Let’s face it: Starfield’s launch wasn’t exactly a supernova. Being the 11th most successful release of 2023 isn’t good enough for a game that was expected to lead the charts after its release. I know stats can lie sometimes, but not the reviews by fans, and Starfield’s 6/10 rating on Steam shows the fans’ mediocre experience with it.
Key Takeaways
- Starfield launched with a bang, but repetitive quests and shallow exploration left gamers feeling lost in space. The upcoming Shattered Space DLC might be the jet fuel to re-ignite the adventure.
- The new DLC whispers of a new planet extended story, a more lively environment, and lore. It might finally feel like a living universe.
- Shattered Space could inject some much-needed personality into Starfield’s boring factions.
- Starfield’s choices often felt very unnecessary and absurd. Shattered Space has the potential to change that with meaningful decisions that have lasting consequences on the game. We can also expect better and more engaging activities.
Even though the vastness of its explorable universe was impressive, the initial buzz quickly faded after bugs, repetitive quests, and a feeling of emptiness plagued the game. But the good news is that Bethesda has announced two new expansion packs to improve the whole thing.
And as the reports suggest, the first one, the upcoming Shattered Space DLC, might be the remedy for its revival. It might just be the jet fuel Starfield needs to escape its current black hole of mediocrity.
How can it help make the whole thing better? Let me explain:
From An Uncharted Territory To A Living Universe
What do you think is Starfield’s biggest weakness? For me, it’s the mile-wide, inch-deep universe. Every planet started to feel the same after spending some time on it.
Sure, there were some cool alien creatures, but they lacked variety and depth. Similarly, it felt lonely on these planets. I can imagine what Dr. Mann would have felt in the movie Interstellar.
Shattered Space, however, whispers of a region filled with unique environments, lore, and stories. Its story will take place in Dazra, a city on House Va’Ruun’s hidden planet. Hopefully, Va’ruun’kai will bring life to the mostly unmanned universe of Starfield. That’s the only way I’ll be convinced of its progression.
Better Exploration Mechanics
In Starfield, traveling between planets can sometimes feel exhaustive and it felt like this on almost all the lifeless worlds. If this isn’t enough, the slow movement of the character even if you pick the smallest thing in the hand is enough to break my patience. It’s another story of how I control myself from deleting the game.
If Shattered Space is to become a successful DLC, it needs to ensure more diversity and depth. Now that Bethesda has all the complaints and suggestions from the fans, hopefully, the new planet will be better than before.
Factions With Friction
The already present factions in Starfield are as interesting as watching paint dry on a spaceship hull. Take the United Colonies, for example. They were supposed to be this powerful, bureaucratic republic, but their quests mostly involved running tedious errands for generic bureaucrats. I expect a strong faction to give us a reason to care about who controls that next space station.
Another example is the Crimson Fleet faction. Its pirates were a little better, but their motivations boiled down to “space booty!”. There was no depth to their characters or their goals.
It is Bethesda’s chance to make many things right and I hope Shattered Space injects some much-needed personality into the factions. As a suggestion as well as an expectation, Bethesda should add a new faction of spacefaring scavengers competing for resources with the established powers. This would make the whole experience more enjoyable.
More Meaningful Choices And Engaging Activities
Starfield’s choices often felt like picking between flavors of space-paste. Did you side with the blue guys or the red guys? Big whoop. I remember playing a quest on Freestar Collective planet where I had to decide between helping a farmer or a mining corporation. Well, my decision resulted in a negligible difference in rewards and had no impact on the world around me.
Shattered Space has the potential to change that. I think the choice should be between two equally compelling factions, with lasting consequences. Maybe siding with the scavengers grants you access to unique gear, but angers the established power, making travel through their territory a constant risk. This is the kind of decision-making that injects real weight and replayability into the Starfield experience.
Concerning the activities, let’s be honest, grinding quests in Starfield wasn’t exactly exciting. I hope the new DLC will change that and offer a breath of fresh air with new and engaging activities. If I were to offer my ideas, I would suggest adding high-stakes space races or becoming a bounty hunter tracking down space pirates.
These are all speculations and my personal opinions based on my experience with the game and whatever I could find about the upcoming DLC online. Will the game improve or the DLC will be a failure? We will have to wait for its release.
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Laiba is a passionate writer who’s been covering the gaming industry for more than 2 years now and has a deep understanding of how this industry is evolving and what gamers love to read.
