Platforms: PS4 (reviewed), Xbox One
Developer: Bungie
MSRP: $29.99
Introduction:
I must confess something. As a Destiny player, I primarily played the game’s original campaign solo, while dabbling in the Crucible and taking part in the occasional Strike. I fell for the game’s mysterious allure when it was first unveiled, and especially so when its first ever gameplay was shown off at that epic Sony E3 2013 Press Conference. Suffice it to say, I was quickly brought down to Earth once I got my hands on the full release and realized what the game actually was; Borderlands in space (more or less) with less narrative. You shoot stuff, gather stuff, and move on.
But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. While it wasn’t up to the incredibly high bar that Halo was sitting on, it (mostly) succeeded in doing what it set out to do, being an engrossing and addictive multiplayer experience. It was just not a very good single player game.
While that is still mostly true today, Rise of Iron’s campaign is one of the more solo player-friendly offerings that Destiny has featured to date. It’s a bit short, clocking in between three to five hours, but it never overstays its welcome. The big question with Rise of Iron is, of course, is it worth the $30? Let’s break it down.
Rise of Iron’s campaign mode is solid but doesn’t provide the bulk of the value.
In many ways, Rise of Iron’s campaign can feel like it ends before it even gets started. To get the full experience, players need to force themselves to invest in the plight of the Iron Lords. The narrative doesn’t open up nearly enough for this to happen, you just know that bad things happened to them, and it’s up to you to bring them back so you can take your place as one.
It’s tough to quantify the value of being an Iron Lord in the overall scheme of things outside of a few cosmetic details, but the Exotic Weapon you get at the end of the campaign has proven to be a real keeper for me (though Gjallarhorn addicts will probably not be swayed). The enemy types are mostly corrupted (re-used) versions of older models, but at this point, it’s to be expected.
The Plaguelands themselves are an interesting place to explore with a pretty neat color palette, but in terms of actual size, Destiny regulars should know what to expect. Visually, it’s closer to what I expected to see from the game when it first launched, if you remember that really awesome Hoth-like piece of concept art, whose environment never made it into the game.
The Wretched Eye strike will keep you entertained, but it’s more of a by-the-numbers experience at this point.
The Wretched Eye is the newest Strike to the game, and it is a good one. Overall, it maintains a steady balance of fending off hordes of enemies and pushing forward, and neither aspect ever feels like it dominated the experience. The final boss battle in the Strike appears to be more promising than it actually delivers, as you approach a chained Ogre in the midst of an underground circular arena.
Ultimately, the Ogre simply ends up serving as the invulnerable damage-dealing thing that you have to dodge, as your real opponent is a Splicer Priest, who mostly just teleports while firing his gun at you. Just to be clear, this is not a poor design decision, it just feels very consistent with stuff that Destiny has been throwing at you since the very beginning.
Most of your time will be devoted to the grind to get into the Wrath of the Machine raid and the new Light Level cap.
So I talked before about value. Here’s where most of your time with Rise of Iron will be spent; grinding Light levels so that you won’t get your butt kicked during the Wrath of the Machine raid. Rise of Iron does provide some post-campaign story missions to help mask the repetitiveness, but ultimately you might be better off just running through the Prison of Elders or any other Strikes to get there.
Wrath of the Machine’s Light Level recommendation is a hefty 370 at base difficulty, so you can imagine how much time it will take to A) get there, and B) hit the cap of 400. Surely, at this point, if you are a hardcore Destiny player and lover, the grind won’t bother you a bit, but for more casual players looking for a bit of context, Rise of Iron’s end game will leave something to be desired.
Verdict:
The easiest way to describe Rise of Iron is this, if you are a fan of the game only looking for more of what you love, then the expansion is a no-brainer. If you’re a more casual fan who has been thinking about jumping back in, I would hold off for now and wait for a sale. Most of Rise of Iron’s meaningful content is over in 1-2 sittings, and if the grind isn’t really your thing, then $30 is a bit much.
Overall, Rise of Iron is an enjoyable but safe package. There isn’t a whole lot here that feels fresh, it just seems like Bungie was content to keep the fans they already have happy, rather than attempt to add new ones.
