Shattered Space Has The Chance To Improve Starfields Best New Feature

A year after Starfield's original launch, Bethesda Game Studios is gearing up for the game's first major expansion, Shattered Space on September 30, 2024. The new DLC will lean into a horror aesthetic as players venture to the previously unseen planet of Va'ruun'kai, home to the Great Serpent-worshipping House Va'ruun after some experiments have left it in a state of disarray.

While this expansion was announced prior to Starfield's initial launch and was used as an incentive to buy the Digital Deluxe or Constellation Editions of the game, Bethesda has spent the year in between adding different features to the game. These include more tools for the ship builder that offer players a way to customize the interiors of their crafts to make it feel more like a mobile home for their characters, and the new REV-8 land vehicle, adding some much-needed quicker traversal to the game.

The Arrival Of Land Vehicles Could Be A Great Help In Shattered Space

The Expansion Takes Place Entirely On A New Planet

As confirmed in a recent preview of Shattered Space, the entire expansion will take place on Va'ruun'kai, which will feature mainly handcrafted environments, rather than the planet's wider star system with other procedurally generated planets. Because of this, the REV-8 update, which launched alongside the Gamescom 2024 trailer for Shattered Space, couldn't have come at a better time, as exploring the new planet would have been a far more time-consuming venture otherwise.

Of course, while the REV-8 alone is a great addition, the new situation Va'ruun'kai has found itself in, with new Vortexes opening and changed land-types due to Grav Drive technology experiments, means Bethesda has the opportunity to improve upon its land vehicles even further. Whether this would include even more vehicles, or some kind of further customization options, is entirely up to Bethesda, but the core mechanics for customization are already in place through the game's ship manufacturers and ship builder, as different manufacturers have very distinct styles that could translate to rover designs to match their ships.

Players Have Already Been Quick To Mod The REV-8

Drawing Inspiration From Other Iconic Franchises

Starfield's first land vehicle has proven to be a huge hit for many players, but it's also clear that there's a strong desire from players for more. Less than 24 hours after the REV-8 was added to the game, several mods have been added through the Creation Kit to transform it into the Halo games' Warthog, Roman's taxi from Grand Theft Auto 4, Luke Skywalker's X-34 Landspeeder from Star Wars: A New Hope to go with the myriad of other Star Wars-inspired mods, and even the modding staple that is Thomas the Tank Engine. There's also a mod for the real NASA Lunar Rover.

Some mods even stuck closer to the designs of known factions from Starfield itself, such as the Crimson Fleet, with a robust van with their logo spray-painted on the side. While it's hardly the most sci-fi look, it is in keeping with the faction's aesthetic, and this level of creativity from the community has already gone a long way to show the potential behind the inclusion of land vehicles. While most of these can be added easily through the Creations portal for PC and Xbox, making them accessible to all players, it would be nice to see Bethesda add more of its own official designs, and Shattered Space seems like a great opportunity to do so.

Alternatively, adding more customization options could let players kit out their vehicles with more weapons and armor, which could be essential for taking on the new threats crawling out of the Vortex. Some of these creatures have already been teased in the trailers for Shattered Space and a new official in-game plushie set that has been added to the Creations portal, and they look set to pose a significant threat to players as they venture across the decimated lands. While regular gunfights are still fun, being able to take on some of these beasts without ever leaving the vehicles could be even more satisfying.

Even though it's unlikely more vehicles will come to Starfield as part of Shattered Space, considering how recently REV-8 was added, there's certainly plenty of opportunity for Bethesda to add more following the DLC's launch, perhaps with some that are specifically designed for different kinds of environments. Until then, at least there's no shortage of mods to customize the REV-8 while players wait.