8 Examples of DLC that Doesn't Suck
- Thread starter ffronw
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You know, I had that one on the list, but then I started arguing with myself about whether Shivering Isles was an actual DLC, or whether it was DLC's older brother, the expansion.Extragorey said:
I actually argued myself right out of putting it on there.
Still, Shivering Isles was amazing. No argument here.
Pretty good list. I've played six of the eight (I haven't played the Borderlands or Mass Effect DLC), and most of them were good, especially Old World Blues. Really, all of the New Vegas DLC was fantastic (except for Dead Money, which was pretty meh), and I really liked how the all the DLC for that game had a continuous story running through it. Bethesda games have all had really good DLC in recent years, Skyrim, Fallout 3 and New Vegas, Dishonored... they've come a long way since the Horse Armor days.
I've got disagree about two of the entries, though. I didn't think Knothole Island was particularly good, and wasn't long enough to merit the price. There was just nothing memorable about the place. I also thought that Bioshock Infinite: Burial as Sea was more continuity porn than it was cohesive game, and it left me extremely disappointed.
If I had to recommend things to replace them, I'd include Skyrim's "Dragonborn" DLC, and Dead Rising 3's "Super Ultra Dead Rising 3 Arcade Remix Hyper Edition EX Plus Alpha" DLC, which utterly transformed an otherwise vanilla zombie game that had some problems with tonal consistency into an explosive, balls-out over-the-top arcade homage, or maybe the "How the Saints saved Christmas" DLC for Saints Row IV.
I've got disagree about two of the entries, though. I didn't think Knothole Island was particularly good, and wasn't long enough to merit the price. There was just nothing memorable about the place. I also thought that Bioshock Infinite: Burial as Sea was more continuity porn than it was cohesive game, and it left me extremely disappointed.
If I had to recommend things to replace them, I'd include Skyrim's "Dragonborn" DLC, and Dead Rising 3's "Super Ultra Dead Rising 3 Arcade Remix Hyper Edition EX Plus Alpha" DLC, which utterly transformed an otherwise vanilla zombie game that had some problems with tonal consistency into an explosive, balls-out over-the-top arcade homage, or maybe the "How the Saints saved Christmas" DLC for Saints Row IV.
It isn't more than a standalone expansion, but Enemy within is too for the consoles. Far cry 3: Blood dragon?
What would you say decides the difference between DLC and an expansion pack? Is it purely the downloadable nature? Would, say, the Vietnam expansion/DLC for Bad Company 2 be considered DLC or an expansion?ffronw said:
Either way, that one was amazing too. I'm so sad to see it abandoned these days, despite the base game still being quite popular. I could pick up Battlefield: Vietnam but the BC2 came with awesome destruction and all kinds of modern advances I'd really miss.
Also, it's awesome to see this kind of initiative. Involving the community a bit more, I always liked seeing such initiatives over the years that I've spent here and I can only welcome more.
Is this so? I was actually going to get both for the 360 but was wondering why i couldn't find the two sold as a collection.josemlopes said:
It all makes sense now.
Yup - I can confirm this. The X360 copy of Enemy Within is a self-contained package - you don't need a copy of Enemy Unknown to play it. This was annoying for those of us who picked up the original, and then they put out an expansion pack at the price of a full-game...Xsjadoblayde said:
On PC then the expansion pack requires X:EU, but the expansion pack is priced cheaper. Also, you can get the Long War mod on PC, which revamps and adds a LOT to an already awesome game.
Honestly, I am a bit questioning the listing of Enemy Within here as it is officially called an "Expansion Pack" (and in fact needs to be purchased as its own game on the console ports), not DLC.
5 Maps for Zombie (four reworked from WaW plus one complete new one) plus the entire soundtrack of Zombies (total of 20 songs, only excluding the three licensed ones) for the normal price... totally worth it.
Probably because it's a re-hash DLC, that only screams "Look, us too! We can do it, too!" that adds only one map. Now, Rezurrection for Black Ops 1, that's a good example:Xsjadoblayde said:
5 Maps for Zombie (four reworked from WaW plus one complete new one) plus the entire soundtrack of Zombies (total of 20 songs, only excluding the three licensed ones) for the normal price... totally worth it.
I saw this this morning but I had to run to work so I didn't get a chance to comment. So here are my thoughts, because I know all of you are dying to hear them 
1) Never played Fable II. No opinion.
2) I was actually disappointed in The Last of Us DLC. I felt that it told the wrong story. From the start, we know what is going to happen and that Riley is doomed. It was nice seeing them bond, but I feel the flashback should have focused on what Ellie did after they got infected. I wanted to know how she handled knowing that she survived while she had to watch her friend go insane. Did she kill Riley, or did she leave her? Basically, the flashback ends right where I think it should have started. The current mission was good though, and it was nice to get the bandits and Infected to fight each other.
3) I saw this and it was almost enough to make be buy XCOM again. It sounded like they addressed my main problem with the game, which was the story. Starts off strong, but then is just sort of falls apart and I just kind of lost interest. A blast to play for sure, but I just got bored. It sounded like this expansion added in a good story, but I just couldn't bring myself to buy the game again.
4) Never played.
5) Ah, yes. I did enjoy zombies in the old West. My only issue was that I ended up with way too much ammo. When the DLC started, I had to be precise with my shots and pick my battles. I couldn't just wander into a store and buy ammo, and the undead were endless. I thought the whole game would be like that, but no. After about an hour, maybe less, I was swimming in ammo and the sense of dread went down.
6) I swear I will finish Episode 2 sometime this year! I loved the first Episode and I love II, but other games came out and I got pulled away. But I shall finish it!
7) Damn. Straight. While I prefer The Citadel myself, I am perfectly okay with this one being on the list instead. Both of those things were master strokes. And the look in Liara's eyes and the little gasp she lets out if you romanced her during that scene in your quarters...I just love it.
8) Hey, not fair! You can do two Borderlands DLC but you can't do both the Mass Effect ones? ;-) I enjoyed General Knoxx because it felt more like Borderlands 2, which is the game my friends and I started with. When we did get around to Borderlands, the game felt very quiet and very bland--until we hit this DLC. And then the glimmers of genius that created Borderlands II began to show, but I fear the DLC did not impact me the same way as it did others.
Now Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon's Keep? Oh yes. All of the yes.
1) Never played Fable II. No opinion.
2) I was actually disappointed in The Last of Us DLC. I felt that it told the wrong story. From the start, we know what is going to happen and that Riley is doomed. It was nice seeing them bond, but I feel the flashback should have focused on what Ellie did after they got infected. I wanted to know how she handled knowing that she survived while she had to watch her friend go insane. Did she kill Riley, or did she leave her? Basically, the flashback ends right where I think it should have started. The current mission was good though, and it was nice to get the bandits and Infected to fight each other.
3) I saw this and it was almost enough to make be buy XCOM again. It sounded like they addressed my main problem with the game, which was the story. Starts off strong, but then is just sort of falls apart and I just kind of lost interest. A blast to play for sure, but I just got bored. It sounded like this expansion added in a good story, but I just couldn't bring myself to buy the game again.
4) Never played.
5) Ah, yes. I did enjoy zombies in the old West. My only issue was that I ended up with way too much ammo. When the DLC started, I had to be precise with my shots and pick my battles. I couldn't just wander into a store and buy ammo, and the undead were endless. I thought the whole game would be like that, but no. After about an hour, maybe less, I was swimming in ammo and the sense of dread went down.
6) I swear I will finish Episode 2 sometime this year! I loved the first Episode and I love II, but other games came out and I got pulled away. But I shall finish it!
7) Damn. Straight. While I prefer The Citadel myself, I am perfectly okay with this one being on the list instead. Both of those things were master strokes. And the look in Liara's eyes and the little gasp she lets out if you romanced her during that scene in your quarters...I just love it.
8) Hey, not fair! You can do two Borderlands DLC but you can't do both the Mass Effect ones? ;-) I enjoyed General Knoxx because it felt more like Borderlands 2, which is the game my friends and I started with. When we did get around to Borderlands, the game felt very quiet and very bland--until we hit this DLC. And then the glimmers of genius that created Borderlands II began to show, but I fear the DLC did not impact me the same way as it did others.
Now Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon's Keep? Oh yes. All of the yes.
Skyrim had some pretty sweet DLC with Dawnguard and Dragonborn I thought, both added some really cool new places to explore, while also trying some bolder more character focused storytelling, even if Skyrim's kinda clunky engine didn't allow for those ideas to be capitalized on fully.
I also really really dug Shivering Isles for Oblivion, that place still gives me fond memories with its awesome awesome locale and wacky characters, though again, nothing is as majestic and clunky at the same time as an Elder Scrolls game, so it is a little tough to revisit.
I just wish I had a better PC, I've played the hell out of pretty much every Bethesda game on the consoles, and tried every single one on my laptop, buuuuut the Skyrim has graphical glitches with distant mountains and the older things get the more unoptimized they are and my frame rate kinda just gets worse when I try to play Oblivion or Morrowind, with pretty annoying frame rate for the Fallout games and Skyrim as well.
I'm normally just a few FPS shy from a steady 30, even with tons of "performance" mods for the various games and it just bums me out how close and yet so far from tasting the majesty of Bethesda games with mods.
I've heard something about "overclocking" PCs? I've never fully understood the concept or how to do it. Would it be possible to squeeze 5 fps more out of those games on my laptop if I overclocked it? Would I kill my laptop if I even tried? Hopefully some fine fellow here could explain the concept a bit more to me.
I also really really dug Shivering Isles for Oblivion, that place still gives me fond memories with its awesome awesome locale and wacky characters, though again, nothing is as majestic and clunky at the same time as an Elder Scrolls game, so it is a little tough to revisit.
I just wish I had a better PC, I've played the hell out of pretty much every Bethesda game on the consoles, and tried every single one on my laptop, buuuuut the Skyrim has graphical glitches with distant mountains and the older things get the more unoptimized they are and my frame rate kinda just gets worse when I try to play Oblivion or Morrowind, with pretty annoying frame rate for the Fallout games and Skyrim as well.
I'm normally just a few FPS shy from a steady 30, even with tons of "performance" mods for the various games and it just bums me out how close and yet so far from tasting the majesty of Bethesda games with mods.
I've heard something about "overclocking" PCs? I've never fully understood the concept or how to do it. Would it be possible to squeeze 5 fps more out of those games on my laptop if I overclocked it? Would I kill my laptop if I even tried? Hopefully some fine fellow here could explain the concept a bit more to me.
Honestly? I thought of BFBC2: Vietnam as an expansion, not DLC.Cowabungaa said:
I think the difference for me is that an expansion is a much larger, more complete experience than DLC. Now, I know the Borderlands DLCs come close to that, but let's also remember that those were specifically called DLC at release as well.
Is there some empirical formula? Nah. It's just what felt right.
I'd avoid overclocking my laptop if you don't have any experience in the process.ninja51 said:
In essence, you're basically doing one of two things:
1. Increasing clock speeds
2. Increasing power voltages
Both of these can seriously damage your hardware if something goes wrong, and in a lot of cases, void your warranty too. Now, if you can find someone who's got some experience to help, maybe try it. But I'd be really hesitant with a laptop considering that both of these options usually increase the heat generated, and laptops aren't always well-cooled.
*For more info, start up a thread in the advice forum [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/index/538-Advice-Forum]. I'm sure some folks would be willing to throw some info your way.
Thanks for the response there, I found this tutorial here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30zTM11hg7A that seemed to be for my exact laptop, save for mine having 8gb of ram instead of 6. I followed it to the T and have been doing some tests with some of my games. I normally only play games that are straining on my tv with an HDMI plugged in, allowing for my laptops screen to stay shut. This normally keeps things pretty cool, along with most of the left side of the thing hanging off an end table allowing for my bottom, left, and back vents to be unobstructed. I pretty much plan and have been only switching over to overclocked settings before booting up a game and switching back to default after i'm done. I also play all my games using razor game booster if I can. My battery is pretty much dead already so I need to keep my PC plugged in always.ffronw said:
So far, most loading screens have been blowing by at such a pace as I've never seen. Shogun 2 and Endless Legend used to take damn hours to load, but both have been super reasonable so far, if only a few FPS has been added. Chivalry is even running smooth at my low settings for the first time. However, I just re-downloaded Oblivion off of Steam, and HOLY SHIT! I'm getting in the realm of 25 to a solid 30 FPS, unmodded, something I couldn't even come close to on the lowest settings previously. I'm planning on doing some extensive modding tomorrow, grabbing some performance enhancing mods (even if they don't do a ton) and this sweet sweet beauty here http://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/44676/? among other things.
I'm so so pumped to get back into Oblivion, its been too damn long since I became a Mad God or a Holy Knight of the Nine!
Given that info, would you say I'm pretty safe to continue on my course? My laptop doesn't seem to be getting much hotter than normal, but its the chips inside that I'm still a bit worried about and unsure of their temp. Given I have 8gb of RAM could I even overclock a tiny bit more? I'm still getting just a bit of stutter here and there in most 3d games, but its so tiny I feel a bit more juice would kill it once and for all.
One map? Wow that is piss poor at best. It's bad enough they're selling off a commonly standard vanilla game mode for £12/$15 seperately, but with one map? Think i'll leave it, to be honest.Bindal said:
Admitedly, it IS a Zombie map and one of them has quite a lot of playtime value, so going with one in a 15$-bundle isn't wrong (it worked for Treyarch) and they DO have also a lot of work put into them, including new weapons, features and entire gameplay mechanics.Xsjadoblayde said:
Just in this case, it seems they only rehashed the Treyarch Zombie mode in general and added Exo-Suits to it... not really enough of a change to justify the pricetag after their big tra-ra announcing it.
No unique, funny weapon. No hidden song. No map-unique gamemechanics. Just a mystery box (this time, as a 3D-Printer. Because FUTURE!) and Perks (this time as Exo-Suit Upgrades. Again, FUTURE!) against Zombies and a story-easter-egg. Not even pack-a-punch or a "Future"-equivalent.
Well I guess, to be fair, DLC means downloadable content, and The Shivering Isles was released primarily on disc as far as I remember.ffronw said: