Destiny: The Dark Below Reviews
Destiny: The Dark Below is a combination of all of the worst parts of the original game. It offers little value to all except the most dedicated of players and revisits the same overused locations that we've seen a dozen times.
Even after three months of back-and-forth with the community, Bungie is still 'Destiny's' worst enemy.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 Dark Below is thin on content, and it fails to expand the scope of Destiny in any meaningful way.
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!
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.
An expansion that could have confirmed Destiny's greatness only leaves you feeling underwhelmed. If you want more Destiny, here's more Destiny, and it's still a lot of fun. There's more loot to collect, more weapons and armour to try out, and a handful of new strikes and activities to try with your Destiny friends. When we've played the new Raid there's a chance that it might all seem incredibly worthwhile. For now, however, the main reason to buy The Dark Below is that it gives you more reason to keep plugging away and a handful of new activities, not because it adds anything that new or substantial to the game.
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.
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.
Destiny gets darker with its new add-on, but the game itself isn't better for it.
The Dark Below feels like an early misstep for Destiny
Short on content, and long on grinding, The Dark Below fails to meaningfully enhance the Destiny experience.
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.
For now, there's an easy test to judge whether or not you should pick up The Dark Below: did you play Destiny from launch all the way up until the first expansion? If so, you'll want to get it as soon as possible. If your enthusiasm has faltered over the past few months and you never really got into the first raid, you can wait or pick up the Season Pass at a later date after more incremental improvements have been made.
The problems Destiny has are not rectified by the DLC, but nor are they intensified.