Forget Starfield Shattered Space DLC, I Think Improving One Feature Can Save The Game

Summary Starfield's main critique is the lack of engaging content in an otherwise vast universe.

Random space encounters like the interstellar rave ship or spooky detective missions stand out.

The Shattered Space DLC needs to focus more on adding substantial improvements and free content.

With the approach of the Starfield Shattered Space DLC, reviews for the title still sit at a middling "Mixed" on Steam — but expanding on one feature could change all that. Throughout the expansive worlds scattered across the Settled Systems, one of the game's core mechanics is fun & intriguing but sadly underutilized.

Although I've played Starfield for over 250 hours at this point, I can still see and agree with many of the criticisms that persist to this day. As a fan of the Fallout franchise of games, when it was first released, I likely viewed it through rose-tinted glasses, but as time went on and New Game Plus playthroughs were started, I started to notice what the game lacked.

Related All 10 Differences & Universes In Starfield's New Game Plus There are different variable dimensions once Starfield's main campaigns are finished. Here are the most interesting ones discovered in the game.

Starfield Just Needs More Random Space Encounters

The Most Compelling Of The Game

The best part of Starfield is, sadly, one that has not been explored enough. Sure, core missions like the UC Sys Def vs. Crimson Fleet do force players into their ships for large swaths of gameplay, but beyond using the scanner to fast travel, space travel generally is a highly underutilized portion of the game. For someone like me, who spent several hours customizing and building their ship, the fact that there's really not that much to do out in the expanse of space undercuts my engineering efforts.

Starfield Random Space Encounters Are The Best

From A School Bus To A Rave

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There are a number of really cool random space encounters in Starfield, ranging from fun and emotionally touching to downright frightening. The Starfield party cruise ship is probably one of the more fun encounters where players come across an interstellar rave ship, and speaking to the captain enables the option to turn off the gravity for a zero-G party experience.

Another less fun but equally interesting and touching interaction is with an elderly woman known as Grandma, who invites you over for a cup of tea and some good conversation. Although it's not the most compelling mission, it's a nice break from the rinse-and-repeat gameplay of traveling to a point of interest and shooting up a bunch of Spacers.

Two other less interesting but welcome interactions involved the Valentine Sea Shanty, a roaming pilot and singer who serenades the player with his beautiful voice. Similar, more common interactions like being stopped by Faraday's Budget Tours or the Magic School Bus-esque ship with an exasperated teacher aren't the most extensive quests, but it does provide a reason to actually fly around in space.

Starfield's Horror Missions Are A Cut Above The Rest

No, I'm Not Talking Terrormorph

Custom Image by: Katarina Cimbaljevic

Probably two of the best random space encounters are ones that, sadly, most players will never even see, even after hundreds or, in some cases, thousands of hours of gameplay. One such instance is a spooky detective-esque mission on a derelict space station that ties into popular culture. The Pale Lady abandoned ship in Starfield features the titular Pale Lady from Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark. While never directly seen, she can be heard, and remnants of the crew and audio logs detail a compelling quest players will never actually be able to play.

The company has never shied away from parodying or satirizing popular media, and they still have a few sci-fi franchises they can pull from.

While there are obvious connections between the main bad guys in Starfield in Terrormorphs and the Xenomorphs in the iconic sci-fi horror film Alien, there's also another random space encounter with a ship called the Colander, which introduces an even more grotesque alien named the Interloper. With similar aesthetics as the gross-out body horror present in the Entangled mission — in which players must make the decision to save Rafael or an entire station of people — this random space encounter stands out as one of the cooler happenings in the game.

Starfield Players Shouldn't Have To Scour The Galaxy To Find Cool Stuff To Do

Radiant Missions Just Don't Cut It

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Starfield has seen its fair share of criticism, but probably none as ever-present as the complaint that there's just not enough to do in the wide expanse of the Settled Systems. A notable lack of interesting POIs makes Reddit threads featuring rare biomes the most upvoted posts on r/Starfield. In a game that supposedly embraces the wonders that can be found out in space, the lame excuse that it would be "realistic" for the galaxy to be completely vacant of the content doesn't really hold water in a game that is supposed to be engaging and fun.

After playing through Cyberpunk 2077 for the first time in 2024, the weaknesses of Starfield became ever more apparent. Although a much more restricted world that lacks space travel, Night City is packed full of interesting and fun content around pretty much every street corner, and there was never a moment where I felt the game was lacking in content. Even though that game also has pseudo-Radiant missions, I didn't mind doing them because there was usually a fun encounter or two along the way to getting there.

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The fact a player could spend literally hundreds of hours in Starfield and not come across every random space encounter the game has is just a testament to how pointless space in the game feels. This is a bad thing, considering it's a space game — and for me, it comes just shy of failing at its main purpose. Let me clarify — I do like Starfield, and I do think it's fun — just like I do like the Fallout games — but I also see the glaring issues with them.

Like a lot of Bethesda games — there's just so much more potential in their titles, and as tech gets better and more games are built in UE5 — the glaring drawbacks of their development style become more apparent with every entry.

Starfield Shattered Space Needs To Include More Random Space Encounters

Va'ruun Was The Most Obvious Thing To Do

While the Starfield Shattered Space DLC does get me excited to learn more about the Va'ruun (an obvious exclusion that feels more like they ran out of time than it was intentional), I'm hoping it's not just another Trackers Alliance. While those quests were OK — after playing the game for over 250 hours, I'm looking for a few more substantial improvements or content additions, even though I know it might be more wishful thinking than a potential reality for the future.

Starfield Shattered Space is set to release in the Fall of 2024, though no official date has been confirmed as of writing.

Instead, I'm hoping Bethesda just starts to release some free DLC packs that add random space missions. These could range from just talking to other random ships over the intercom to more detailed and interesting quests like the Pale Lady ship. The company has never shied away from parodying or satirizing popular media, and they still have a few sci-fi franchises they can pull from. Sure, that bar might seem pretty low bar to most people, but for me, more random space encounters could potentially save Starfield from being exactly what the critics say.