Bethesda says it took cues from the best game in its history for Shattered Space, but it's not winning fans over to 'an already catatonic game'

1 month ago 63

Two spacesuited figures stand with a purple sky behind them in Starfield's Shattered Space DLC.

(Image credit: Bethesda)

The thing about me—and all my colleagues here at PCG can verify this—is that I'm extremely annoying. I am 100% the tedious grognard who won't shut up about Mass Effect 1 being the best one while everyone is lavishing praise on ME2. I'm the guy who whines that the original is better when everyone is loving a remake. And, most of all, I am the dork who is still talking about Bethesda's Morrowind glory-days in 2024.

Insufferable, I'm sure you'll agree, but someone still at Bethesda must share my passion. The studio just released Starfield's first DLC, Shattered Space, and guess which game studio design director Emil Pagliarulo is namechecking in an interview with GamesRadar? The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind. Vindication, baby. This is a big day for irritating nerds everywhere. Kind of.

Shattered Space focuses on the ooky-spooky House Va'Ruun and its capital city of Dazra. Pagliarulo says that designing both meant pulling inspiration from the best game Bethesda's ever made: "Morrowind and its themes and overall vibe were a big inspiration," he told GR.

After all, he continues, "The concept of celestial horror is sort of in the House Va'Ruun DNA," and nothing in Bethesda's history captures "celestial horror" quite like Morrowind's weird psychosexual pantheon of mortals-made-gods, the Lovecraftian Sixth House, and their power struggle with an encroaching, time-bending empire.

Plus, Shattered Space is all about "Pushing the boundaries of the game’s NASAPunk aesthetic," says Pagliarulo, as well as "pushing the boundaries of what is and is not culturally acceptable." That notion of cultural and moral relativism, of the ways in which unique histories breed unique peoples with unique (and alien) systems of morality was likewise at Morrowind's heart. No wonder Bethesda turned to it when pulling Shattered Space together.

Unfortunately for Bethesda, drawing on its greatest hits doesn't seem to have won over players. At time of writing, Shattered Space is at a dull, beige "Mixed" rating over on Steam one day after launch, with only 43% of its views being positive.

To be fair, quite a few of the negative reviews seem to be reviewing, well, Starfield rather than Shattered Space, lambasting the base game for all manner of sins, but that still leaves a lot with gripes about the DLC in particular. Specifically, that the narrative is still a bit anodyne despite being better than the main game's and that a new, more detailed city doesn't really do enough to remedy the rest of the galaxy feeling a mile wide and an inch deep. "House Va'Ruun DLC will not ever come close to fixing an already catatonic game," declares one reviewer.

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One of Josh's first memories is of playing Quake 2 on the family computer when he was much too young to be doing that, and he's been irreparably game-brained ever since. His writing has been featured in Vice, Fanbyte, and the Financial Times. He'll play pretty much anything, and has written far too much on everything from visual novels to Assassin's Creed. His most profound loves are for CRPGs, immersive sims, and any game whose ambition outstrips its budget. He thinks you're all far too mean about Deus Ex: Invisible War.