly curated experience. This elevates the experience to feel more like an open world than an empty one. This addresses several issues that were present in the main game: excessive inputs to travel from planet to planet and locations often lacking meaningful content.

The planet itself is visually striking and unique compared to the otherwise dull and almost barren landscapes we’re used to seeing. The vibrant colors and the more mystical aesthetics of the city Dazra give the experience a more fantasy sci-fi look, as opposed to the ‘Nasapunk,’ the base game originally pursued.

Exploration will be the biggest deciding factor for players considering returning to the game, as it is a core gameplay mechanic. The new additions are the gravity bubbles that allow you to float in zero gravity and Vortexes that can make any venture that much more perilous.

The world missions follow the same typical formula found on most other planets. Points of interest when exploring the planet are still far out from each other, making the journey that much more tiresome and the Rev-8 planet rover a necessity for exploration.

Same Old Story

The main Starfield story was unable to resonate with players because it was disjointed and boring. Many players, myself included, found that the sidequests were often superior to the main narrative because they placed greater emphasis on characters and relationships.

The Starfield DLC follows the same format as the sidequests. The story has you join the faction as a Promised, which gives you the opportunity to learn more about its culture, history, and founder. Starfield has always excelled in world-building, and Shattered Space is no different.

The story starts with you encountering a derelict space station called the Oracle, which was experimenting with the Vortex until it went horribly wrong and infected the crew. Once you secure the station, it initiates a grav-jump to Va’ruun’kai – the homeworld of House Va’ruun.

You’re then taken to Dazra, the faction’s main city, where more people are becoming infected by the Vortex. The end goal is to find the House Speaker, Anasko Va’ruun, in the hopes he may hold the answers to reverse the infliction.

Whilst the DLC is leagues better than the original story surrounding the artifacts, it really doesn’t explore anything we haven’t seen before. Ambitious experiment gone wrong? I saw it in Entangled. Creating a weapon that ultimately backfires? The UC Vanguard quest line has already covered that.

It still repeats the same problem found in Starfield in that most story developments, outside of a few key cutscenes, are told through lengthy dialog. This method can work for some story games, especially ones with interesting characters, but not all. The game still repeats the mistake of suddenly dropping an overwhelming amount of information at a moment’s notice and not letting anything properly breathe or develop.

Combat Still Adrift

The Shattered Space expansion doesn’t offer much to expand on combat mechanics, but it does offer new equipment and a new enemy type

There are several new weapons belonging to House Va’ruun to collect, the majority of them using cartridge or particle infused ammo. There is a new ordinance that you can craft by looting vortex enemies using Void crystals and Void cysts.

All confirmed DLC weapons so far:

How effective these are will depend on rarity, perks, and any additional modifications to the weapons. Most players may find that old gear acquired before the DLC will perform better in terms of damage than the new gear available.

The enemies you’ll encounter in this game will either be typical House Va’ruun Zealots or the new Vortex enemies. They are characterized by their glowing blue form and amber crystals that form around them, and aside from their ability to teleport similarly to Starborn, they are essentially reskins of current enemies in the game. They are more aggressive and can catch you off guard with a surprising amount of damage if you’re not careful.

The expansion lacks any new weapon types, star powers, or new features for ship combat. This is because the expansion places greater emphasis on the story and the world as opposed to gunplay, leaning more into exploration than first or third person shooter action.

Starry Technical Issues

Bethesda’s games have developed a reputation amongst the online gaming community for releasing games still present with bugs affecting performance, gameplay, and sometimes the game’s function.

The DLC release came with a patch update that implemented an array of general improvements, including changes to lighting, addressing visual glitches, and overall better performance.

While the Xbox Series X Starfield experience is mostly smooth, notable bugs were still present during the DLC playthrough.

Most problems occurred during dialog with other characters, including delayed lip-syncing, inactive dialog, and characters facing the wrong way during conversations. This problem was present in the original game release and can be annoying in a DLC that relies heavily on character interactions.

Despite the patch update improving performance issues, our playthrough still encountered frames per second drops, rubber banding of both objects and my person, and momentary screen freezes in intense combat scenarios.

Players may encounter a few minor issues throughout their playthrough, but nothing game breaking to prevent progressing through the game.

The Bottom Line

Starfield: Shattered Space is the first major expansion since the game’s initial launch back in 2023 and sets a precedent for what to expect for potential future expansions.

Va’ruun’kai is by far the best Starfield planet to explore in the game and brings a refreshing shift in the game’s design. Learning more about House Va’ruun is an intriguing experience, but the story itself leaves much to be desired.

Overall, if you enjoyed your time playing Starfield, then it is worth jumping back on to experience the new story gear and location. Players who had hoped for substantial changes to the core gameplay will be left disappointed and are unlikely to find value in the expansion.

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