Starfield's Shattered space expansion hasn't had a huge success on Steam: "Less content than Skyrim DLC"

Shattered Space, the latest expansion for Starfield by Bethesda, is now available. Unsurprisingly, its arrival hasn't changed anyone's opinion about Bethesda’s cosmic RPG. At least on Steam, the consensus seems to be that if you like Starfield, you will probably enjoy this. The lack of new features, and a storyline that isn't quite there have resulted in a Mixed rating.

Va'ruun’kai is a new planet that was hand-crafted, and its capital Darza. They seem to be doing pretty well. The new worlds are a big step up from the plain ones we've been given in the base game. There are many posts on the subreddit that show off the stunning vistas that holidaymakers can look forward to. Sure, I would book a vacation there. From what I can tell, I don't think I would stay more than a few days.

One review stated, "It's [sic] not surprising they marketed it the way they did," focusing on the story and world space. There is very little new content outside of that. This is the least value for money compared to any Bethesda DLC.

This sentiment is repeated throughout the negative reviews. It's unfavourably compared with the DLC for Bethesda previous games like Skyrim and Fallout 4, as well as the DLC for other Bethesda games. One of them claims that the DLC is "less content than any Skyrim DLC."

Even the more positive reviews, which are many, though they're still outweighed by the negative ones, acknowledge that there's not much here that will move the needle. Even the more positive reviews, of which there are plenty--thoughthey're still outweighed by the negative ones--acknowledge that there's not much here that's going to move the needle.

One of the positive reviews stated that "a thoroughly mediocre and self-contained DLC at a time where starfield desperately needs to have more depth" Shattered Space can be described in two words:'missed chance'. After a rocky start, they praise the quest design and city of Darza but criticise the lack of new features in outposts and on ships.

Another positive review on Steam summarizes the mood nicely: "If you liked Starfield, you'll love this DLC." "If not, you won't be able to change your mind about the game."

Phantom Liberty seems to have distorted expectations about DLC. CDPR's Cyberpunk expansion, which was the only one, did undeniably change the narrative of the game. It went from a huge disappointment to an amazing comeback. But it took three years, had a massive overhaul, and came after a period of substantial improvements. Bethesda did not expect Shattered Space to be as expansive or transformative.

It's a little much to expect that an expansion will make a game that you didn't like suddenly brilliant, however welcome that may be. It's not a new idea, as Bethesda has done it before. Fallout 76 launched with a mediocre launch, but Wastelander, which added NPCs to the game instead of just mutants and robotics, changed the survival game dramatically. You never know, maybe Starfield can change hearts and mind in a future update.

Shattered Space was not available to reviewers until after the launch. You'll need to wait for our verdict.