Can You Hear Them Howlin’?

The promise of power is nothing compared to the brutal creature known as betrayal. For it can manifest itself from the most unlikeliest of places. A friend, an ally, a family member long thought loyal. Betrayal does not live by civilized rule, nor cares for caste or privilege. It can be the downfall of the poor or the hubris of the powerful; for it shows that no man or woman – not even a Queen – is above reproach. Rather, it lives by a constant, undeniable truth.

When you lie down with wolves…..

You will get eaten.

The second expansion to Bungie/Activision’s Destiny title, House of Wolves manages to introduce several new things while recycling several old things in the process. Of course, you’ve got new storyline quests, a new social hub in the Reef (complete with new vendors and a bounty board), a new horde-centric event called the Prison of Elders, a new level cap (34), and two new PvP Crucible events called the Iron Banner and the Trials of Osiris.

First off, let’s focus on the storyline events – which happen to be the weakest part of this new expansion. Of course, the overall story in Destiny itself is hardly noteworthy (in fact many critics would agree that it is the game’s weakest element), House of Wolves at least attempts to flesh out the Fallen race just a bit more, even if it doesn’t quite nail the landing. You’re introduced to house factions, Fallen Kells, ambitious plans to unite them under one banner, and the Guardians’ attempt to thwart those plans. All the while you’re rewarded with new and interesting looking equipment; a House of Wolves-centric rifle, shotgun, maybe even the occasional piece of armor.

The sad part is that these storyline quests recycle through areas of the map you’ve probably visited hundreds, if not thousands, of times already. Yes, there are a few – very, very few – new places to clamor through; I’d say 98% of the content is reused assets. And I’m sorry, but after the mediocre experience of the Dark Below, that’s just another detriment against the game itself. If you’re going to introduce a new expansion, one that costs twenty bucks mind you, I want to see more of the world, the moon, and the planets.

I don’t want to go through the damn Cosmodrome six different times fighting through the same damn enemies. I don’t want to go through the moon maps (some of them in reverse, mind you) yet again to finish up a new quest chapter (one of which didn’t even bother to add in the expected loading dialogue). Twenty dollars should get me more content than this, in all honesty. I mean, if Bungie can do it with Halo, and Activision can do it with Call of Duty, then why the hell can’t they seem to do the same thing with Destiny? There’s potential here, but it’s being squandered by both companies.

I can say though that the more enjoyable aspects of the experience is in House of Wolves’ new Prison of Elders, Trials of Osiris and Iron Banner events. Like I said, the Prison of Elders is a 5 tiered 13-wave horde mode, tasking a team of 3 Guardians to clear the arena of various enemies and tasks. One level might have you dismantling mines, others destroying specific targets and so on. Working as a team and watching each others back is an essential element to the Prison. Be it from a pre-made team or via matchmaking, trying to do everything yourself or not helping your teammates can cost you time, energy, and patience. There are various levels to the Prison itself (starting from level 28 all the way to level 35), offering up various prizes to the victor, as well as the occasional mark or bond to show off as bragging rights.

My personal favorite out of the expansion, however, happens to be the Iron Banner Crucible event. This week long challenge allows players to enjoy the time and energy they’ve put into Destiny itself. Within the Iron Banner, you’re allowed class-specific perks; armor ratings, weapon damage levels and so forth. I’ll admit that I’m mediocre at the ‘Plain Jane’ Crucible matches, but in the Iron Banner? I feel like a Titan God. I’d sink hours into it, as long as it will let me at least. Bungie’s server connections have been spotty to say the least after that last PS4 DDoS attack.

Of course, if you’re not comfortable with playing large team events, there’s the Trials of Osiris, which functions fairly similar to a 3v3 Crucible Deathmatch event, with a win level ranking system (winning consecutive matches in a row allows you to acquire better and better rewards from the Trials vendor at the Reef) and Iron Banner level perks added in. The more wins you accrue, the better the rewards after. Again, working as a team is essential. The odd part is that you need a pre-made team of three to access. There’s no public matchmaking available. Not sure why, but it’s a small matter.

Final Thoughts: Overall though, while House of Wolves doesn’t reinvigorate the Destiny experience, there are certain aspects that I find appealing. True, it doesn’t help to prop up an already shallow and flaccid storyline, House of Wolves is at least a slightly better experience than the Dark Below DLC, but only by a few points. While I am grateful to go back and experience some new elements to the game and story, I find the lack of new areas for these new quests an egregiously lazy thing to do for the twenty dollars I – and thousands, if not millions, of other people – laid down for it. I want to see more. More planets, more environments, more…. something.

Because as it stands, for a supposedly open world experience, Destiny sure feels extremely small. And these expansions are starting to show just how small that world truly is.

Final Score: 2.5 out of 5