Destiny: Rise of Iron

There's still enough in the Rise of Iron expansion to keep year one diehards happy. Shame about the story though.

Quotation forthcoming.

A worthy addition to the Destiny expansion family. It brings more fun, better balance (risk/rewards) and a tough raid. Definitely a step up, but still contains some old caveats that the series can't quite shake in PvP that hurt it just a bit. Overall, it's a great expansion for the series.

While it doesn’t offer the same breadth and reimagining of core systems found in The Taken King, Bungie’s latest release has a sentimental tone that is refreshing. This adventure through forgotten legends stands strong on its own, and continues an unbroken string of content drops that have each made Destiny a richer universe.

There's enough new content stuffed into this expansion to warrant a purchase, especially if you play both PvE and PvP. Even for a player like myself, who tends to only play the co-op stuff, the adventure is well worth experiencing. With a new Record Book detailing new quests and how to obtain specific items, I anticipate playing Destiny for a very long time to come.

It’s the new Raid that comes out on top, however, and it’s arguably the best one yet. Areas are large and ripe for exploration, jump puzzles are kept mercifully brief, every boss fight feels original and exciting, and there’s a laser focus on skill and coordination during encounters – plus the rewards it offers are largely excellent.

A slow burn that (eventually) picks up into a decent DLC. Standing between you and the good stuff: a load of deja vu. Make with the Destiny 2 already. [December 2016, p76]

The story remains on the surface, which is unfortunate, since the rest of the game - new quests, missions and artefacts included - is more than interesting enough to sustain your interest.

Destiny Rise of Iron is a worthy addition to the world of Destiny with some fun tweaks, improvements and great multi-player shooter mechanics.

Rise of Iron is a modest expansion of the rich universe created by Bungie, even it doesn't improve the general experience like The Taken King with all its changes, at least offers us challenging activities, wonderful places, mysterious quests and tons of fun for the hardcore Destiny fan.

Combining such a wealth of things to do with the already excellent shooting produces a fantastic package for long-term fans and newcomers alike – it’s just a shame it’s taken 24 months to finally get to this point.

Rise Of Iron is the best Destiny's DLC. PvE campaign is immersive, solid, and culminates in a great Raid; guardians progression is well structured, and the new PvP mode is way more entertaining than the old Fracture.

A lot of new stuff, even if recycled by old content: a good way to entertain ourselves, waiting for Destiny 2.

With Rise of Iron, Bungie has finally learned what the Destiny fanbase actually wants, and seems on its way to giving it to them. Now it needs to work out how to convince others that they need to be in the Destiny fanbase in the first place. That task, I think, is one that this latest, and last, update might struggle with.

Rise of Iron is an excellent expansion to Destiny, but it doesn’t have the same lasting impact on the game as The Taken King did. There’s not all that much for Bungie to fix this side of a fully fledged sequel, and so this DLC gets to focus on weaving a new story that delves into the game’s lore, providing hours of new content for the game’s fans to play time and again.

Even with its few faults, Rise of Iron is an impressive expansion. Just when everyone thought Destiny was finally dying and we were moving to the sequel, Bungie went and spiced it up again with something fun and challenging.

Rise of Iron isn't quite the game changer that the Taken King was last year, but it continues to build on the work-in-progress experience that Destiny has become. Looking at it peice by piece it's very easy to discount certain aspects of Destiny, but as a whole there isn't a better or more robust game that ties together single player, cooperative, and competitive multiplayer gameplay the way that Bungie has.

Rise of Iron is, literally, just more of Destiny. If Destiny has kept you entertained so far, you will like this new piece of content, but don't expect great things when it comes to new mechanics. Maybe it has the burden of The Taken King, that put the aim quite high, but Rise of Iron leaves us wanting more. Bungie has to add new content if they want to make us play a few more months.

If the Taken King was a statement on just how far Bungie could push the genre with its own ideas, then Rise of Iron is a love letter to the fans who kept Destiny alive. It’s Tenacious D’s Tribute, a gloriously over the top experience that’ll pull fans back in with ease.

It's not quite Destiny's best expansion – The Taken King is hard to top – but Rise of Iron does an excellent job of giving the game's fans more of the content they love to get stuck into. The campaign is short but very sweet and leads to another sprawling series of challenges and quest lines that should keep you fighting, exploring and collecting for a few months yet.

Love Destiny? Rise of Iron gives you more to love, with a strong, if short, campaign, new quest lines, challenges and gear to collect, a great new Strike, two entertaining remixes and a brand new Raid. The Plaguelands is a large and intriguing new region to explore, and the new crucible maps and modes mean there’s something for more competitive Guardians to chew on...If you’re being picky, you’ll note that there’s nothing that fresh or innovative on offer, and that Bungie has its work cut out if it wants to stop Destiny going stale. For now, though, Rise of Iron hits all the right notes for the Destiny hardcore and is another great addition to the game.

Assured creativity and a smart eye for systemic refreshment make for a confident and classy expansion.

A mysterious Halo-esque narrative and the surprisingly fun multiplayer additions alongside some new areas to explore make Rise of Iron easy to recommend as more updates and patches are sure to make for an even better experience.

Overall, it's disappointing that the campaign is so much shorter than that of Taken King. Outside of that, you get about the same amount of new content with Rise of Iron that you did with Taken King. Taken King felt like more of an expansion, though, perhaps because the Dreadnaught was significantly different than any other zone in the game, while the Plaguelands feel like an extension of the Cosmodrome. For an expansion that costs as much as a new game, Rise of Iron doesn't deliver enough content that is truly fresh and new. Destiny players will enjoy some of the new content, but will probably be left feeling like there should have been more to Rise of Iron.

This expansion is simply more Destiny, love it or hate it. Unlike the revolution that was The Taken King, this is a mere evolution that shows that Bungie is finally comfortable with this strange new online shooter format. If you're a huge fan, it's good. There's new gear. You'll like it. Enjoy. Everybody else is waiting to see what happens with Destiny 2, because that's going to be the real test for Bungie moving forward.

Year three of Destiny has been uplifted with Rise of Iron and this expansion has breathed fresh air into a game that desperately needed it.

Not an overhaul, but a refinement.

The uninspired campaign and thoughtless implementation of Archon’s Forge make it feel like Bungie’s just filling time until Destiny 2. But thanks to the Wrath of the Machine raid, Rise of Iron is more than a passable footnote. It’s something greater — if you have the patience to get there.

This DLC connects all the elements given in the previous ones. The Rise of Iron is not the biggest DLC of the three, but has the strength to bring Destiny on a level of stylistic maturity.

Destiny: Rise of Iron offers more content, more light to upgrade and new weapons, gear and accessories. But it has a poor campaign and isn't fresh and surprising than Taken King.

A good expansion pack but we’re not so sure it can lasts enough to bring all the players to the next chapter of Destiny.

There's not a lot here, but it's still worth gearing up your Guardians for. [Dec 2016, p.68]

Rise of Iron breathes new life into a game that was starting to get old. This expansion pack is filled with enough new contents and modes to keep players engaged again.

A work of nostalgia. [December 2016, p.114]

Rise of Iron is a solid DLC that is almost flawless, but lacks anything new. Bungie simply prolongs the Destiny lifespan through the old-new content and doesn't hide the fact that it is a service for players who remained loyal to the game. If you want to enjoy Rise of Iron, you must really love Destiny and be willing to spend another dozens of hours doing the same things, you were doing for the past year. There is a new location, social space, weapons, basically everything you'd expect from the DLC. It just lacks inventiveness.

Rise of Iron is a solid expansion that quench the need of new content, but doesn't totally fill the belly of millions of Destiny’s fans.

Lords of Iron is the fourth DLC for Destiny and has some good moments as the Wrath of the Machines raid, but also a main quest that's too short and a serious lack of content.

Rise of Iron does a brilliant job in building up the legend of your Guardian, but offers very little innovation or advancement of the game's core features. Despite this, it stays true to what makes Destiny great – offering truly satisfying shooter encounters as a backdrop to a fantastic social experience.

Destiny: Rise of Iron is a decent enough expansion that fans will likely enjoy, but it feels lacking in wake of The Taken King. Time for Destiny 2, we think.

Destiny: Rise of Iron is a solid expansion to Bungie’s shoot and loot universe. While the campaign itself did feel a bit short, and the plot felt like it was paced too quickly, the new enemies, restructuring of old strikes, and the new raid all make up for the expansion’s short comings.

There's few bigger additions in Rise of Iron and the latest expansion certainly won't make you feel like you're playing a brand new game, but gathering fresh loot and discovering secrets can still be engaging.

Unlike The Taken King, Rise of Iron isn't an essential reincarnation of Destiny, but it is an expansion that delivers on its promise of rejuvenating Bungie's shooter – even if it does refuse to step outside of the game's well established comfort zone. A few fun story missions, a great new Raid, and a suite of fresh reasons to get back to the grind for better loot should be enough to keep the ever-present darkness at bay.

Destiny is the player’s story and Rise of Iron continues to make me feel like a legend in my own right, even if at the moment it holds a little less endgame vitality than other releases have offered.

Rise of Iron is a rather pedestrian expansion to what has become a pretty great first-person shooter. If you're looking for more Destiny, then you can't go wrong by picking it up, but nothing here will convince lapsed players to come back. It's simply more of the same, but that's fine.

A good addition, but certainly not of the same caliber that a fully fledged MMO would usually get.

With this fourth DLC, Destiny keeps on its tracks, and even if the new content is welcomed, there's nothing really exciting. The whole experience seems to go around in circles. Clearly Bungie's attention is now on the sequel.

Rise of Iron is disappointing. Its price is too high for the content it adds, but at the same time, we can't deny that it's still Destiny, and we always enjoy playing it.

Rise of Iron is an average expansion. While the new raid is fresh and fun, this DLC lacks the depth of narrative and lore that was found in The Taken King. Overall, it's enjoyable but there's not much content: Destiny is in desperate need of something new for its second chapter, due next year.

Destiny: Rise of Iron is a weird cookie. Bungie clearly put its live team in charge on this one, as there's nowhere near the amount of completely new-feeling stuff packed in as there was in Taken King -- and with so many people getting winded, a step that big was really needed. Yet, if I assess Destiny right now as a total package, with four expansions under its belt and hundreds of [good] tweaks and patches, it's easier to recommend.

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.

Rise of Iron has just enough new content to keep me coming back for a while, but it feels like the bare minimum.

How much you care about these stories varies, and ultimately depends on how much you’re willing to invest to get there. Like Destiny as a whole, Rise of Iron has moments of legend, sandwiched between repetitive, forgettable tasks.

The game is great but it’s the same game it was a year ago, and has the same mechanics it had two years ago. The second game proper was due now and it has not arrived. This is filler. Quality filler, but filler nonetheless.

Destiny itself is undoubtedly fun to play, but this expansion is hard to recommend for the price.

Rise of Iron is a strange hiccup in Bungie’s progress towards making Destiny a better overall experience. SIVA is an interesting villain that is ultimately never explained or explored. The majority of the content here is the actual Plaguelands themselves, and all there is to do is a couple of fetch-quests and patrol missions. Everything in this expansion seems to revolve around tedious grinding; grinding to finish the Iron Record book and get more rewards, grinding to get your light level up to do the raid. Whereas Taken King did so much to improve Destiny in every way, Rise of Iron feels like a big step back.

To paraphrase what O. Henry said of New York, "Destiny" is really going to be something when they finally finish it. "Rise of Iron" makes it feel like Bungie is only just starting.

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.

It feels timid. It feels safe. It feels like the last remaining breath before the possible sequel, as if Destiny is standing still and waiting for inspiration to arrive, rather than going out to find it.

Destiny: Rise of Iron is a big step back from The Taken King. While The Taken King was willing to push Destiny forward with brand new ideas, features, and a ton of new content, Rise of Iron is perfectly fine with recycling what has been run into the ground.

Destiny: Rise of Iron follows in the footsteps of its expansion predecessor. It maintains the already polished gameplay and desire for better loot, but the continued lack of depth, both in characters, story and general mission structure, stops Rise of Iron from becoming the game-changer The Taken King became one year ago.

In a detail that I can only laugh at, my most enjoyable time spent with Rise of Iron was in fact spent climbing a mountain.

A rather disappointing expansion that doesn’t add or improve anything to the storyline or the redundant hunt for better equipment.

Rise of Iron is nothing but a stop-gap between Destiny as it is and the inevitable sequel that will hopefully overhaul the whole thing.

The expansion lacks for the two things Destiny has never been short on from day one: personality and imagination.