Review: Destiny DLC: The Dark Below

Rating: 0
Author: Jim Smale

by Jim Smale · Published January 7, 2015 · Updated January 7, 2015

We take a look at the first DLC expansion pack for Destiny. Adding new missions, raids and weapons. We have high hopes for this DLC so lets see how it faired…

Pros:

New Vendor who has new name plates, New crafting materials, new shaders and new clothing items.
The vendor has a rank and exp is earned through separate bounties. Rank up to unlock the new gear.
New raid: Crotas end. Located on the moon, The raid is set under the ground and the entrance is triggered by opening a bridge in the centre of the Hellmouth.
Three new story missions that take place on Earth and the Mmoon. Giving more back story to the main game by going into more detail about Rasputin who is briefly mentioned a few times in the main story. These missions are high action and introduce the level 30 difficulty.
New exotic weapons to earn.
Level cap raised from level 30 to level 32.
New armour is available to buy from your boss at the big war table. Gear here is enough to hit level 31 no problem.
Xur now sells the ability to upgrade old legendary and exotic weapon stats to increase damage. It comes at a big cost but even at the new base rate, The weapon starts off stronger than before.
Two new multiplayer maps that can be played via its own new playlist.
New sparrow which allows you to perform stunts like rolls and flips. It is classed as a legendary sparrow.
New music introduced within the story missions.
New Grimoire cards.
Two new strikes to play through.
New strike playlist option with a higher difficulty and adds the new strikes.
Strikes open up a few more areas within the planets and add a lot more variety to the game.
New style bounty method is used and is a multi layered affair with you completing a variety of tasks that increase in difficulty. It is a brilliant new way to do bounties and gives them more purpose.
New bounty tasks that are tailored to your character instead of just generic ones.
Weapon drops/exotic now have the new higher damage stats.

Cons:

No new trophies/achievements.
High price tag.
Story levels are really short. As soon as the action starts it seems to end.
Minus a few small new sections within planets, There is nothing that new.
No new Dinkle bot narrations.
No new enemy types.
Repeated missions for the new vendor.
The new raid is actually possible to solo, Not sure thats a good thing in a mode built around teamwork.
No seperation between vanilla and DLC owners. Getting drops that require DLC is all shades of wrong.
Draws a clear line between DLC owners and vanilla players. A lot of what was available to vanilla players is now locked behind the DLC wall.

In Summary, The DLC is good and does add a lot of story to what was a really weak story in the first place. The strikes are really well done and the story missions are a lot more fun than anything the original had. My only major issue is that the DLC puts a clear line between players and really separates the player base. Vanilla players no longer get engram rewards for doing the tiger strikes, Instead that has moved to the new DLC roc playlist. Other examples are dailies and weeklies etc can get locked to DLC levels only. Legendary drops and even XUR sales can be locked to DLC owners making it all the more annoying. The feeling that this content should of been in the game from the beginning always hangs in your mind but you need to get over that, As this seems a common trend now in this gen. I like the new features and the raid is awesome and great fun. I dont feel it is worth the huge twenty pound price point, A tenner and your looking at a bargain but twenty is just too much for what you actually get. You will finish the story missions solo in under 45 minutes whilst the strikes will get lost in playlists soon enough. Its up to you but it feels so much like you need to buy the DLC just to keep the core game intact.