Three months into Destiny‘s somewhat turbulent existence, the first expansion, The Dark Below, has been released. But does it really expand on Destiny‘s universe or is it just the same thing we’ve come to expect?
I certainly hope there’s a dictionary somewhere at Bungie, because someone there really needs to look up the definition of “expansion.” A properly-made expansion should bring something truly new to the table while also expanding on an already-fleshed-out universe and gameplay.
The trouble is that Destiny doesn’t really have a fleshed-out universe. So many components of the main story seemed disconnected and unrelated, with a plot point here or there that, at the time, you thought would lead you somewhere interesting and fun. However, it never happened. Maybe it’s because Bungie has plans of supporting this game for a number of years with expansion packs and updates, but so often in the story, the game started to tell you about something very interesting that seemed to be the beginnings of an actual plot before never mentioning it ever again. Instead, you’d just be rushed to the next irrelevant story mission.
Actually, that’s an area where The Dark Below succeeds: the story. Well, maybe succeeds is a strong word. If nothing else, it’s something that was properly expanded upon, which is what an expansion is supposed to do. The story focuses on Eris Morn, a Guardian whose Fireteam was slaughtered in the Hellmouth as they hunted Crota, a Hive god. The setup for this was done quite well. A large portion of the missions on the Moon in the original release of Destiny involved the religious hierarchy of the Hive, particularly Crota. You can’t help but feel both excited and motivated to take on a god thanks to previous interest.
On top of that, one of the most notable points in the main story was the mission The Sword of Crota, which had you destroy Crota’s sword by wielding it against the Hive themselves. It was fun, it was new, it was unique, and it did an awesome job of setting you up for Crota. You thought, “Well they make him sound big and spooky, and he had a sweet sword, so this should be fun!”
Sadly, that’s where things go downhill. While the story was well established, it quickly becomes one of the weakest points of the expansion. The Dark Below included a whopping three new story missions, and up until the latest Hot Fix, only two of them were even replayable. Even then, they’re somewhat pointless. The first, The Fist of Crota, has you taking out a Hive leader, which you’ve only done about fifty times already. It’s an interesting story mission in that it establishes that you will now be frequently encountering debuffs, a common annoyance in The Dark Below. This one actually eliminates your double jump, which doesn’t sound like it would be particularly challenging. That being said, this is a game where you’ve come to rely on the ability to jetpack out of trouble. Its absence is duly noted, especially when challenging when Sardon, the final boss of the mission, A shockwave attack which deals massive amounts of damage and travels quickly upon the ground is beyond annoying when you can’t double jump. Trust me; you’ll miss your jetpack. Otherwise, though, you can power through it in about ten minutes, and take out Sardon in about two.
The second mission, Siege of the Warmind, sees you defending the Warmind, Rasputin, against waves of Hive attackers. Rasputin, a pre-Collapse weaponized artificial intelligence, is already an established character from the original game and was actually mentioned several times throughout the main story, so it’s cool to actually descend into Rasputin’s bunker and see where this intelligence is housed. Honestly, this is probably the most challenging mission presented by The Dark Below, not including Strikes or the Raid. The Hive is, in my opinion, the most challenging enemy faction in Destiny, between the hordes of fast-moving close-quarters Thrall, the slow-moving but resilient and powerful Knights, the shielded, agile, and vicious Wizards, and the deadly but lumbering Ogres. You have to deal with all of them in this mission, all at once. On top of that, Wizards also float about the area, summoning glowing green areas of death, and if you step into one, your health rapidly drains. This is all occurring alongside a soundtrack of lovely classical music that plays while you struggle for your life. It stands out as a decent story mission, really the only one, in fact. It doesn’t really present anything new, but taken by itself, it’s still enjoyable. Very challenging, particularly at level thirty, but fun.
The final mission, The Wakening, is a last-ditch effort to stop the Hive from awakening Crota’s soul. You must descend into the Hellmouth and destroy Crota’s very, well… soul. Sadly, this mission doesn’t capture the fun of Siege of the Warmind and is utterly forgettable. Considering you end up fighting the soul of a god, you’d expect it to be a little more difficult, a little more exciting, a little more… anything but what it turns out to be. But after the Soul of Crota spawned and brought out a ton of Thralls, I threw a couple grenades and ran, then peeked my head out curiously when no one followed. Apparently I had already killed the Soul of Crota, and that was it. No real fanfare, no real fun. A few shots fired and a grenade or two thrown, and that was that.
The Strikes are also disappointing, I’m sad to report. Will of Crota, a Strike taking place on Earth, requires you to go after Omnigul, the last of Crota’s generals, and an all-around annoying enemy. You briefly encounter Omnigul in both of the first two story missions for The Dark Below and in fact have Omnigul just kind of hanging around and summoning enemies for the entirety of Siege of the Warmind, so Omnigul is established as an annoying villain that you desperately want to kill. Omnigul is not only obnoxiously annoying in that she lets out the occasional earsplitting screech, but she also has an Arc shield, whereas all other Wizards have Solar shields, so you’re already somewhat psyched-out by Omnigul. You want this lady dead. Sadly, killing her isn’t at all satisfying, much like the rest of the Strike. The experience is mostly you and your Fireteam chasing after Omnigul with her summoning waves of enemies as you go along. When you get to the final room, you’re just faced with a seemingly endless wave of enemies. Strikes always end like this, with you attempting to kill the Strike’s boss as you fight your way through a bunch of enemies, but this is taking it to a whole other level.
A terrible level.
I know the challenge of the Hive is that they focus on sending a lot of close-quarters enemies at you so that you feel cornered and panicked, but this is taking it to an unpleasant extreme. Between Omnigul’s shields and abundant health, the hordes of enemies, and the lack of any real opportunity to catch your breath, this Strike is challenging in the worst way. It’s not fun or eventful, the environments aren’t exciting, it’s just frustrating, and I prefer most any other Strike to it.
Except for The Undying Mind. This is a timed PlayStation exclusive, but don’t be jealous, Xbox users; you’re not missing anything. It takes place in the Black Garden on Mars, the first time we’ve returned since the final mission in the main story, and has you fight through a bunch of Vex on your way to a boss-level Hydra. The only thing different about this particularly Hydra is that, instead of one large shield rotating around the enemy’s weak point, there’s multiple smaller shields rotating around the enemy’s weakpoint. To call this particular Strike forgettable is a massive understatement; it doesn’t even feel like a Strike. Instead, it resembles a dull stroll over piles of Vex corpses, with a sad little robotic birthday cake at the end. Spoilers: It’s not a very tasty cake.
The multiplayer maps included in The Dark Below, well…
How do I describe them? They’re there, I suppose.
It’s nice to have variety when you’re playing in the Crucible, but they don’t add anything, really. They’re a change of scenery and that’s about it. They don’t require a change in tactics, they don’t add anything new, they’re a new background for the same activity. I suppose they require a challenge in that you now have to learn the ins and outs of three new maps, but that’s a day’s work at best.
Then there’s the Raid. Seeing as the first Raid, The Vault of Glass, is often referred to as “the best part of Destiny,” expectations were certainly high for Crota’s End, a level thirty Raid on the moon. Crota’s End sees you facing off against the god himself, which is odd, considering how you killed his soul and all, but whatever. Unfortunately, there’s not a whole lot to say on the subject. It’s fun, it’s challenging, but despite the higher level, it’s less fun and challenging than The Vault of Glass.
Whereas The Vault of Glass required critical thinking, some puzzle-solving, and teamwork (unlike every other aspect of Destiny), Crota’s End just tests your patience with the throng of Hive enemies sent your way. Someone even went through it solo, which you absolutely cannot do in The Vault of Glass. I mentioned earlier how the biggest challenge of the Hive was that you often had to deal with many enemies at a time, and like every other Hive-centric mission in The Dark Below, you have to face that challenge. But by the time you make your way to the Raid, you’ll be tired of it. All in all, Crota’s End is fun, but you’re better off just sticking with the Vault for an end-game experience, provided you’re not already tired of it. Crota’s End may be the lesser of the two Raids. but it does present a nice segue for the next point.
With The Dark Below, Bungie has managed to break the game’s looting system. Again. Here’s how it used to be: in order to acquire the best equipment in the game, you’d have to work for it. The best weapons could either be found through luck, or you could play through the Raid and get a bunch of good Exotics and Legendaries. The only way to get to the maximum level, thirty (now raised to thirty-two), was to complete the Raid until you acquired a full set of Raid gear, and leveled all of it up.
But that’s no longer necessary.
Well, you still have to complete the new Raid, Crota’s End, to get the very best gear and reach the new maximum level as of The Dark Below, but everything you needed to work for up until this point is now worthless. You can now just buy gear that’s better than anything you have: weapons that have a higher max damage output than even Exotics (though you can admittedly upgrade them, at the cost of Strange Coins, with Xur) can be purchased with Vanguard Marks. You can buy armor that will get you to level thirty from the Crucible vendors, for Crucible Marks. Granted, you have to get another new type of currency called a “Vanguard/Crucible Commendation” in order to purchase these items, but you get one by simply ranking up in Vanguard or Crucible, respectively. All of that gear you’ve spent hours upon hours upgrading is now useless, all for a whopping two whole new levels.
It’s rendered useless the moment you complete the main story for The Dark Below, when you’re handed Murmur, a Legendary Fusion Rifle that lets you switch between Arc and Solar damage. Not only is this ability to switch between damage types amazingly useful, but at its highest level, it is stronger than literally any weapon you possess. Everything you own is now less useful as a result. Everything you’ve spent large amounts of time working with, you may as well break down for materials. Yes, this is a common occurrence in MMOs, but even the top-end gear isn’t immediately replaced in, say, Warlords of Draenor.
They’ve also gone and further complicated a currency system. In the wake of one of the more recent updates, the only way to fully upgrade an Exotic weapon is to acquire an Exotic Shard, which you can only acquire from Xur. So Strange Coins, the only currency Xur excepts, suddenly became much more valuable. The best place to acquire Strange Coins is in the Weekly Strike, a free activity that changes every week, offering up a maximum of nine Strange Coins. However, the first week of The Dark Below, this activity was no longer free. The Weekly Strike, as well as the Nightfall Strike, were both The Will of Crota, a Strike exclusive to The Dark Below. Various Daily Heroic Stories, now an excellent way to acquire upgrade materials en masse, may now be restricted, depending on whether or not you’ve spent twenty dollars on this so-called “expansion.” Restricting new content until someone pays for an expansion is fine (or at least accepted in modern gaming), but potentially holding old content ransom until someone pays for an expansion is unacceptably ridiculous.
In the end, if you’re addicted to Destiny, The Dark Below will help you get your fix. It’s an expansion in the loosest of terms, because as previously mentioned, it doesn’t really expand on anything. It’s just more of the same, and some of the things (like paying for a free activity), are actually a step backwards. The story missions are short, the Raid pales in comparison to its predecessor, the Strikes are barely worth mentioning, the multiplayer maps aren’t worth mentioning, they’ve managed to make a vast portion of your efforts up until this point meaningless, and it creates new problems that need to be addressed.
If you were waiting for a wondrous new expansion that would give you another reason to return to the fight against the Darkness, I’m afraid you’ll still be waiting long after Crota’s corpse has cooled. I have journeyed to The Dark Below and it’s clear now that that darkness is simply the murky future of Destiny, where your treasures are useless, you’re handed cheap variations of things you’ve already done and told it’s an “expansion,” and the most fun you’ll have is still less fun than what you’ve already done.
But hey, at least you get to play with swords, something that is both a unique and thrilling experience. We’ll always have swords. Swords for days.
