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House of Wolves – Expansion Pack 2 for Destiny (Xbox One) Impressions

 

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Posted May 29, 2015 by

 
Final Fiendish Feelings?
 
 

House of Wolves is the second expansion pack for Destiny, Bungie’s (infamous?) post-Halo take on the first-person shooter genre.  Seeing as Destiny’s been out since September 2014, you’ve probably made up your mind about the game, and whether or not it’s the type of game that fits your tastes.  I’m not here to try and convince you whether or not the expansion is right for you, but I will give you my, any my kid’s, impressions of the expansion (spoiler: it adds to the fun, and if you like Destiny and want more of it, this is a no-brainer).

House of Wolves – Expansion Pack 2 for Destiny (Xbox One) Impressions

Here are the facts about House of Wolves.  The most important question is, does the game raise the level cap?  Yes.  The level cap in House of Wolves, allows players to achieve a Light level of 34.  The previous expansion The Dark Below, raised the level cap from 30 to 32.

As in the previous expansion, the House of Wolves includes a lot of new content, including story missions, strikes, arenas (think horde mode), and crucible (traditional multiplayer) map, and exclusive weapons and armor.

New story missions include:

  • A Kell Rising
  • The Silent Fang
  • The Ruling House
  • Wolves’ Gambit
  • Queen’s Random

The Shadow Thief is the new Strike.  Strikes are quests that for a fireteam of three players, that end with a epic boss battle.

Fans of endless waves of enemies will want to check out the Prison of Elder’s arena mode, which allows you and two other players to cooperatively.  This arena mode is a brand new element to Destiny, and quite frankly, is a nice breath of fresh air.  One of the universal praises with the Prison of Elder’s is that, unlike previous game modes, the repetition of a wave-based mode just feels right, and players can grind through the many waves over and over again, as many times as they want with a chance to get better loot.  In the past, the number of possible loot drops were limited to daily and weekly restrictions, thus taking away some of the excitement from hardcore fans.

House of Wolves – Expansion Pack 2 for Destiny (Xbox One) Impressions

Fans of the competitive aspect of Destiny will get new Crucible maps.  Black Shield, Thieves’ Den, and Widow’s Court are available to both Xbox One and PlayStation 4.  A fourth Crucible map, Timekeeper, is exclusive only to the PlayStation 4, but will reportedly be available on Xbox One later this fall.  Exclusive PS4 content from The Dark Below expansion should also be available on Xbox later this fall.

In addition to the typical new armor and weapons, House of Wolves introduces a new weapon class, the sidearm.

New social spaces are available, as well, including The Lighthouse on Mercury and the Vestian Outpost which is inside of the asteroid belt, The Reef.

House of Wolves – Expansion Pack 2 for Destiny (Xbox One) Impressions

 

So, bottom line, is the House of Wolves expansion worth your money?  I believe so.  Not only does it seem to address some of the long-standing issues with Destiny, it introduces enough new content and game modes, like the wave-based mode the Prison of Elder’s, that makes it feel a little fresher and unique than what the previous expansion, The Dark Below, brought to the game.  For those who continue to play and enjoy Destiny, this is a no-brainer.  It’s definitely worth your time.   For those who are still on the fence about Destiny, House of Wolves is definitely an improvement on many of the core elements of Destiny, but because it’s an expansion, you’ll still need to pay for the game as well as the expansion.  Because demos are sort of a thing of the past, I’d recommend finding a Twitch stream and see what you think about the gameplay and see what the broadcaster thinks as well.

House of Wolves is available as an individual download for $19.99, or if you’re new to the game and don’t have the first expansion, you can nab both of them for $35.99 (a savings of $5).

 


Troy Benedict

 


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