Sunset Overdrive: The Mystery of the Mooil Rig DLC Review

Action-packed, fast-paced, and completely self-aware, I was a huge fan of Sunset Overdrive when it first released. Fast forward a few months later and I still enjoy grinding around the open-world landscape of Sunset City, but now, with the release of its first downloadable story expansion, Mystery of Mooil Rig, there’s an entirely new playground to explore. But at a pricey $10, is this DLC worth jumping into?

Simply put, The Mystery of Mooil Rig is more of the same. To be clear, that’s not a bad thing if you still enjoy the game and are looking for some fresh content to enjoy. Let’s not mix up fresh content with new and unique content, though. Sure, there are some new enemies in this DLC, but most of what you will encounter on the rig will be variations of what you’ve already been fighting for months.

The Mystery of Mooil Rig doesn’t explore life after the main game story. Instead, it can be accessed at any point after the “A New Friend” mission, which comes fairly early in the main campaign. The Mystery of Mooil Rig involves the limbless Troop Master Bryllcream who warns you of a new strain of OD monsters spawning by a nearby oil rig, which just so happens to be overseen by his sister. Over the course of a few main missions that span about an hour or two, you’ll attempt to save the rig from destruction and find Bryllcream’s missing sister.

After a quick flight over to the rig, you discover that it’s guarded by a giant tentacle monster. On the rig itself are new strains of OD and heavily armed union workers. While the workers are fairly straight-forward, the new strains of OD offer some minor variations, like poppers that drop napalm when they burst and the super-strong Herker.

Aside from the variations in OD, though, not much is different than what you’ve already played. There are a few new weapons and two new abilities (Water Dive and Water Slam Bounce), but I found myself using the upgraded weapons from my main story. The Roman Candle remains my favorite weapon.

Missions are straight-forward, offering nothing truly new in design or concept. It all culminates in a final showdown with the giant tentacle monster boss that, again, is fun but not too challenging. There are some new challenges and new Chaos Squad missions, but I’ve never really been one to waste my time with sidequests and the game’s co-op mode was never terribly engaging.

The easiest way to sum up The Mystery of the Mooil Rig is the same over-the-top fun, fast-paced gameplay you’re already used to playing, but in a different location. Rather than Sunset City, you’re on a floating oil rig. Even in this new location, the same design philosophy is employed, encouraging verticality in your traversal.

The Mystery of Mooil Rig is fun, but a bit pointless. There’s nothing truly compelling about it that would make non-expansion pass owners envious.  As one of two story-based expansions, I don’t know why Insomniac Games felt the need to explore this rather than offering us insight into the world after you completed the main campaign.