Cole Gieseking

Shattered Space is very good. It gave me everything I hoped for, but it didn't give me more than what I hoped for. Unlike the procedurally generated barren rocks we’ve seen previously, this handcrafted environment was full of character and intrigue. The tightly nested cluster of unique dungeons creates a real sense of discovery that was lacking in the rest of the game. The story and characters were raw and brutal at times (no more of this backslappin’ ain’t-space-neat Constellation BS). One reason that I only give this a 4 is that the kafkaesque quasi-horror tone often created a dreary and desolate ambiance. Additionally, like the rest of the game it often times felt like the story and gameplay were battling each other rather than integrating into a synchronous gameplay/storytelling experience. There were definitely times where you’d just stand in a room and get talked at by an NPC or fight a dungeon that pauses the story rather than tells it. Lastly, I felt that Shattered Space just lacked that extra wow-factor that I need to give it 5-stars. Bethesda definitely delivered a solid complete polished experience but stopped there and didn’t add in the types of bells and whistles that could really blow your hair back, such as one-of-a-kind weapons, memorable bosses in every dungeon, and unique little puzzles that can breakup some of the monotony and give distinctive personality to each location. This review might make it sound like I had a lot to complain about, but I really didn’t. It was actually challenging to explain what would have made this a five-star DLC which should tell you how close I was to giving this five stars and why I had to spend so much time pointing out the small areas for improvement that could have pushed this one over the edge. This was really just a very well put together gameplay experience overall that left me wanting more.