Starfield: Shattered Space – Everything You Need to Know

Starfield may not have landed with the sort of impact that many past Bethesda titles have done for many (personally, I loved it), but long before it had released, developer Bethesda Game Studios made it abundantly clear that it’d be supporting the space-faring epic with new content for years after release. Obviously, some of that has already come in the form of a handful of free update (with more presumably to come down the line), but the game is soon also set to get its first major paid expansion in the form of Shattered Space. From reverting to focusing on handcrafted content like past BGS titles to blending its sci-fi offerings with a dash of cosmic horror, Starfield’s debut expansion is making some intriguing promises, and here, we’re going to go over all of those key details.

STORY

Starfield’s base experience introduced several different factions across its interstellar setting, and though the mysterious House Va’ruun wasn’t as prominent a part of the game or the story as many other were, that’s set to change with Shattered Space. The expansion will begin with players coming across an abandoned space station dubbed The Oracle, with a message telling you to stay away and not board it. That, of course, means you will board it, from here players will be inadvertently led to the mysterious home planet of House Va’ruun.

SETTING

House Va’ruun’s home planet – Va’ruun’kai – was briefly referenced a few times in Starfield, but Shattered Space will be the first time we’ll get to see it ourselves. Upon arriving on the planet, players will find that the people of House Va’ruun – who have lived in voluntary seclusion from the rest of the human race for a long time – were experimenting with grav drive technology, with that experiment failed and led to disastrous consequences all over the planet- that you now have to deal with.

In fact, once you arrive at the planet, that’s where most of the expansion will take place, as per Bethesda. Much of Starfield’s base experience saw players hopping from planet to planet, which means that the organic exploration and emergent design that BGS RPGs are usually known for was much less prominent for many players’ tastes. With Shattered Space, however, Bethesda is looking to deliver a single, large, fully handcrafted location that will span the vast majority of the expansion and its content offerings.

OVER 50 NEW LOCATIONS

We don’t know exactly how large the planet of Va’ruun’kai is going to be compared to the other handcrafted planets found in Starfield, but based on everything that Bethesda is saying, it’s going to be quite sizeable. The developer has said that the expansion is set to open up over 50 new locations for players to seek out and explore on Va’ruun’kai. Throughout the planet, players will also find gravitational distortions known as Vortexes, which will bring their own unique challenges (more on this in a bit).

DAZRA

One of the main locations that players will be exploring in Shattered Space is Dazra, the city that serves as the capital of Va’ruun’kai, and, by extension, the seat of power for the entire faction. Players can expect to be spending quite a bit of time in the city, with Bethesda also promising plenty of room for exploration, secrets, and more. The land vehicle Rev-8 – which was added to Starfield for free in August – will also be usable throughout the city and the rest of the planet.

HORROR ELEMENTS

As you make your way through Shattered Space, you can also expect a tonal shift compared to the base game. Specifically, Bethesda is promising a more horror-tinged experience. Anytime you did have run-ins with House Va’ruun in the base game, Starfield definitely did sprinkle a little bit of horror into proceedings, and it looks like that’s going to be a much more prominent part of the experience from beginning to end in Shattered Space.

FILLING IN THE GAPS

House Va’ruun was a deliberately mysterious and ambiguous part of the setting and the backstory in Starfield’s base experience, but with the faction taking on a much more prominent role in the upcoming Shattered Space, you can expect a good number of those mysteries to be tackles. As per Bethesda and Microsoft, the expansion will fill in purposeful gaps in the base game’s lore, explaining why House Va’ruun cut itself off from the rest of humanity and what those decisions led to for the faction as a whole.

NEW ENEMIES

Starfield: Shattered Space is going to have players going up against plenty of smaller factions within House Va’ruun, with the larger group facing internal turmoil amidst its latest crisis, but they won’t be the only enemies you’ll be taking on. Bethesda has confirmed the expansion is set to add entirely new enemies to take on as well- such as monstrosities known as Redeemed and Vortex Horrors, who are among several extradimensional threats that have come pouring out on Va’ruun’kai after the faction’s aforementioned failed experiments.

NEW WEAPONS AND GEAR

As you may expect, Starfield: Shattered Space is also going to add new equipment and weapons for players to find and use- this is an RPG, after all. Further details on that front are somewhat scarce, so we don’t yet know what the extent of the additions here will be. One new addition in particular that has been mentioned is the Vortex Grenade, which potentially suggests that we’ll be using new weapons tied to House Va’ruun’s experiments with grav drive tech.

CHOICE AND CONSEQUENCE MECHANICS

Choice and consequence mechanics are a huge deal in any Bethesda RPG, and Starfield: Shattered Space isn’t going to buck that trend. Bethesda is promising a large number of choices for players to make as they make their way through the expansion, while an Xbox Wire preview has also teased decisions that can “affect the wider galaxy” once you are through with Shattered Space. Of course, Bethesda has also previously said that Shattered Space is supposed to be a largely standalone experience, which means its story is unlikely to affect the base game, and vice versa- so keep that in mind as you dive in.

LENGTH AND SCOPE

Let’s get to the question on everyone’s mind- exactly how large of an expansion is Shattered Space going to be? This being a Bethesda expansion, it shouldn’t surprise you to learn that it is set to be a sizeable addendum to what was already quite a massive game. Speaking earlier this year in an interview with YouTuber MrMattyPlays, director Todd Howard revealed that Shattered Space is going to be similar in scope to Fallout 4’s acclaimed expansion, Far Harbor, which means we’re likely looking at a 10-20 hour expansion, depending on how extensively you engage with all of its optional content. “Content-wise, we’re looking at kind of like what we did with Far Harbor on Fallout 4,” Howard said. “This is a scope that works for our development in doing this kind of annual story expansion type of thing, so we’re really excited about that. And it lets us kind of do some things the way we would in previous games and give people not completely that experience, because it’s still Starfield, but this new kind of alien world that you’re able to explore.”