Destiny: The Dark Below

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 doesn't revolutionise Destiny's addictive endgame, but the superb new missions and the lure of new gear should tide you over 'til the House of Wolves. [Feb 2015, p.91]

If you’re enjoying Destiny, don’t hesitate to buy it since the new weapons and missions are worth it. If you don’t like the base game, just pass.

It adds focus to the core gameplay that just wasn’t found in Destiny beforehand. From vastly improved mission structure to challenges that feel worthwhile, it is a huge testament to what a bit of time can accomplish for a new IP.

An extension of Destiny's triumphs and flaws that ultimately wins us over with its new raid. [Mar 2015, p.68]

As an unequivocal sign of modern times, Destiny continues to evolve and change. What at launch was a solid but nonetheless forgettable experience, now expands and improves upon the criticism provided by the gamer community. The Dark Below is not there yet, but we are approaching excellence.

The new content is quite good, but it’s disappointing to see that the storytelling is still going nowhere. The great mystery and clever execution is clearly there, but at some point Destiny needs to start providing answers. [Jan 2015]

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.

Quotation forthcoming.

New raid, strike missions and multiplayer maps look brilliant. On the other hand, story missions are so short, and the price is too high.

Sure to have us hooked for the forseeable future. [Issue#252, p.70]

Destiny is getting bigger with this DLC, but we wish it continued the main storyline, instead of repeating so many Earth and Moon locations.

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.

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.

More content, especially for a game that is in desperate need of new things to do and places to explore, would've been much more appreciated. On the other hand, what this DLC has to offer is some of the best strikes Destiny has ever seen, and a compelling raid.

For the $20 price of entry, The Dark Below provides some quality skirmishes and will keep players busy for hours, if that’s how you measure value.

The Dark Below doesn't bring anything new to the table and is tiny in content, but many fans will enjoy its new raids, quests and competitive matches.

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.

Once again Bungie has failed to deliver what was expected by most of its following. This DLC's additions to the main game are almost superficial with the repetition, the main flaw of Destiny's design, being its bane.

Dark Below is for seasoned players only who possess the perfectly functional fire team. The rest of you can turn around and leave.

If you were expecting some huge expansion, you are likely to be sorely disappointed. Bungie delivered a pretty thin DLC, crafted with spare parts of the original game, designed for skilled players, that will leave you wanting for something more.

'The Dark Below' has its moments, but it's ultimately an underwhelming and frustrating update. The Crucible maps are a pleasant surprise, and the Raid is excellent, but the story missions and Strike are short lived and more of the same.

There is no denying that The Dark Below is far from fans' expectations and fails to fulfill its purpose as an expansion.

The Dark Below is a huge missed opportunity, a mish-mash of recycled ideas and content that fails to reinvigorate Destiny or address any of its biggest problems.

If you're interested in The Dark Below, you know what kind of game Destiny is. You're okay with the grinding. You have a like-minded clan that you play with frequently. You've been level 30 since October. You spend two or three hours a day racking up resources just in case.

However with the inclusion of a new level cap, legendary weapons, it’s really easy to be drawn back into the Destiny universe as you commence that grind “again” for the ultimate power. It’s just a shame that Bungie have thrown the baby out with the bathwater so hopefully Bungie will take note of the feedback from this DLC!

Despite the expectations, Destiny's first DLC not only doesn't solve the flaws of the game, but makes them more evident. The lack of contents is evident and the story still remains unclear. It will be hard to find something to do for the next three months, when next DLC should arrive.

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.

Multiplayer fans will appreciate the new maps, the bounty-style quest steps are a good idea and there is certainly plenty of stuff to do and unlock, but in a game where the content has worn thin so quickly, taking aim at our precious loot just at the point we finish upgrading it is a huge mistake.

Rather than expanding on what came before, too often it punishes the committed player, their weapons rendered obsolete, their best gear reset, their flair for teamwork hamstrung by aggressive mobs. [Feb 2015, p.118]

With The Dark Below, Destiny is still a brilliantly fun but deeply flawed experience.

First expansion pack for Destiny does not offer too much content. The necessity to once again visit well-known maps can bore even the biggest enthusiasts.

More Destiny, but not what made the original game brilliant. It will keep you occupied for a few weeks, but The Dark Below abuses repetition as a gameplay mechanic.

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.

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 thin on content, and it fails to expand the scope of Destiny in any meaningful way.

The repetition of tasks, activities and missions is presented to the player as the lone way to achieve rewards, and yet within the constructed system of randomness and uncertainty that the game offers, these rewards are never certain. This is how it presents the enterprise of self-improvement as content in itself.

This first DLC certainly brings new content, but this is where the disappointment lies. We have one more raid, but it's still about revisiting the same content again and again.