Destiny: Rise of Iron Reviews
Destiny is a gorgeous game overall, and Rise of Iron’s frozen warrior aesthetic showcases this excellently. Felwinter Peak and the Plaguelands bring a sense of unforgiving chill, and the equipment that’s arrived with this expansion puts some medieval style in to the sci-fi world without feeling tacked on. Music, meanwhile, carries a similarly epic scope as powerful chorus arrangements and copious use of brass instruments make you feel like a true knight going to war.
After significant in-roads over the past year, Destiny feels like its regressed with Rise of Iron. This would have been a great time for exceptional story missions and replayable content that wasn't completely frustrating. For its price, Rise of Iron should have offered a lot more and taken more risks.
Destiny still has the same problems it’s always suffered from.
It lacks for the two things Destiny has never been short on from day one: personality and imagination.
Rise of Iron, rather than reminding me of days of glory, has instead reminded me of all the ways in which Destiny’s incoherence has undermined its ambition.
Rise of Iron feels like Bungie is just filling time till they can get Destiny 2 into our hands. The uninspired campaign, the “more of the same” Plaguelands, and a slapped on addition of Archon’s Forge don’t set this expansion apart in any way or make it very noteworthy. Spend the time though and you’ll find that there is some fun to be had solo or with friends.
Unless you absolutely cannot function without more Destiny, my suggestion is that you skip Destiny: Rise of Iron entirely and hold out hope that Destiny 2 finally brings the franchise to greatness.
It's Destiny Year One's last hurrah. It's good but that new game proper is needed quickly.
Those that are already in love with Destiny will no doubt forgive Rise of Iron’s shortcomings and dig into the content, but for those on the sidelines, or are waiting for the right opportunity to fall in love with Destiny, Rise of Iron is a skippable experience that can be overlooked until the inevitable full-on sequel
As the last full expansion for Destiny before Destiny 2, and a follow-up to The Taken King, Rise of Iron had big shoes to fill. It’s a shame then that it doesn’t.
Rise of Iron has its moments.
Latest expansion doesn't move the game on, but has lots to like for returning fans
In its third year, Destiny is showing signs of exhaustion, as it retreads old ground and struggles to find inspiration.
The stuff that is genuinely new is very good, but there’s so little of it that the sense of déjà vu, in a game that is already so repetitious, becomes overwhelming.
Rise of Iron has just enough new content to keep me coming back for a while, but it feels like the bare minimum. When I wasn’t absentmindedly grinding against reskinned enemies until I couldn’t do it anymore, I was falling down the rabbit hole of side quests and trying out new weapons while patrolling the Plaguelands. The satisfying but still not groundbreaking raid is a decent reward at the end. I wish this expansion had focused more on fixing Destiny’s repetition problems, because it has a few good ideas — but with all its pitfalls, this is just Destiny going through the motions.
While new armor and weapons are sprinkled throughout Destiny: Rise of Iron, we can’t escape the feeling that we’ve seen this all before.
While perhaps not adding as much as returning players may want, Destiny: Rise of Iron provides a trip down memory lane that hopefully doesn't end here, and certainly features Destiny at its best to date.
"Rise of Iron" is great.
Destiny Rise of Iron brings new challenges and unique customization, but it lacks depth.