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[Review] Destiny: House of Wolves - Rounding Out & Spicing Up the Content
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
Destiny has been a polarizing force in gaming since its launch last September. It came out to middling reviews and an incredibly vocal base of Bungie fans who expressed intense disappointment at the lack of the same kind of narrative drive they had come to love in the developer’s Halo series. Even still, people kept logging in and playing. According to Activision Blizzard, Destiny and Hearthstone combined had 50 million registered users as of March 31st this year.
Read more of Pete Schwab's Destiny: House of Wolves - Rounding Out & Spicing Up the Content.
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All is quiet in the Reef.
Comments
Reading this review I get the impression that if you like Destiny you will like this expansion and if you didn't for some reason there is nothing new here to make you reconsider that.
More of the same isn't a bad thing mind you it's just more of the same.
Originally posted by laokoko
"if you want to be a game designer, you should sell your house and fund your game. Since if you won't even fund your own game, no one will".
Oh but it is, not on the scale of some MMOs, but if you take a look at most "Proper" MMOs, they include solo questing and instances for groups, so does Destiny. They include leveling up, so does Destiny. They include factions you can gain reputation with, so does Destiny.
It may not meet your standards of what makes an MMO, but it is still an MMO.
I'm really kind of confused as to where the high reviews for HoW are coming from.
The story quests, if you really want to call that a story, I finished in an evening, I don't even think it took two hours, and were, again, depressingly, re-used areas -- in one case an area that is now used, between missions and strikes, four times that I can think of. The strike is the only really new thing, assuming you hadn't glitched into it, and it was okay but seemed extremely short compared to other strikes. Also I'm not a particular fan of platforming in online games as too often lag and latency are your most deadly enemies.
Yeah, the voice overs were decently done, though I still really have no idea why I'm taking orders from these clowns (the way The Awoken treated us earlier I'd be all for letting The Fallen have at 'em), nor why I'm after these particular Fallen other than that they're Very Bad(tm) and Bad Things(tm) will happen if they're not killed.
*yawn*
I did find it odd, albeit perhaps a bit refreshing, that I don't recall a single instance of Dinklebot saying a word through any of the new content.
As for the new hoard mode, frankly I thought it lazy and pointless, basically Bungie just giving up on bothering with telling a story. Go here, run in and kill these guys when told to, rinse and repeat. Why? Because... Reasons! I seriously doubt it'll take very long for people to get bored of it, once you're used to the spawn patterns and the conditions -- defuse the bomb or die, how original -- there's really not much to it.
I can't speak to the PvP additions as I've never liked Destiny's PvP and find it the weakest part of the game by far.
Extremely little in the way of actual new content. More re-using of old content. No new areas beyond the strike and rather pointless reef social area (as much as anything in Destiny can be said to be social, to be honest). A handful of new bounties that take you to the same places you've been over 9,000 times before. The removal of some Dark Below stuff (what happened to the sword bearers being summoned on Earth and The Moon?). No additions or meaningful changes to a class system that really makes little difference. It all adds up to one big 'Meh' to me.
Destiny gets the fundamentals so right, the basic gameplay is really smooth and fun, but the framework they've built around those fundamentals is so flawed it's sad. HoW leaves me with little hope that Bungie has clue one as to how to save it, and frankly I'm convinced that once the shiny new has worn off the population will drop way faster than it did after Dark Below.
Even the people who made it state it is not an MMO, going to argue with them about their own game? We might as well classify Skyrim as a first person shooter because of the bow by your logic. GTA 5 can be categorized as a racing game. The Witcher 3 a card game because of Gwent.
But I digress. MMORPG.com is also reviewing The Witcher 3. Their prerogative, I just think it is strange that a site that named itself MMORPG reviews other genres.
If there is web traffic on the line, why not? You know this is about driving traffic, right?
They have stated repeatedly, for quite a while that they will cover games of interest, Destiny for all its woes is a hot topic, probably because of all the issues with it, might be easier if people just accept that this is a website where games are often discussed, some of them are MMO's
But yes i can imagine it does have a lot to do with web traffic. But only in as much as its about games that people are interested in, for one reason or another, i doubt we'll ever get any discussion threads etc, about how great the new ford focus is etc.. at least i seriously hope not
If they don't review other games they close down. When it comes to "even the people who made it ...." however so what.
And if we go by what publisihers say their games are thenn there are - pretty much - no mmos.
Once a publisher says they are creating e.g. an mmo then that creates expectations. As there is no definition of "mmo" however then people might be disappointed. Their version of an mmo may not be your version. (Or adventure, or platform, or shooter or ...). And that just invites bad press and, worst case, class action law suits etc.
So they don't say; they create "unique" products. Zenimax said that TESO was not an mmo; EA said that SWTOR was a (something like) "a unique story driven adventure". And so on. Which is fair enough. We, the users, then put them into (our) pigeon holes.
f we go off what publishers say their games are then - pretty much - there are no mmos.
Should have played it first.
"Positive - With expansions come returning players. Get ‘em while they’re hot!" you are trying too hard
"
Stays light on the narrative storytelling" surprise surprise
my top MMOs: UO,DAOC,WoW,GW2
most of my posts are just my opinions they are not facts,it is the same for you too.
The game is struggling to keep console players happy, i doubt whether PC players are somehow more forgiving, all things considered. Somehow i just don't see this game appearing on PC anytime soon, although Destiny 2, should it be a huge improvement, might be a possibility
Best MMO experiences : EQ(PvE), DAoC(PvP), WoW(total package) LOTRO (worldfeel) GW2 (Artstyle and animations and worlddesign) SWTOR (Story immersion) TSW (story) ESO (character advancement)
-Voice narration by, not one, but TWO NPCs this time around!!!
-They reused old areas for the new missions, including the tutorial area!!
Is anyone even catching this? These are "bright points"?? Gimme a break. Every review I've ever read about this game since it's release has given one very distinct vibe:
"Eh, it's not really anything special, it's incredibly repetitive, there's no real reason given to care about the characters due to a half-assed narrative story, but... Bungie, so huzzah! I give an 8!!!"
So by your criteria dark souls is an mmo.
Kid you are out of your head.
Do you understand the word MASSIVE?
The only reason I can think of is people reviewing it for what we all now know it is. Practically nothing. When it comes to little content, no real emphasis on story, and very minor amounts of new stuff... perhaps they're just saying the new stuff -- mainly group based -- is fun? This is what I believe the review here did as they did mention towards the end "if you didn't know what to expect, you are probably disappointed."
Other than that, I'd say it falls down to one phrase when it comes to any good review:
"Cha-ching."
If the game charged $15 a month and didn't bother releasing any new content; I could see flocking to defend it.
As they haven't gone with a sub however if you don't like the look of the new DLC you simply don't bother buying it. So no cha-ching.
I think he meant the reason for the DLC getting good reviews, not necessarily Bungie's profit off the DLCs.While I'm not sure I can get behind the idea that the producers are offering incentives to give good reviews here (though, if you think there isn't a "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" system going within the industry and its publications in general, you're ignoring logic and human nature), I do get the distinct feeling that, if this weren't a Bungie title, this game would've been a minor blip on the radar with a score of "Average."
EDIT- This issue, coincidentally, is just a part of overall larger issue that's not doing the industry any favors. Here's an article written almost two years ago on a humor site (with the cooperation of a veteran video game and MMO developer) on some of the reasons video games are looking more and more like the movie industry. For your reading pleasure, and to jumpstart (maybe) more critical discussion.