Destiny: The Dark Below Reviews
The Dark Below is all about adding more stuff to Destiny. If you've reached the endgame and you're still enjoying yourself, consider this essential.
The lure of a new Raid and higher level cap gives renewed purpose to Bungie's excellent social shooter. But by so thoughtlessly wiping away the hard work players put in with the previous end-game, we're now a little reluctant to do the same hard work again this time around. Hopefully, March's expansion will be approached more carefully to restore some confidence.
As a dedicated Destiny player, I have been happy with the new content included in The Dark Below, but find myself hoping for a bit more variation in future content. I can't imagine that anyone other than the hardcore fanbase will find value in this expansion.
Life with Destiny continues to be a vast range of meaningless numbers set up in a small but complex maze that breaks players will to fight before a way out is found. The core gunplay mechanic may be genre leading, but the wrapper that surrounds it continues to be irreparably broken.
Destiny's first expansion is a fun but mostly uneventful assortment of "been there, done that" moments, which only hardcore fans should consider purchasing.
The problems Destiny has are not rectified by the DLC, but nor are they intensified.
If you've enjoyed "Destiny" and are looking for more of what you've already enjoyed, then this will scratch your itch, though not very efficiently. But if you're looking for something new and interesting in the world of "Destiny," give this a pass.
In the end The Dark Below has some great ideas and adds to an already solid game, but what it adds does not seem to be worth 20 dollars. It is unfortunate that a game with such great gameplay is hindered by its own weight and becomes diluted by its own ambitions. The lack of new content is inexcusable and it will be interesting to see how well it holds up until the next expansion, House of Wolves.
Is it worth it? That's hard to say. For the ultimate Destiny experience, yes, you will need The Dark Below. You may find more of the same content, with some palette swapped enemies and similar bounties to what we traditionally had access to, but the new content allows Destiny to continue to surprise us. I put a ton of time into Destiny, and The Dark Below is just extending that clock even more for me, though I can see how it will bring on a ton of complaints from many players for at least some of its facets. The divide between those that love Destiny and those that hate it is growing with the release of The Dark Below, but I personally can't wait to see how these additions allow the game to continue to evolve and expand until the next expansion release.
On a fundamental level, The Dark Below fails to justify its expensive price point for anyone who isn't a hardcore Destiny fan. While the story missions are enjoyable and the Strikes are some of the best, there just isn't enough new content here to reinvigorate Bungie's project for more than a few hours at most.
Even after three months of back-and-forth with the community, Bungie is still 'Destiny's' worst enemy.
Short on content, and long on grinding, The Dark Below fails to meaningfully enhance the Destiny experience.
Destiny gets darker with its new add-on, but the game itself isn't better for it.
As it was in the original release of Destiny, The Dark Below features timed exclusives that can only be found on PlayStation consoles (until Fall 2015). The Undying Mind strike takes players further into The Black Garden to face a timeless Vex Hydra. The strike is a tad on the lengthy side and features multiple spots where you face incoming waves of Vex. The final showdown against the Undying Mind (the third Hydra boss in the game) features three force fields. The 4th Horseman, an exotic shotgun, is the other PlayStation exclusive. This four barreled shotgun can quickly eat away at foes, if you are lucky enough to have it drop.
I love the new weapons, gear and areas in Destiny the Dark Below but was not a big fan of starting that grind again in terms of my gear… but damn, they've got me hooked again!
A disappointing add-on to a game already losing its lustre. House of Wolves needs to be better than this, or Bungie may find themselves in trouble.
I understand the fierce criticism accompanying The Dark Below, but I don't think it merits such animosity. The new content offers more frequent loot drops and there are many options for buying higher-level loot. This expands access to high-level activities for both players who buy and those who don't buy the expansion. Making Destiny more accessible in this way is a welcome addition to a game built around its cooperative environment. This remains a game best enjoyed with friends, so the more people playing, the better.
The Dark Below is just More Of The Same, which will be good for hardcore fans of Destiny that have accepted the game for what it is, but will be a disappointing for those that had hoped the game would change its direction.
The Dark Below, and Destiny in a wider sense, specifically exploits the player's relationship to its systems. Like the processes of neo-liberalism that have clearly, through intentional design or not, been the inspiration for its various systems, Destiny asks one thing of players—that they are more productive. Through both reward and limitation, the game is constantly encouraging the player to commit more work and time to its processes, demanding constant attention.
The Dark Below feels like an early misstep for Destiny