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Destiny: Rise of Iron is here, and I remember well the first time I fired up Destiny on the PS3; I gelled with it instantly and really enjoyed the solid gameplay and the large open areas. I enjoyed it that much I bought the PS4 version when The Taken King was released and pulled my character over from the PS3. This gave me plenty of extra things to be doing with having the two earlier season pass expansions and the larger story driven Taken King.
Note that instead of video clips in this review, I’ve taken some great screenshots. For each of them, click on them for the full-size versions.
September 2016 marks the beginning of Year 3, and the 4th expansion to the base game. Once again, the expansion builds upon existing areas of the game whilst introducing a new community hub – a large area next to the Cosmodrome called Plague Lands, and using old enemies in a new way.
In this new expansion, there are new weapons, armour & gear as a start – which you would expec. On top of that, there are 4 new Crucible Multiplayer Maps (Last Exit & Floating Gardens on Venus, Skyline on Mars and Icarus on Mercury), plus a new multiplayer game mode called Supremacy, as well as a new Strike & Raid.
There is a decent setting for the story: the Iron Lords once protected the Plague Lands from Siva, a new area to the North East of the existing Cosmodrome. From what I can gather anyhow! Siva surfaces its ugly head, and you end up having to investigate the old temple at the top of a mountain range, putting a stop to it once and for all where the original Iron Lords failed. So, you end up going through various missions on Earth & Mars, tracking this Siva down and the so called Splicers (nothing to do with Bioshock!).
I must admit, I got through the entire story arc in one afternoon, but like the Taken King before it, once you complete the main campaign, you are then landed with numerous other quest lines to follow which retread steps in the existing locations. The Plague Lands are pretty cool, the coast is pretty eerie-looking out towards the sea, and there is lava bubbling up all over the place. It is kind of similar to the Cosmodrome, but a bit different. However, it honestly didn’t wow me as much as my first visit to the lush vibrant environment of Venus or even the barren sandy Mars.
The new enemies, in all fairness, are a bit of a let down. The Taken in the previous expansion acted in a different way to their more common Fallen counterparts. Literally, all Bungie have done here is reskin the Fallen Draug, Vandal & Captains etc., with a silver-coloured armour and gave them levels closer to where you are at with your level (Level 40 with Light going from 290 to 320). The final boss is the only thing really different, and the way the battle plays out is similar to wielding the Hammer of Sol from the prior expansion.
If you haven’t played in a while, the expansion campaign and gear you get will take you to around the 320 Light mark. I have made a start on the extra quests and been playing a few strikes and multiplayer to level-up a bit. I would have liked to see a bit more rare and exotic gear drop during the campaign missions, and finishing at around 350 Light as the new cap is set at 385, so there is still a way to go grinding to reach it and realistically be able to play the new Raid with other players (a few players will drop out if your level isn’t high enough, I have been reading).
Go to page 2 for more thoughts on the game
Retro at heart and lover of all things ’80s, especially the computers, the music and the awesome movies and TV shows! Crazy huge retro gaming collection spanning the ’80s and ’90s with hundreds of tapes, discs and carts for various machines on top of a 600+ strong Steam library that is ever-growing. No I am not a serial hoarder, just a dedicated retro gamer!