Destiny: The Dark Below

 PlayStation 4
User Score
3.1

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 281 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 43 out of 281
  2. Mixed: 43 out of 281
  3. Negative: 195 out of 281

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  1. Vyrotix
    Dec 12, 2014
    4
    I am honestly disappointed with this DLC. I won't be going into any specifics, but I was expecting way more than just -complete a mission, go back to mission giver, get another, complete the mission..- and the cycle repeats.

    I was expecting more of a story driven DLC pack, and not a lazy layout that has you going back to the damn vendor every time you complete a f***ing mission or now    I am honestly disappointed with this DLC. I won't be going into any specifics, but I was expecting way more than just -complete a mission, go back to mission giver, get another, complete the mission..- and the cycle repeats.

    I was expecting more of a story driven DLC pack, and not a lazy layout that has you going back to the damn vendor every time you complete a f***ing mission or now what they call "quest", which is the same f***ing thing!

    And don't even get me started on the vendor! She doesn't even have anything! She has emblems, and materials that help you upgrade Hive weapons. Why can't she sell weapons or armor? She is so useless, you'll never find yourself using her unless you buy those hive materials that help you upgrade.

    And how is this expansion even fair towards light leveled players? Unless you are under LL 27, you'll find yourself constantly dying because of the unfair amount of skilled enemies the game throws at you! I kid you not, there was a story mission where you find yourself killing three yellow wizards, a yellow ogre and an almost impossible wizard. Oh and did I mention they are also throwing insane amounts of knight's and thrawl's at you?

    I don't recommend this pack, and I most certainly do not recommend getting an expansion pass if you don't have one yet until it is determined that the next drop "House of Wolves" will be better than this abomination of a DLC.

    The Crucible maps are okay, but not really enjoyable IMO. I would talk about some of the fun that I had during playing in Crucible, but all of that crumbled to the ground when I was the MVP on my team (In Clash, I went 24-3) and the worst player on my team got the new Hive exotic, called No Land Beyond, and a combination of Runed Core materials also. And I received the best of all... zip f***ing zero items whatsoever.

    It would be a totally different subject bringing in the topic of the awful loot drop rate, but this review is for DLC, and in this review, I give The Dark Below, a 4.2.

    If you disagree, I don't really care. if you say this isn't helpful, you are probably right. I submit my opinion on to this site, just like you. We in the MC community respect each other, or that is what I hope happens.    … Expand
  2. commando41
    May 27, 2015
    4
    /sigh I wanted HoW to be a turning point for me but in the direction that justified my love for this game. The moment I did the first mission and found myself in Venus going the opposite direction of the skiff map (the map where you fight the Archon Priest) I was just utterly disgusted and disappointed. I will say that Bungie did an excellent job with the armor and weapon upgrades...but/sigh I wanted HoW to be a turning point for me but in the direction that justified my love for this game. The moment I did the first mission and found myself in Venus going the opposite direction of the skiff map (the map where you fight the Archon Priest) I was just utterly disgusted and disappointed. I will say that Bungie did an excellent job with the armor and weapon upgrades...but having also deleted my VoG raid gear awhile back made it all that more painful. In any event the Weapons and Armor upgrade path is awesome, I am sure the new PVP maps are as well..albeit the Trials of Osirus being very unbalanced i.e. Warlocks definitely get more than one life due to their talent tree...in any event a huge let down all around in regards to the PVE aspect. Destiny just feels like someone just painted my car on my driveway and is trying to sale it to me as if it's a brand new car...all the while i can still see the wrappings from the cheeseburger I ate sitting in the passenger seat. All in all if someone coming into this game for the first time will find both DLC's fun (albeit no Raid in HoW) but for me, who has played this game for the last 8 months, I am all but done with this bait and switch game that is called Destiny.… Expand
  3. Bloubul1
    Dec 10, 2014
    4
    The Good: The new raid, strike missions and multiplayer maps are a nice addition to the game. The graphics as always are brilliant. Like the main game its kept its excellent multiplayer charm and FPS mechanics.

    The Bad: The story as before is not up to par, one gets this feeling of emptiness. Very poor narration and back story to the missions. Same old mission structure as well. The    The Good: The new raid, strike missions and multiplayer maps are a nice addition to the game. The graphics as always are brilliant. Like the main game its kept its excellent multiplayer charm and FPS mechanics.

    The Bad: The story as before is not up to par, one gets this feeling of emptiness. Very poor narration and back story to the missions. Same old mission structure as well.
    The fact that they re-use the same planets is poor as well from Bungie. There are so many other options that could have added much needed flavour to the game. Like using Mercury or one of the many moons of our solar system. Bungie could have added heat damage or anti gravity to these worlds to add new game mechanics. The loot system is still the same. I really can't see any change in this. Boring as hell to be honest. The price of this expansion is way to hefty. 20 Bucks? I would say 10 bucks at most.

    Conclusion: The same issues that hampered the main game still persist in this expansion, and to top it all of Bungie charge us 20 bucks for this, shame on you Bungie. This expansion is below average at best.    … Expand
  4. j_obediah
    Dec 23, 2014
    4
    The Dark Below misleads in a lot of ways.

    3 Story missions? False. You will be rehashing and treading familiar ground with the same enemies and a different narrative. If you count new missions as a new reason to do the same thing you've already been doing. Sure, but if you're expecting new content. Then really you get less than 1 mission's worth of actually new areas, since, as stated,    The Dark Below misleads in a lot of ways.

    3 Story missions? False. You will be rehashing and treading familiar ground with the same enemies and a different narrative. If you count new missions as a new reason to do the same thing you've already been doing. Sure, but if you're expecting new content. Then really you get less than 1 mission's worth of actually new areas, since, as stated, all the enemies are the same, and the only thing that really changes is the narrator and reason for treading.

    Strike? Same situation as the missions. You are not getting a new strike. You are getting half of a new strike.

    The only two things that are worth while about this DLC are the multiplayer maps, which people shell out $15 for on a regular basis anyway. (Some people like to get ripped off) and the raid, which many people who bought The Dark Below will never play anyway.

    Oh and if you don't buy the DLC, then you will lose out on certain portions of the game from time to time. Bungie's really sorry, I'm sure.

    Verdict: Nothing really new that I'm saying that hasn't already been said. I'm just cementing it. This DLC is not very expansive compared to other RPGs and MMOs, but more than generous when considering most FPSs (not including Borderlands). So if you haven't bought it already, choose your path based on the reason you played it in the first place. But the stufff they did give isn't all that great. That's why I give it the score I did.    … Expand
  5. Dinamyk
    Dec 12, 2014
    4
    The Dark Below is a huge disappointment because not only is the content not rich enough, but also because it introduces problems with new level cap at 32.

    The new character, Eris, which acts as a vendor and quest giver, just appears in the Tower out of the blue with no background or introduction whatsoever apart from the trailer, might as well be a posting board . The 3 new story    The Dark Below is a huge disappointment because not only is the content not rich enough, but also because it introduces problems with new level cap at 32.

    The new character, Eris, which acts as a vendor and quest giver, just appears in the Tower out of the blue with no background or introduction whatsoever apart from the trailer, might as well be a posting board . The 3 new story missions are just more of the same "go there, kill everything along the way, use the bot sometimes", there's virtually no storytelling or character interaction whatsoever. AND they're relatively short and mostly on the same kind of areas as before on the Cosmodrome and on the Moon, except on the second mission which is literally two corridors and one large room. Not having a completely new setting, like for instance a new planet, which would be very cool is a huge detriment to this DLC. And being on the same locations it really makes it feel like this was content removed from the original game only to be sold as DLC later... They did, however, take care to prevent exploiting the maps on these missions, you actually can't stay safely back where the enemies won't follow you, behind the door/passage to the main boss area, which was usually possible before. Before starting them and after finishing them, the world is very much the same as before, there is absolutely no impact in defeating the so-called almighty Crota... These missions are harder than before too, for instance a level 26 mission here is harder than a level 26 mission before. The same goes for the strikes. The one on Earth is hard because it's a constant shooting gallery mostly on closed quarters with little room for flanking and strategy, which makes for more than a grind overall. The one on Mars is more interesting, due to its location - the Black Garden. Didn't play the new raid yet, but I've heard good things about it. The 3 new multiplayer maps are ok: they're entirely new maps, one on the Moon in the style of the Temple of Crota (only darker), one on Earth, a bigger, more open sniper's map with vehicles as well, and a corridor heavy map in the Black Garden.

    The level cap is now 32, and new weapons go to 331 attack, making your old weapons kind of obsolete, especially if you aim for doing dailies, weeklies, nightfalls and the new raid at the max level of difficulty (30, 32 raid is coming later). So all those hours you spent grinding? Get ready for a lot more... You can technically update your old exotics (ONLY EXOTICS, no luck with legendaries) with Xur, but doing so resets your upgrade progression and in practice costs ~7500 glimmer and 8 strange coins... FOR EACH weapon and armor piece. And you can only do this for a random selection of 6 weapons and 6 armor pieces that Xur has available each week. Furthermore, Vanguard, Crucible and Faction weapons and gear require not only rank 2 or 3 and marks as before, but you need one new item (vanguard or crucible commendation) that you can get only as a reward for ranking up levels. So, effectively, you will only buy one of those items per 2500 reputation points, forcing more grind for reputation even on players that are high level on that faction (if you're level 9 say on vanguard, you don't get commendations retroactively). People who just got into Destiny are actually better off than veterans because they don't have the huge history of the previous grind. Furthermore, the new missions and strikes are now part of the daily and weekly pool of missions, so when the daily or weekly is one of the new ones, people that haven't bought the DLC will not be able to play those and get rewards. They paid money for Destiny, and now they have access to even less content... This DLC is not exactly "extra content" then, people that don't buy it are actually penalized for not doing so... And the DLC effectively forces a new grind phase if people want to keep going after higher level stuff. This is what Destiny keeps boiling down to: keep grinding the same missions/strikes/raid/locations over and over again.

    I started playing when the demo came out, about 2 weeks ago and met nice people to play with. Everyone that started playing since the game came out or a little later are very frustrated with these changes. It's true that the shooting mechanics are very well done, playing feels good, the game is addictive, and playing with friends provides fun in doing things together - if you're already fan of Destiny this DLC is kind of obligatory. But if you're on the fence about buying or not, know that the new content is short and poor, mostly more of the same, still no storytelling whatsoever, and overall promoting and being based on continuous grind. And even for veterans I've met a few that actually are giving up on the game due to extreme dejection and frustrating.    … Expand
  6. WARCHILD
    Dec 19, 2014
    4
    It's too late for me... I paid for the DLC because I was enjoying the PvP aspect of the game. However, it has been 2 months of PvP disappointment. There is chronic lag that was effecting my gameplay severely. That was resolved and I pre-ordered the DLC. Since then, the chronic lag has been plaguing at least 1/3 of all the players I encounter in every match. Their severe lag makes it nearIt's too late for me... I paid for the DLC because I was enjoying the PvP aspect of the game. However, it has been 2 months of PvP disappointment. There is chronic lag that was effecting my gameplay severely. That was resolved and I pre-ordered the DLC. Since then, the chronic lag has been plaguing at least 1/3 of all the players I encounter in every match. Their severe lag makes it near impossible to kill them and routinely you will find their names at the top of the standings after each match. Bungie has never addressed the lag -- They simply say they are aware that some are having problems. It's nearly impossible to enjoy one hour of PvP without the frustration of severe lag.

    The currency system is trash. It was terrible and now it's just bad... slight improvement I suppose. The problem is that you will grind and grind and grind for nothing. If you didn't buy the DLC you have a brick for a game. If you did buy the DLC you are now in a new grind for glimmer. If you are primarily a PvP player -- you can write this game off for good. The PvP event called Iron Banner awarded us with "epic" gear the three times you could play it. Now with the DLC all of that epic gear is rendered "beta" and you get to start over from scratch because you can't upgrade what was the "best" PvP gear in the game.

    The imbalances for PvP weapons is severe and very punishing to players who don't exploit the imbalances. Suros Regime is a prime example of a weapon that has dominated all of PvP since the very beginning. A token "nerf" did nothing to resolve the imbalance. I wish I could say that was the worst but it's not. Now that the new DLC is out, we are finding that virtually any new weapon in the game is going to wreck all the work you put into previous weapons. Again, the only way to upgrade is via the exotics which, unless you are a no-life neckbeard, you probably only have one and it's not your weapon of choice either.

    It just gets worse and worse as time goes on. As a congratulations from Bungie for buying the new DLC I got some in-game mail with some bonus items. I was excited! I went and opened the mail and found that good old Bungie had awarded me with COMPLETELY WORTHLESS items that were dismantled and thrown away because they could not be used by a single one of my characters. Worse than that, the quality of the items were blue... that's level 20 gear in a game where if you're not level 30 you can't even attempt the elite battles. As a long time fan that was the ultimate slap in the face. How insulting can you get???? I buy your game and you send me thank you mail. In that mail you give me a handful of dog sheeeit! WTF is wrong with you Bungie?

    I have waited all this time to write my review of the game. I know one thing for sure. There are millions and millions of fan boys who have not snapped out of their initial phase of addiction. Many shooter fans are having their very first MMO addiction experience and so they have no idea how bad this game is. They're hooked on the "progression" and because they're new to the MMO effect on the mind, they have no idea that ultimately they are getting bent over. They don't even realize that they are suffering from chronic connection issues. They don't care that Bungie just walled off half of the game and nullified 90% of there invested time. One day they will wake up and learn what most of us MMO players already have.    … Expand
  7. DestinyDoer
    Jul 4, 2020
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Although I disagree with what multiple but not all other people say about this game, this DLC is not the best. Still four types of enemies? The story is way too short.… Expand
  8. gdmatt
    Oct 5, 2017
    3
    Destiny: The Dark Below, the first DLC for Destiny is a criminally disappointing and lackluster mess that only seeks to push the remaining Destiny players away from the game.
    Apart from an OK raid, The Dark Below offers nothing new the Destiny experience and essentially ignores the last 3 months of progress made by players.
  9. Ahazy
    Dec 9, 2014
    3
    Dont buy. It's becoming clear we're being charged for content that was obviously cut from the original release this one doesn't do anything story-wise which is so disappointing. The more I try to like destiny the more I end up hating it This isn't an expansion with only 3 pointless story missions and even more raids that I can't attempt due to lack of matchmaking for it. Screw them IDont buy. It's becoming clear we're being charged for content that was obviously cut from the original release this one doesn't do anything story-wise which is so disappointing. The more I try to like destiny the more I end up hating it This isn't an expansion with only 3 pointless story missions and even more raids that I can't attempt due to lack of matchmaking for it. Screw them I don't care what that fat guy on IGN says I'm rating this 3 stars until they add matchmaking for the raids and I can actually experience them (still haven't play vault of glass F you bungie) I shouldn't have to add 40 random people to my friends list just to struggle to get a group of randoms together. moronic! Give us a matchmaking option or give me my money back.… Expand
  10. Guy_McDude
    Dec 9, 2014
    3
    I've played a lot of hours in Destiny. I've platinum'd the game and now I've played the expansion. However, if not for the friendships that functioned like duct tape on a dying engine I would have long ago scrapped this game.

    This expansion fails in almost every way that the main game fails. The narrative is lazily told not shown during loading screens. The common thread is that Crota    I've played a lot of hours in Destiny. I've platinum'd the game and now I've played the expansion. However, if not for the friendships that functioned like duct tape on a dying engine I would have long ago scrapped this game.

    This expansion fails in almost every way that the main game fails. The narrative is lazily told not shown during loading screens. The common thread is that Crota is big and bad and yet like all other Destiny bosses seems content hanging about his home in his pajamas waiting for guardians to storm the gates and kill all of his friends. The story missions are laughably short and retread patrol maps again rather then adding content (with the exception of a short part of one mission and a short part of the strike).

    Fortunately for me (though maybe not), I had the seasons pass included with the game but for many others this release actually subtracted from the base game rather than adding on top of it. For players without the expansion they are now occasionally shorted weekly missions like this weeks nightfall (one of the only missions with sizable rewards). On top of that all previous armors and weapons see enemy and new weapon stat inflation rendering them obsolete. Knowing that this will happen again when the next one releases in mere months sucks out all motivation to continue. What's more mind boggling is that in a game with so many issues Bungie has decided to add even more forms of currency to limit armor purchases in game by restricting vendor items to require an item that takes grinding out faction reputation. In a game where a 4 minute patrol rewards 10 reputation and guilds require 5000 to level up, you're looking at a minimum of two hours of nonstop hyperefficient grinding just to buy a single item WITHOUT even accounting for the second and third currency required (marks and glimmer).

    It's too bad too because once again the raid is beautiful in tone, atmosphere, and intensity. Outside that though there just isn't anything here. The game somehow feels even smaller now.    … Expand
  11. buril
    Dec 10, 2014
    3
    Fraco. Bem fraco. Dificilmente pode se chamar isso de uma expansão - é mais uma pequena DLC com um preço muito salgado. Realmente não vale à pena pagar R$ 40,00 nisso, e vou explicar o porquê: primeiro, não há enredo ou história alguma, como alardeado anteriormente pela Bungie. A linha de Eris é composta por 3-4 missões que podem ser feitas em torno de uma hora e que são muito semelhantesFraco. Bem fraco. Dificilmente pode se chamar isso de uma expansão - é mais uma pequena DLC com um preço muito salgado. Realmente não vale à pena pagar R$ 40,00 nisso, e vou explicar o porquê: primeiro, não há enredo ou história alguma, como alardeado anteriormente pela Bungie. A linha de Eris é composta por 3-4 missões que podem ser feitas em torno de uma hora e que são muito semelhantes aos contratos: vá em tal lugar e mate x mobs, vá noutro e mate o boss, lute contra x ondas de inimigos, etc. Além disso, os ambientes são reutilizados. Lembra a área do strike da terra em que se luta contra o Andarilho Decaído? E a missão da antena em que temos que resistir contra 3-4 waves de inimigos da colmeia? Pois bem, você as verá de novo muito em breve nas "novas" missões. As strikes são do mesmo nível das outras - boas, mas sem qualquer inovação e iguais em tudo salvo os ambientes. Basicamente é o esquema de "corra até o final e mate o boss, que provavelmente vai levar uns 15-20min pra morrer depois de engolir todas as suas balas". A raid parece ser interessante, mas dificilmente é suficiente pra valer o preço da DLC. Por fim, tem-se a cretinisse da Bungie/Activision de tornar o jogo praticamente impossível pra quem não compra a DLC. Quer fazer a semanal ou a anoitecer? Tem que desbloquear fazendo as missões da Eris. Ah, e a daily e a anoitecer são agora level 30, o que vai dificultar bastante pros jogadores que não puderem chegar ao level 32. Em suma: muito cara pelo parco conteúdo que oferece. Não vale à pena.… Expand
  12. invisibleAzN
    Dec 12, 2014
    3
    uggh. I was really hoping Bungie was going to redeem themselves with this DLC and full fill the IPs true potential. Or at least head in that direction. Nope. That is not happening with dark below. In fact they somehow made it worse.... And this is just DLC not an expansion, lets not get it twisted. Expensive DLC at that. There is literally only about 1 hours worth of NEW content.uggh. I was really hoping Bungie was going to redeem themselves with this DLC and full fill the IPs true potential. Or at least head in that direction. Nope. That is not happening with dark below. In fact they somehow made it worse.... And this is just DLC not an expansion, lets not get it twisted. Expensive DLC at that. There is literally only about 1 hours worth of NEW content. And to make crap worse, they locked out some of the game, like yesterday's daily mission to people who didn't buy the dlc....so now I can't play even the most basic of missions with friends who didn't get the DLC. Playing with friends was one of the best parts of the game, now that seems to be diminished some unless you pay them more money. .
    And it gets worse. Despite the mass amount of complaints from the shrinking group of supporters, Bungie still stubbornly refuses to add matchmaking to the RAIDs. Either that's an excuse not to spend the money on development.....OR they are straight up liars and have no intention of listening to the community...aside from the Crucible the RAIDs are the only reason to play the game. Say good bye to any casuals....
    Bungie is listening to their community pretty terribly if their response to a highly requested feature is stubbornly turned down. Only a small niche of players who like grinding are going to be pleased with this DLC. And looking at the reviews that seems to be the case. Less then 10% of the reviews are favourable.
    I gave Destiny an 8 despite its short comings when it came out, in the belief there would be more story once the Expansions started to come out. NOPE! This new DLC should have been free to begin with considering the poor reviews with the initial launch. If the next DLC isn't FREE, there is zero chance I will be playing Destiny in the foreseeable future. And zero chance I will be purchasing Destiny 2, no matter how good it is. Now its a matter of PRINCIPAL.

    This would have been received better if there was a PC version, as PC players tend to like grinding more. BUT NO, no mention of an any PC version down the road either.

    Bungie, you are in danger of becoming irrelevant. Was that Activision money really worth it. 10 years of this and you won't be around any more.....    … Expand
  13. milero91
    Feb 20, 2015
    3
    Very little content for £20 and although there are new story mission, they are in the same locations as the others. This expansions add very little and users without it will have difficulty playing the "end game" content without it as the Weekly, daily and nightfall missions are often only available for The Dark Below owners. There is about 2 - 3 hours of story content within this and aVery little content for £20 and although there are new story mission, they are in the same locations as the others. This expansions add very little and users without it will have difficulty playing the "end game" content without it as the Weekly, daily and nightfall missions are often only available for The Dark Below owners. There is about 2 - 3 hours of story content within this and a raid which is about 2 hours… Expand
  14. ToatzMcGoatz
    Mar 8, 2015
    3
    To me, this seems to be merely content that was purposely left out of the finished game in order to stretch the revenue. There were two distinct flags that led me to this conclusion. First, this came out exactly 3 months to after the initial launch. This just screams withheld content. Second, there is a early plot point regarding Rasputin that is introduced in the original game, butTo me, this seems to be merely content that was purposely left out of the finished game in order to stretch the revenue. There were two distinct flags that led me to this conclusion. First, this came out exactly 3 months to after the initial launch. This just screams withheld content. Second, there is a early plot point regarding Rasputin that is introduced in the original game, but IMMEDIATELY forgotten. In the expansion you actually find out what Rasputin is in a level where you have to defend it from waves of monsters.

    Even if that is the only point of withheld content, the overall content is mostly more of the same. While the new NPC's (Eris) quests deviate in style slightly, they ultimately come back around to feeling the same. And don't you worry, there is still a massive amount of grinding with Eris with a small reservoir of bounties ensuring you can do the same exact tedious game play over and over and over. If you want to take advantage of some of the best new weapons, it is mandatory to level your respect since upgrading some of the new weapons requires specific items only obtainable by her at higher levels.

    I have not yet tried the raid and don't plan to since I don't have the patience to grind anymore. Not worth the money and time    … Expand
  15. The_Garays
    Sep 4, 2015
    3
    This might be a joke... 20€ for a Raid and about 5 new missions? Really poor back story.

    Bungie hasn't solved any problems the main game had, they even made them worse.

    if you don't own this DLC: DON'T BUY IT!
  16. BlakDak666
    Jul 26, 2017
    3
    Destiny's base game struggled with delivering content to the players and had some of the most tedious systems to maneuver through, so seeing the Dark Below and how Bungie claimed it would fix the issues of the first game was practically a full blown lie that hurts the game's legacy and solidify the first few months of Destiny with anger, disappointment and shame. Having three missions, aDestiny's base game struggled with delivering content to the players and had some of the most tedious systems to maneuver through, so seeing the Dark Below and how Bungie claimed it would fix the issues of the first game was practically a full blown lie that hurts the game's legacy and solidify the first few months of Destiny with anger, disappointment and shame. Having three missions, a handful of weapons and armor and a raid is not an expansion, it would be something players should have had for free and as an incentive to keep playing awhile longer. It's no wonder many left after the new year started. Out of the four DLCs that Destiny had, The Dark Below is the worst one of them and deserves only scorn.… Expand
  17. Captiosus
    Dec 16, 2014
    2
    I cannot, in good faith, give this anything higher than a 2. For all of October and November, Bungie made lots of claims that they had listened to their community on common issues. Bungie even took to Eurogamer, claiming that The Dark Below would offer a much more engrossing story with more player involvement. These claims turned out to be little more than smoke and mirrors.

    The "story"    I cannot, in good faith, give this anything higher than a 2. For all of October and November, Bungie made lots of claims that they had listened to their community on common issues. Bungie even took to Eurogamer, claiming that The Dark Below would offer a much more engrossing story with more player involvement. These claims turned out to be little more than smoke and mirrors.

    The "story" is just as mediocre and head-scratching as the original only instead of Ghost directing the player what to do, we have Eris. The story design itself is a reskin of September's "Queen's Wrath" event where everything is tied to the bounty system with a separate NPC, separate faction, and separate rewards tree. Outside of the raid itself there are only TWO legitimately new area opened to players (Seraphim Vault, Hall of Darkness [inside Temple of Crota]) while the rest of the story missions take place on the same maps we've played to death. Even more egregious is the fact that players are forced to return to the Tower between nearly every stage of the new story arc; this flies in the face of Bungie's claims that they've listened to the community as most of the community has complained copiously about the sheer amount of time we're forced to return to the Tower and suffer through multiple load times.

    The new strikes are the same "go here, press button, defend against waves" design and the Playstation "exclusive" strike is literally nothing more than fighting from the end of the Black Garden story mission back to the beginning while pausing to kill waves of Vex.

    Like MMO expansions, new loot has relegated old loot to the dustbin - with exception to exotic items that can be expensively upgraded - but unlike MMO expansions this one hit a mere 3 months into the game's lifespan. In typical MMOs such gear destroying EXPANSIONS are on 12-24 month cycles.

    Speaking of "expansion", The Dark Below actually CONTRACTS the game by removing previous vendor gear and blocking out non-DLC players from content updates Bungie had made in months prior. For example, Bungie added Cryptarch Engrams to the Vanguard Tiger playlist as a way to incentivize play. With the DLC, this has been moved to a DLC only playlist, so anyone without the DLC are back to the same issues the game had back in September. Likewise, the Hive-based DLC strike is added to the weekly rotation and will occasionally lock out non-DLC players from weekly and nightfall strikes (the latter of which was ALSO upgraded to level 30, also making it far more difficult for non-DLC owners to complete, even when it's not a DLC strike).

    For the hardcore, this game penalizes them by significantly invalidating time spent in the base game. For the casual, the added currencies and increased grind have all but ensured that they're left behind if they can't spend 4-8 hours (or more) a day behind the game. Not worth $20 base or the expansion pass cost. Having purchased the limited edition, I had hoped they would address some of these issues but, instead, I'm left with severe buyer's remorse. Meanwhile, the vast majority of my friend's list are off playing everything BUT Destiny and my former 70+ strong Playstation Destiny Clan are now split between GTA Online, Far Cry 4, and The Crew.    … Expand
  18. commenter-x
    Dec 12, 2014
    2
    This is DLC, not an expansion. No new planets, no new abilities, no new game modes. What you get is handful of uninspired levels, unimaginative game design, some new gear among many re-skinned ones, and an even more constipated leveling system, making your experience even less rewarding than before. This is to add forced "value" to their lacking content, by making you play hundreds ofThis is DLC, not an expansion. No new planets, no new abilities, no new game modes. What you get is handful of uninspired levels, unimaginative game design, some new gear among many re-skinned ones, and an even more constipated leveling system, making your experience even less rewarding than before. This is to add forced "value" to their lacking content, by making you play hundreds of hours so you level cap. It's the kind of un-fun grinding F2P games use to make you pay extra not to do (except in this case, you are paying to do it). The crown jewel of the DLC, the raid "Crota's End" is still locked to many who purchased it because the developers stubbornly refuse to add matchmaking, to compensate for the difficulty to socialize through the game. You still have to get out of the game to learn key story points, and to find raid players in most occasions. The loot system is still dumb luck, with emphasis on the word "dumb". On a fair note, the PvP maps are decent, making you wonder if a straight FPS is what the developers would have done. The whole experience is frustrating, disappointing, irritating, and only suitable for hardcore fans. The Xbox version of this "expansion" would get a 0/0. Destiny has taken a turn for the worse, and doesn't seem like there will be a change of direction any time soon.… Expand
  19. Runfocovah
    Dec 18, 2014
    2
    Bungie is charging way too much for this DLC it should cost $10 tops. It brings nothing new to the table. The "new" missions take you once more through the same levels… but wait says Bungie; this time you start at the end of the level and make your way through to the beginning.

    Just when I thought the bounties couldn't be more annoying and boring, "Erin" comes up and gives us another    Bungie is charging way too much for this DLC it should cost $10 tops. It brings nothing new to the table. The "new" missions take you once more through the same levels… but wait says Bungie; this time you start at the end of the level and make your way through to the beginning.

    Just when I thought the bounties couldn't be more annoying and boring, "Erin" comes up and gives us another round of tedious bounties.    … Expand
  20. K0lding
    Dec 19, 2014
    2
    The fantastic game mechanisms of Destiny are still in tact. But in terms of content added versus price paid, I am seriously dissapointed with this DLC. Same maps, same enemies, superficial overlay story where most cinematic content was release pre-release. New grind nulling past progress. Uninteresting bounties. For someone who is unable to plan life much ahead with 5 other people at rightThe fantastic game mechanisms of Destiny are still in tact. But in terms of content added versus price paid, I am seriously dissapointed with this DLC. Same maps, same enemies, superficial overlay story where most cinematic content was release pre-release. New grind nulling past progress. Uninteresting bounties. For someone who is unable to plan life much ahead with 5 other people at right levels, raid is not interesting but seems to be main real addition. I rely on match making like so many others and don't want to go to web sites to compensate manually for techniques that should be in the game already - randoms are randoms no matter if I find them on community sites or via match making.… Expand
  21. RandomLetters27
    Dec 14, 2014
    2
    This is not an "expansion", it is a map pack at best, and not even a good one.
    I liked Destiny, and gave it a more positive review than most. This "expansion" on the other hand is absolute trash. There is nothing new or "expanded" other than exotics that you will never earn, reskinned guns and gear that are more powerful than the now-inferior legendaries that you spent time leveling up,    This is not an "expansion", it is a map pack at best, and not even a good one.
    I liked Destiny, and gave it a more positive review than most. This "expansion" on the other hand is absolute trash. There is nothing new or "expanded" other than exotics that you will never earn, reskinned guns and gear that are more powerful than the now-inferior legendaries that you spent time leveling up, some Crucible maps that may or may not be in the game type rotations you want to play, and a Raid that is still unplayable unless you can con 5 friends into buying this expansion (still no matchmaking for any daily/weekly/nightfall/raid content).

    There are no new enemy types, no new features, no new patrol areas, no new tilesets or planets or regions, still nothing at the Reef, still nothing at King's Watch, no new public event types, no new abilities or subclasses, no new Crucible modes, no new story ("go kill Hive" - out of the 3 new story missions, one is immediately deleted as soon as you play it the first time and cannot be replayed), no substance at all. I'm having trouble figuring out this was supposed to be an "expansion."

    Everything looks and feels exactly the same, mostly retreading old areas with old enemies. Because of the near total lack of new content areas to explore, the only way Bungie could create a level 30+ experience was to raise the difficulty of all their EXISTING content to require level 30. By raising the baseline difficulty of daily/weekly/nightfall/raid content, they force you to grind back up to exactly the same situation you were in before the Expansion, essentially negated any feeling of "expansion" even of your character, because you are going nowhere new seeing nothing new and feeling no more powerful or challenged than you did before. The only thing that changed by raising the baseline difficulty and level cap by the exact same relative degree is that all your guns got left behind and are now worth less than they were before. There are now expensive methods by which you can upgrade your previously maxed-out exotics, but your legendaries are now permanently underpowered.

    That pretty much sums up this expansion - nothing expanded, but your character sank backwards into a mire of useless grind just to get back up to where you thought you were before.

    This is not the expansion we hoped would redeem Destiny. It is inexcusably terrible, and confirmation that this franchise is collapsing under its own failures to provide content and bizarre insistence on hamstringing the players at every turn.    … Expand
  22. AfterShave
    Dec 13, 2014
    2
    Another rip-off product by Bungie. The three story missions are lame and short, the strikes are no better. The raid is alright, the only positive here. Overall, would not recommend anyone buy this.
  23. GalaxyKnuckles
    Dec 15, 2014
    2
    I made the mistake of buying the Destiny Limited edition so I had this dlc already purchased. After 3 missions through the same areas killing the same enemies I get a quest from the new npc that requires me to wait 3 days just to buy an item. I quit playing right there and haven't touched the game since.
  24. Katalkyste
    Dec 10, 2014
    2
    Its a patch not more.. the "story" contains of 10 sentences from eris, even dumber than the lines Dinklebot had.. and its about 35 minutes playtime with the exact same locations you had before plus some mini expansions to the game aka the bunker ras2 and the jovian complex which are both pretty tiny.. plus the extended temple of crota tube level.. the mission are all the same, go to endIts a patch not more.. the "story" contains of 10 sentences from eris, even dumber than the lines Dinklebot had.. and its about 35 minutes playtime with the exact same locations you had before plus some mini expansions to the game aka the bunker ras2 and the jovian complex which are both pretty tiny.. plus the extended temple of crota tube level.. the mission are all the same, go to end room, kill boss.. finished..
    nothing new, no challenge. just grab your heavy and let it go.. finished. PLUS it doesnt integrate with the curent game.. the speaker does not do anything, even afte killing the second god of the darkness.. no reaction, no response.. on top how can a studio be so stupid and put a shady dark character up the balcony in the blazing sunlight?    … Expand
  25. Phil_Panteleit
    Dec 10, 2014
    2
    I have to get this off my chest. BUNGIE what the #@ck are you guys doing. Deej you say you listen to the fans. Funny, i never heard any of the fans ask for CRAP!!! 20 dollars for a glorified Vendor. 3 story missions in which when your done you find out that you have to do 4 bounties just to unlock the weekly and daily. This is the last straw, i'm done with this game. I deleted it rightI have to get this off my chest. BUNGIE what the #@ck are you guys doing. Deej you say you listen to the fans. Funny, i never heard any of the fans ask for CRAP!!! 20 dollars for a glorified Vendor. 3 story missions in which when your done you find out that you have to do 4 bounties just to unlock the weekly and daily. This is the last straw, i'm done with this game. I deleted it right after this. 10 year plan my ass!! you can't even last longer than 3 months without pissing off your consumers. Don't buy this if haven't. Save your money. Buy anything else that is not made by Bungie or Activision.… Expand
  26. Madmars
    Dec 9, 2014
    2
    The DLC with its action packed strikes and the stunning environments that are absolutely stunning is a great outcome of Bungie's re-evaluated gaming objective. This expansion couldnt give more to us in Destiny's current state. 9/10
  27. SirPiglet
    Dec 9, 2014
    2
    The first expansion left me the same way the base game left me, wondering what are we doing here? The story is extremely bland and does require you if you want to understand the story to use the grimoire which is no way an acceptable means o tell a story. The game does look nice but you are revisiting a lot of the areas that are already in the base game just filled with more hive mobs withThe first expansion left me the same way the base game left me, wondering what are we doing here? The story is extremely bland and does require you if you want to understand the story to use the grimoire which is no way an acceptable means o tell a story. The game does look nice but you are revisiting a lot of the areas that are already in the base game just filled with more hive mobs with the 1 new character model that I seen. I wanted destiny to try and bring me back into the story but it seems as I'm being pushed back out constantly asking whats this? why is that there? who is this dude?. I would personally avoid this just for the fact that its disgusting they call this an "expansion pack" or even dlc to that matter as there is barely anything that will grip you to the game. To me destiny is a lost cause, destroyed by horrible methods..I have the next expansion due to my pass but I have no hopes for that either from what I have seen 2/10.… Expand
  28. KingReux
    Dec 9, 2014
    2
    There is nothing substantial from this DLC (Not Expansion) other than new exotic (normal) items and a Raid. Other than that its dull. The strikes are the same as any other strike... The story missions are laughably pointless. 2/10 in comparison to what an expansion should actually do.
  29. pago2
    Dec 9, 2014
    2
    I'm officially done with Destiny. I can't fathom why in 2014 we are being handed a game with the biggest capital investment of ANY game to date that has less content then a private indie developed game. The base game had NO content, NO Story, NO Replay, NO REAL competitive multiplayer experience so you would naturally think there would be some sort of admission of wrong-doing by bungie inI'm officially done with Destiny. I can't fathom why in 2014 we are being handed a game with the biggest capital investment of ANY game to date that has less content then a private indie developed game. The base game had NO content, NO Story, NO Replay, NO REAL competitive multiplayer experience so you would naturally think there would be some sort of admission of wrong-doing by bungie in the first exspansion. Well..there isn't. Bungie almost flaunts the fact that they only have to put out a few hours worth of content to warrant fanboys praise. The Dark Below is an unethical cash grab. Still NO story, NO new characters (if you think Eris is a character I honestly don't know what to say) and NO replay. There is one new enemy, recycled world zones, new "ships" (just a pretty overlay for your 3 minute long loading screen) Additionally, there's the new raid which has been beaten within 6 hours of the release. It would be wise of anyone who is involved with this franchise to view the debriefing of an insider dev. that was released on reddit. The dev. goes on to say that most of the game was cut prior to release due to turbulence in the company, including, most of the story. How can a company who values its fans release this game for $60, and then release an exspansion (which is all content that should have been in the base game) and charge an additional $20? Bungie needs to answer for the blatant consumer misleading and rectify this trainwreck of a game or they will easily take the crown that EA games so shamefully wears. And before anyone disregards this review as an attempt at bottoming the review score please realize I have put 270 hours into this game and have already CLEARED The Dark Below. I feel like as a fellow gamer I have to let the community I love know that this game is not worth the investment you will put in it, even if its only a few hours.… Expand
  30. Ldt1
    Dec 9, 2014
    2
    Such a terrible expansion, but tbh there is so little content its more dlc with a hefty price tag, I have been so disappointed all day playing it, absolutely no story again and I mean that literally, our old raid gear/iron banner gear is now useless you can now buy with marks stuff with higher light and it is all so poorly designed and I really do mean that it looks terrible, same asSuch a terrible expansion, but tbh there is so little content its more dlc with a hefty price tag, I have been so disappointed all day playing it, absolutely no story again and I mean that literally, our old raid gear/iron banner gear is now useless you can now buy with marks stuff with higher light and it is all so poorly designed and I really do mean that it looks terrible, same as weapons they haven't updated old ones so they are now useless, the crucible feels really broken now and so unbalanced the infamous vex now feels very underpowered again, the maps are such a poor design quite often when reviving u will be put right in the middle of a fight just had it happen 4 times in a row nothing I could do about it, the raid feels rushed and nothings changed drop wise 5/6 people in my group got the new version of shards/energy all the way through, no gear or weapons it hasn't got the same epic feel as vault of glass, the missions are ott bad, some bounties feel like there is more to them, the strike is ok but nothing special, just found out people who have not got the dlc are unable to do nightfall/weekly which is disgusting, all in all it feels rushed out like they had to meet a deadline and they are now showing their inexperience to the max when it comes to mmo type games, I would go as far as saying I did love this game but the dlc has spoilt it, the 2 score is also ignoring how overpriced it is, should really be a 1 but gameplay wise it scores 2… Expand
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Awards & Rankings

37
#37 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2014

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
63

Mixed or average reviews - based on 41 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 41
  2. Mixed: 29 out of 41
  3. Negative: 3 out of 41
  1. Games Master UK
    Feb 22, 2015
    79
    An extension of Destiny's triumphs and flaws that ultimately wins us over with its new raid. [Mar 2015, p.68]
  2. GameOver.gr
    Feb 10, 2015
    60
    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.
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  3. Playstation Official Magazine UK
    Feb 7, 2015
    80
    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]
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