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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
Multiplayer can still be accessed via the classic playlists, if you do not have Destiny: Rise of Iron. The classic multiplayer though locks out quite a bit, only giving you 6v6, 3v3 and Free For All. This means that if you are really into Destiny multiplayer then you will have to buy this release. Included with this entry, as I mentioned at the start are 4 new maps and a new game mode called Supremacy; essentially Supremacy is ‘Kill Confirmed’ from Call of Duty or ‘Bounty Hunter’ from Battlefield Hardline – you kill another player, you have to collect their Crest (or Dog Tags in CoD), and if a team mate collects it when you get killed, then it is denies.
I have played a few hours of the multiplayer and Supremacy, and have only experienced a new map once and found myself playing on other maps I have in experienced the past. I suppose it is a good thing that they are in random rotation so you don’t end up playing just the same one or two maps over and over again. Another new thing added to Destiny: Rise of Iron, is the ability to create private matches for up to 12 players. I haven’t created one or been invited as of yet, but I know this is something the community has wanted for quite a while now.
The new social area is a small area with a postmaster and other key non-player-characters (NPCs), so you don’t have to go to the tower to decode engrams and so on. It is a decent enough area that looks like something from the Game of Thrones Winterfell/Stark set with the wolves and tree, Even the name is Felwinter Peak!
Note, that I won’t go into detail about the graphics and sound, as you’ve had this before with Jon’s Xbox One Taken King review, and they’re still as good as they were, then.
All in all, Destiny: Rise of Iron is a decent expansion to the Destiny universe. I do feel the campaign ended a bit abruptly, but there is still plenty to see and do when you finish it that adds to the overall story. One thing I don’t like, is the way content and game modes you could previously access in multiplayer, especially, can end up being locked out until you purchase this latest entry. do think Bungie need to look into this, so players can get the most out of their content. My son was gutted when the expansion landed and he couldn’t play multiplayer game modes; he had access to up to Taken King and was limited to the 3 classic play modes.
Another gripe I have with Destiny is there is still no matchmaking on the Raids. You get your matchmaking with the Strikes, but I do feel they should also do it with the Raids. If you have no friends playing then you can try going solo (no chance), or try and get together random people you bump into in the world.
In addition, and something which I mentioned in the original review, another issue comes when having to access the Bungie Destiny site to read the Grimoire entries. These bits of information should be accessible from within the game. It would be like getting a new quest in a new area on World of Warcraft and then having to go to a website to read up on lore for the area.
Destiny: Rise of Iron is out now on as a DLC through your Xbox One or PS4 for around £25, but if you’re new to the series, get the whole Destiny: The Collection for around a tenner more on PS4 and Xbox One.
Important info:
- Publisher: Activision
- Players: Single player, multiplayer
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GRAPHICS SOUND GAMEPLAY ENJOYMENT |
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| OVERALL | 8.5 |
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!
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