DLC done right

[Iwata]

I've been replaying some games recently with added DLC, and was surprised at how some of it adds so well to the original game. So what DLC did you find to be well worth the money?

My first thoughts go to:

- Red Dead Redemption's Undead Nightmare, which gives you an entirely new approach to a game that is already quite replayable, and a lot of fun to boot.

- Minerva's Den for Bioshock 2 adds a new and really interesting story to the Rapture mythos, one that I was all too happy to explore.

- Castlevania: Lord of Shadows Reverie and Resurrection also delved deeper and provided not only the return of a character I loved (Claudia) but also a more satisfying conclusion than the vanilla game.

I'm sure there are many others, and I'd like to hear my fellow gamers' opinions.

 

[Fappy]

- The "expansion" DLC for TES games always fit in well and added a lot to the experience. Shivering Isles was my favorite part of Oblivion for example. Some of the smaller DLCs were decent as well. The Mehrunes' Razor dungeon was my favorite dungeon in the game.

- Some of the Mass Effect trilogy's DLC was also spectacular. Bring Down the Sky and Lair of the Shadow Broker were awesome.

 

[Fisher321]

Definitely the Shivering Isles. Though I hate all these companies that announce DLC before the game even comes out *cough cough Halo 4 and Battlefield 3*

 

[tsb247]

I will agree with Shivering Aisles for Oblivion. It added a great deal of content and REALLY extended gameplay.

Bohemia Interactive has also released some great DLC for their Operation Flashpoint and ArmA franchises. In particular, I really enjoyed Resistance (Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis DLC), and I really enojoyed the British Armed Forces and Private Military Company DLC for ArmA II. Sadly, the Czech Republic DLC kinda fell flat on its face, so I haven't picked it up yet.

 

[scorptatious]

Well I love Fallout: New Vegas's DLC expansions.

They all had new areas to explore, had a great cast of characters, including some that were mentioned but never seen in the main game, like Father Elijah and Joshua "The Burned Man" Graham. And they were all connected in ways that I won't spoil. The final DLC, Lonesome Road in my opinion should be saved for last.

Not to mention there are TONS of new weapons, armor, and crafting recipes to get. One of my favorite weapons is from Old World Blues, which is a minigun which has the brain of a dog implanted in it. So when it senses enemies, it growls, and when you unequip it, it makes a mournful whine.

- The "expansion" DLC for TES games always fit in well and added a lot to the experience. Shivering Isles was my favorite part of Oblivion for example.

I remember one particular quest in that DLC that I found very interesting. It was where you had to take an addictive drug in order to gain access to this one dungeon. And while you're in there, you had to move quickly and find more of that drug to keep your stats from dropping too low. All while fighting off enemies and trying to find your way through the dungeon.

It was pretty tense from what I remember.

 

[DustyDrB]

+1 to New Vegas.
They supplement the main game without being essential to it. There is a ton of content in them, and each offers something different (Honest Heart's environment, Dead Money's survival-horror atmosphere, Lonesome Road's personal story, Old World Blues' pure zaniness).

 

[aguspal]

Borderlands 1 + 2 DLC all are at the very least decent, most are in the very good side, one or two are even arguably even better than the original game.


Its a pretty good record IMO. Actually the best in DLC so far...

 

[Daystar Clarion]

+1 to New Vegas.

Brilliant sets of DLC.

I consider Dead Money the weakest of the bunch and it's still a solid bit of DLC compared to most.

 

[WoW Killer]

General Knoxx. Good length, great characters and dialogue, and as well as the main chain you've got probably the best arena mission and a raid boss on top.

I guess quantity is a big deal when it comes to stuff like this. The worst thing you can do is make the players feel ripped off.

Edit: If you count it, Vale of Twilight in DDO. You get 2 wilderness zones, 5 dungeons and 3 raids all in one, and one of those raids is probably the most fun I've had in an MMO.

 

[alphamalet]

No DLC is the better option. If these game publishers used all of the resources they have poured into DLC to instead try to create new IPs, I wonder where the industry would be today.

Don't get me wrong, there are some games that I love, but I would rather let those games stand on their own, and look toward the future. Imagine if Final Fantasy VI was released today. We would have DLC to see what Sabin, Locke, and Edgar were doing the months following the World of Ruin. Like I said, I love Final Fantasy VI, but I'd rather not have a piecemeal experience. I'd rather move on to something new.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Relic's Dawn of War Games. DLC is limited to accessories for Last Stand, a couple cosmetic skins, and that's it. Everything else is given its own expansion pack, and all previous games are automatically updated so even if you don't have the Expansion, you aren't cut off from playing against people who do.

At least that is how DOW2 and Chaos Rising work. It's a little different for DOW1, but the same principle of not screwing over other players just because they don't want to shell out extra case.

 

[SajuukKhar]

Oblivion
Skyrim
Fallout 3
Fallout New vegas
Borderlands
borderlands 2

all have great DLC.

 

[Misterian]

I think any developer with the decency to put PSYCHICAL FREAKING COPIES of DLC on shelves is making DLC done right.

And so far, I think only Bethesda with their RPG sandboxes and Lionhead Studios with Fable 2 have actually done such things.

seriously, why is this rarely done?

 

[crazyrabbits]

No DLC is the better option. If these game publishers used all of the resources they have poured into DLC to instead try and create new IPs, I wonder where the industry would be today.

It's a double-edged sword.

I agree that DLC should not be a crutch for developers to focus on instead of more content for the base game or new projects. Just a few years back, we had "complete" products that stood on their own and didn't require extra content to answer plot points that should have been resolved in the game itself. Now, monetization schemes and cut content being repurposed after the fact are the norm.

However, I think DLC in and of itself is good, because it can provide more value to a game down the line. As said earlier, the TES expansions and most of Rockstar's DLC output is usually as good as (or even better than) the base games.

 

[hermes]

- Borderland has some decent DLC, although by the time I got to play it I was pretty much done with the game.
- Red Dead Redemption's zombie DLC is quite good and lengthy, you can't ask for more.
- Most of Mass Effect DLC is pretty good. Mostly short, but always interesting.
- I didn't play Fallout's DLC, but the one that expanded on the main quest looked pretty good.
- Minerva's Den has the weird accolade of being better than the entire game it expanded on. Its good that you don't even need to start a campaign in Bioshock 2 to play the DLC.

The best DLC are those that expand on the setting, while moving in directions the main game didn't go. The worst DLC are those that add trivial stuff that could easily be part of the game (Street Fighter and Blazblue, I am looking at you) or that intentionally remove mayor parts so that they can charge up later on (Assassins Creed 2 and Azura's Wrath being the biggest examples I have)

 

[Soviet Heavy]

I think any developer with the decency to put PSYCHICAL FREAKING COPIES of DLC on shelves is making DLC done right.

And so far, I think only Bethesda with their RPG sandboxes and Lionhead Studios with Fable 2 have actually done such things.

seriously, why is this rarely done?

Because most other people who release DLC on disks are just making expansion packs anyways. Also, Borderlands had DLC on disk releases.

 

[Eddie the head]

+1 to New Vegas.

Brilliant sets of DLC.

I consider Dead Money the weakest of the bunch and it's still a solid bit of DLC compared to most.

I liked Dead Money, sure it sucks you lose all your stuff at the start but and least it wasn't like Honest Hearts. I just found that one boring, it took me forever to finish. I just keep quitting and doing something else.

 

[ElectroJosh]

New Vegas DLCs were fantastic; no doubt - but they were proper expansion packs. Those are the DLCs I like the most.

 

[Fisher321]

Definitely the Shivering Isles. Though I hate all these companies that announce DLC before the game even comes out *cough cough Halo 4 and Battlefield 3*

To be fair, if you bought the limited edition, you get free map packs and some other stuff. Which is a needed step, since I bought the Reach map packs, and never saw more than 1k people play on them, and the average was around 500.

Well the way I see it, why don't they just already add the DLC into the game in the first place? DLC is supposed to come and be announced after the game has been released. Not before.

When companies do this it tells me that they could've made the original game better but money and greed got in the way.