Don't expect to find reviews for Starfield: Shattered Space when the sci-fi action RPG's first expansion launches on September 30. According to IGN's Dan Stapleton, review codes won't be released to any member of the press or any content creator ahead of that date.
Usually, this would cause some concern about the expansion's quality, but Bethesda is not new to such practices. For example, 2016's DOOM reboot also did not offer review codes before launch, which was an excellent game. It earned an 8.6 score here on Wccftech from Dave Aubrey and sold millions of copies, securing the development of DOOM Eternal (also a great title, by the way).
So, is DOOM worthwhile? Well, if you’re the kind of gamer who wants a brilliant 10-14 hour campaign where you’ll shoot and listen to metal breakdowns, then yes, 100%. DOOM in 2016 is possibly the best single player experience you can have with an FPS on modern consoles and for that alone, it is deserving of praise. Oh, and also you don’t aim down sights. That’s probably the best part of it all, actually.
Whether Starfield: Shattered Space will be as successful remains to be seen, but fans can stay hopeful for now. So far, Bethesda has said all the right things, claiming that it will be a return to the studio's traditional form of exploration focused on a single environment rather than countless planets.
We love Starfield's massive open galaxy, but from early on in our planning, we knew we wanted to introduce some more secluded and handcrafted locations, similar to what you've seen from our past expansions. There's so much mystery to House Va'ruun, and because they've so thoroughly isolated themselves, it made them the perfect faction to explore in a completely self-contained experience.
From the minute you arrive on Va'ruun'kai, the story never sends you off-planet. You're free to leave at any time, but the story is fully centered around life on the Va'ruun homeworld. Everything you discover, every location you visit, every side mission you seek out, it all tells the story of what happened here and how the Va'ruun people have survived being cut off from the comforts of the Settled Systems and the rest of humanity.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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