Highlights

  • Starfield's Shattered Space DLC will explore House Va'ruun & horror-related elements, reminiscent of Dead Space.
  • The 2023 Dead Space remake was praised, but future projects are reportedly on hold at this time, leaving a void for fans.
  • The Shattered Space expansion may deliver a more extensive horror experience aligned with Dead Space's.

Starfield has been gaining traction recently, thanks in large part to the latest news and progress announcement at the Xbox Showcase during the 2024 Summer Game Fest event. As Bethesda Game Studio's first new IP in decades, Starfield launched in September 2023 to high anticipation, and received somewhat mixed, but generally overall favorable reviews from players and critics, becoming the #11 bestselling title of the year too. While it was noted that Starfield had some shortcomings and technical hitches, Bethesda has been working on smoothing these out ahead of the first major upcoming expansion, Shattered Space.

Now, the studio has unveiled the latest trailer for Shattered Space. Among the details seen in it, the trailer confirmed various longstanding suspicions that it will be focusing on and delving deeper into the intrigues surrounding House Va'ruun and its culture. The House is one of Starfield's more mysterious and less-fleshed out factions, at least previously. With the presentation and vibes in the footage, however, Shattered Space appears quite reminiscent of EA's Dead Space series, particularly in its aspects that lean more towards the horror side of things, which are likely of interest to fans of both franchises.

Shattered Space is set for a fall release later this year.

A screenshot from the teaser trailer for Starfield: Shattered Space.
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Starfield DLC Looks Like a Full-Blown Horror Game

Bethesda releases a new trailer for Starfield's upcoming Shattered Space DLC, showing off the expansion's horror-themed elements.

Starfield's Shattered Space Has Serious Dead Space Vibes in the Best Ways

Dead Space Has Seemingly Been Left Adrift

Last year's Dead Space remake was widely regarded as one of the best horror titles of 2023, and an excellent title unto itself. EA Motive's work on updating and modernizing Visceral Games' 2008 sci-fi horror classic was embraced and praised by both returning fans and newcomers to the franchise. Following this reception, though, rumors and insider information circulating pointed to it allegedly missing sales and other goals, and as of now, it seems any possible future Dead Space projects are on indefinite hold.

This is certainly unfortunate and disappointing for players who were hoping to see more reimagined remasters and remakes in the series, and how they could be evolved to please and surprise gamers for the current generation. With the situation as such, and Dead Space stuck in limbo for the time being, Starfield's Shattered Space might be shaping up to deliver an adjacent experience.

How Starfield's Shattered Space DLC Could be Filling the Void Left by Dead Space

Starfield's main campaign and factional storylines were mostly more grounded in terms of realism, though obviously with liberties taken to spice up the NASA-punk setting and design alongside a few outright horror-like inclusions hidden and sprinkled throughout its vast Settled Systems galaxy. However, the official gameplay trailer for Shattered Space does not seem to shy away from the clear horror aspects on display. These will surely go hand-in-hand with the framework of the plot centering around House Va'ruun and its occult religion and shadowy practices. The vision glimpsed in the trailer brings to mind a number of Dead Space elements, such as strange rituals, eerie monoliths, and menacing monsters; all quite different than much of what was seen in the base game.

One interesting detail pointed out by fans is Bethesda's choice to describe Shattered Space as an "expansion" versus the standard DLC tag. Going by the last time this was the case, 2006's The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion, this could indicate a much larger and extensive package than has normally become expected. Promising to send players to Va'ruun's homeworld of Va'ruun'kai and its capital city, Dazra, Shattered Space looks in many ways to be closely aligned in spirit to Dead Space with its story and gameplay. If so, it will perhaps provide an experience that will serve to satisfy Dead Space and horror gaming fans in general who may be looking for an experience in the same vein by bringing Starfield's established elements more under the genre's banner.