When I first really sat down to dig into Starfield after it came out last year, I was busy working on it.
I’ve had two weeks to interact with as much as I can with this game – a game I’ve been looking forward to, not necessarily because I’m interested in the game’s premise, but because of its creator’s previous work Digging Deeper These guys have gone to considerable lengths to sell us their dreams of space as the next big, special thing.
After those two weeks, I had no idea what the hell happened. I liked a few of them and thought a lot of them fell far short of the lofty expectations set, but more often than any of them, a lot of them just left me feeling a little numb.
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Between then and the arrival of Starfield’s first story DLC, Shattered Space, my ideas for the base game have thankfully crystallized into something vaguely coherent. This is a game that feels like it’s just a few steps (or a bunch of gravity jumps) away from truly reaching its potential.
Unfortunately, Shattered Space missed an opportunity to finally make the leap from an impressive but often soulless technical feat to an unquestionably great video game that marked a real step forward for its creators. step.
That’s not to say you won’t have fun with it. From the moment you find the Oracle, the space station where your adventure begins, to the time you land on House Va’ruun’s home planet, until you’ve completed everything this surprisingly small expansion has to offer, here’s it, Just like in the base game, there’s some fun to be had. The problem is, they feel like comets of old Bethesda glory, in a vacuum of the same stuff that could have been a fresh flavor of Bethesda glory with just a little more depth and original flourishes.
The Varun family itself sums it all up. Before Starfield was originally released, I don’t think I was the only one who thought they sounded like the most interesting faction out there. A strange and interesting inclusion that helps balance out the slightly dry science fiction the game is set in, as it mixes philosophical questions about the future of the universe with an unwavering reverence for real-world science in both its white and gray forms. NASA.
In the base game, it barely exists outside of Andrea’s questline, with empty spaces filled with zealots that feel like a parade of other boring enemies you blast because that’s the thing to do. This is so disappointing. But it doesn’t matter, the DLC is coming soon, so I have a chance to do House Va’ruun! A truly worshipful group giant mythical snake into something wonderful, strange, and interesting. Something memorable. Realize all the inherent potential of these great ideas.
Instead, Varunkai often serves as a beautiful canvas upon which the main narrative encounters many of the same pitfalls that prevent the rest of Starfield from reaching the heights it deserves. There are some interesting characters, but the ones that get screen time require you to develop into fully formed personalities that can carry the main quest line into scene-stealing territory. At times there are some interesting themes that arise in the story being told, but they aren’t properly developed before everything wraps up neatly in a rather brisk way.
A slight reinterpretation of some beats you’ve seen before, including some that have become straight-up Bethesda tropes, not in the beloved “wink, wink, nudge, nudge” way, but in “Gee, man, we’re going to do it again. Soon after you arrived, they treated you like the prophesied hero because you were magically the only one who could do something – in this case , you will hear a mysterious entity speaking. This time you don’t have any missing relatives, but it’s cool that the people of the Varun family have their dear ones and you need to find them with a big tech gadget. to help get it up and running so you can press the big red button on it and pave the way to solving big problems. spoiler warningbut when you see something happen at the end, it changes a lot.
These wouldn’t be a problem if they were wrapped up in a story that itself contained enough fresh elements to spark your imagination and engage you, but overall I think that’s the case here Not so, certainly not in the grand scheme of things. As with the base game, there are some points about politics and religion in the depiction of a very traditional Varun society, with a supreme leader flanked by an ineffective committee that can’t agree on how to change a lightbulb. . , but it’s hard for any message to get across correctly or truly convince you that you should change the way you look at things or explore roleplaying in another way, other than your own personal whim.
There are some choices and consequences, but the impact of it feels limited in the short term, making you feel like you’re having a huge impact on the world at large, and no one is really telling you “think about this because this is important”. There’s also no neat little slideshow – even though the description clearly isn’t an ideal ending – to show you how you shape the long-term future of House Varun. Starfield has always done slightly better when it comes to microscopic individual missions, and thankfully there are a few scenes that make you care a little more.
That’s not to say there’s no evidence of Bethesda trying to improve upon the base game’s storytelling offering. While the early returns were arguably a bit disappointing, bugs aside, I ultimately enjoyed the work Andrea did – the only House Va’ruuner in the base game to be given any real depth – and it was worth it Bring it as a companion. The DLC is set in her hometown. She has lots of unique dialogue and reactions, as well as occasions where you can choose to have her chime in and speak for you.
She feels invested in what’s going on and provides some good commentary, although the fact that she’s miserable as her fellow Starfield companions struggle to feel like anything other than a character in the player’s story, with very limited abilities, is a bit Diminishes this by doing anything dynamic except storming off, and if you intentionally tell them in no uncertain terms everything they stand for, get out.
I also appreciate that Bethesda seems to be using DLC to try and make Starfield’s cutscenes feel more alive, even if you’re still stuck in a head-bobbing bubble that, to be fair, still has the charm of Annihilation. I had a lot of fun exploring Va’ruun’kai Square, although it’s a bit deserted outside of Va’ruun’kai’s capital, Dazira, and its outskirts. Focusing on one area definitely allows Bethesda to tap into more of its long-established environment-making strengths, especially when it comes to large shrine landmarks, but there are plenty of interesting buildings, and there are plenty more unmarked little things to stumble upon. , and a vibrant palette of purples and oranges helps visually bring the landscape to life.
Things are a bit barren when it comes to new items, which is rather odd considering Starfield is so good at turning you into a hoarder. I had fun blasting through the dungeon with some Va’ruun guns – the ones that fire large electric bolts that explode into energy balls get a thumbs up – and there’s some nice gear, but overall, it’s lacking here uniqueness.
Something could have been made up for with some interesting Varun cabins or extras, but the organization only uses and stocks the same parts as other settled systems. Things are slightly better when it comes to outposts, with a couple of new Varun settlements unlocked at the end of the main quest, but these appear to be the only additions, and don’t look any different than the usual square or round blocks. Also, you don’t seem to be able to actually place them on Va’ruun’kai itself, which would help things.
But that’s the thing. Shattered Space offers Bethesda a chance to do something that will make you argue about where you can spend five hours building a tiny house surrounded by mineral extractors, which is more important than in the base game. Much lower. This is a great opportunity to take some of Bethesda’s great ideas in designing factions that grab players’ attention and turn them into something new with a range of classic Bethesda magic or new magic the studio can bring to the table. Reality. Enter a great game that will likely add to an already storied legacy in the future.
Instead, anyone returning to Starfield after playing what is still a very basic game will likely feel the same way they have all the time after playing a game that could have been a home run. For star shape.
Shattered Space is now available on PC, Xbox and Game Pass. This review was conducted using PC code provided by the publisher.
