PlatformOVERALL
PlayStation 46.60
Overall 6.60
I am not going to review Destiny again, Destiny is a great FPS with some of the best mechanics we have ever seen. This review is solely judging the new expansion Rise of Iron and if it is worth the price of admission. I can tell you right away that this is not like the full fledged expansion of the Taken King. This feels more in line with the first two mini expansions which means it offers a decent amount of content but doesn’t really change the game any.

My biggest problem with this expansion is that it feels like the perfect example of the shortcuts and reuse of assets the devs have been doing since the start of the game. The enemies are nothing but reskinned enemies with one or two new actions (copied from other enemies), they don’t require any new strategy when taking them down. The expansion takes place on earth as an expansion of the first area of the game so most of the environment seems similar. A chunk of the 5 new missions take place in old areas, now with snow! As if that is supposed to make us feel its new. Two of the three “new” strikes are just old strikes with a few reskinned enemies and a new difficulty level, this is supposed to be some of the best content and instead it just feels like we are replaying old missions on hard. Even most of the new exotics are just a collection of year 1 weapons. It all screams lazy.

The new stuff is good though and it begins with the new playable area and hub world in the plaguelands. This is the size of venus, maybe a bit smaller, and offers the exact same kind of gameplay found on all other planets, the dreadnaut this is not. The main feature is archons forge which is a battle arena that is not as deep as the house of wolves arenas but not as simple as the court in TTK. This is basically a place to waste time and get items, there is no real strategy to it, it’s super easy. it’s insanely chaotic and after you use the flaming axes a few times they become boring and feel like a cheat code. Patrols and bounties are as boring as ever, nothing was done to make them any more interesting. The story missions are standard fare, they can be done in less than two hours and I say only two of the missions have interesting new bosses. The story is still mostly told in the background except for a few awesome CG cutscenes, which I think this game should have more of cause the narrative feels so disjointed. You reach a point with a cool cinematic cutscene but then 3 missions later you have had little to no direction or closure to any of the story, and are just doing missions because it is next on the list.

The only good reason to get Rise of Iron is the new raid which is another stellar addition to the raid collection which remains Destiny’s greatest feature. This raid is not too long, not too short, not that complex but not that simple. It hits a sweet spot in the middle where playing it is more fun than frustrating. As usual it requires great teamwork with every player having a role to fill. The bosses command great coordination and the middle section is unlike anything we have played in Destiny so far. Plus this raid houses the greatest exotic quest I have ever seen, you should take the time and read up on the outbreak prime quest and the crazy ARG the community solved to uncover it. I love when a game goes above and beyond to engage the community, to offer secrets at a level that requires thousands to figure out.

Other than the raid the main reason to get RoI is because it is simply more Destiny. It raises the light level so now that addicting hunt for more gear is back. Its an excuse to play more strikes, try out new weapons and play PvP. Speaking of which, this comes with four new maps which are ok and a new kill confirmed mode which is great, good stuff but nothing special overall. RoI is good because Destiny is good, which makes it hard to judge if its worth it. In terms of content alone is it worth $30, no, this is a simple expansion with mostly reskinned content. In terms of value of what you get to play, how many hours you will sink and the fun of playing with your friends once again with renewed goals, it is absolutely is worth it. If you like Destiny get RoI, if you don’t care for Destiny this does nothing to change any of the core ideas of the game.

Posted by Dvader Tue, 11 Oct 2016 17:02:05
 
Tue, 25 Oct 2016 09:45:29
Jesus. Destiny is for maschists isn't it? I really enjoyed your review Vade.
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