When it first released two years ago, Destiny was far from a perfect game. Doubling down on their commitment to make the franchise last for ten years, Bungie continued refining and polishing the game. Rise of Iron is nothing less than the culmination of all those hard-earned lessons. With Destiny 2 taking majority of the developer’s resources it comes as no surprise that this expansion is just as short as it is sweet.
Story
The Fallen have unearthed SIVA, a Nano-Virus sealed away by the original Iron Lords hundreds of years ago, and have started augmenting themselves and their machines with it. These augmented Fallen are the new Splicer enemies. Splicers are defiantly more dangerous when compared to their counterparts they are not afraid to rush you & get in your face, However they operate pretty much the same as the normal Fallen we have been fighting for years now. Dealing with the return of SIVA is a mere five missions while slightly disappointing in length I feel the story is well told. WARNING: Below is a video of the final fight & cut scene of the story of Rise of Iron if you don’t want any kind of spoilers don’t watch. if you are not worried watch away you’ve been warned.
Supremacy Mode & New Maps
With the release of Rise of Iron a new Crucible mode has also been added. Supremacy mode is basically Kill Confirmed mode from Call of Duty. For those of you unfamiliar with what that is when you defeat an opposing enemy they drop a crest that you or your teammate needs to pick up to get both the kill credit and crest credit points. At the same time the other team can “deny” the points by picking up the fallen teammates crest. I personally have not enjoyed it very much but will play this mode when needed for a Quest or Iron Banner.
I have had little time on each of the new maps, Last Exit, a Venus subway station complete with dimly lit subway tunnels, collapsed buildings, tight corridors, and an open courtyard. It is the most diverse of the new maps. add in ramps, elevation changes it lends itself to some crushing firefights.
Strikes
The new Strikes steal the show in this expansion, along with the new Strike set within the Plague lands. The Wretched Eye, two Vanilla Strikes have received new SIVA versions. The first and second Strikes in the original game, Devils Lair & The Summoning Pits both feature reworked versions with new voice over story, splicer enemies & beautifully redone boss fights.
Strikes have always seemed lacking when compared to the mechanics that the beloved Raids have in Destiny. Rise of Iron does everything possible to fix this. The Boss fights include actual mechanics. In the reworked Devils Lair strike, the most basic of the three, Sepiks Perfected, will raise a element shield. Players then have to kill a specific smaller enemies that drop a cannon that shoots that element to bring down Sepik’s shield. Though simple it breaks up the monotony of the usual bullet sponge bosses that Destiny has been criticized of in the past. Also the remixed Sepiks Prime music with the electric guitar is amazing and I highly recommend giving it a listen on you tube. Title: Sepiks Redux
Beyond just fight mechanics the strikes also include platforming. The Summoning Pits strike has a King’s Fall Tomb Ship style segment. Platforming while simple has come to be one of the most frustrating & challenging mechanics in Destiny however, its still a welcomed addition to the strike playlist.
Every new strike now features a reworked loot system. Along with the normal loot that drops from bosses, there is also a locked chest. Skeleton Keys, a consumable used to open these special chests, drop separate awards from doing the different strike playlists. If you have a key you can open these chests to recieve exclusive gear specific to that individual strike.
Archon Forge
Archon Forge is located in the Plague Lands & is a mix of both Dreadnaught’s Court of Oryx and the Prison of Elders, The Forge sees players use consumable items to initiate waves of enemies and eventually spawn a boss. With multiple difficulty settings, different consumables spawning different bosses, and new mechanics like the arena itself closing off as the wave starts is a welcome evolution to the Court of Oryx Idea.
Verdict
While its disappointing the campaign doesn’t offer a deeper look into the Destiny universe and its history, Rise of Iron is a short but sweet expansion. It still has the same ole grind (though not as bad as the original release) that some of us have come to love and some of us have come to hate. I personally would recommend this to anyone that enjoys the Destiny universe or has an interest in trying out the game. well worth the 30 dollars spent.
Article written by Torey.
I’m a long time passionate fan of games, not gaming drama.