DLC: Doing it Right

[Trolldor]

Just had my first playthrough of Dead Money for New Vegas, and it actually increased my interest in the game world, and in particular the courier's history.
It was actually realms better than Point Lookout - the best of Fallout 3's DLCs.

So, anyway, my point is: What DLCs have 'done it right' for you and why?

 

[Misho-]

Mass Effect 2 DLC. It was all really well done

 

[kane.malakos]

Horse Armor! But seriously, the Broken Steel expansion for Fallout 3. Just the amount of content they added made it worth it.

 

[silverbullet1989]

proper dlc like the borderlands one (i agree with donnyp the robot revolution was hilarious) and dlc for fallout 3 + new vegas, GTA IV (dunno if there classed as dlc?) are well worth the money and i proudly pay for it, dlc such as a couple of new maps that were prob cut from the game before release, not naming any games here, are what infuriate me.

 

[Euhan01]

If its Maps or avaiable on the first day of release, no (or like Assassins Creed 2 missing from the game.)

Fallout did it pretty well, as did the second half of Borderlands (didn't play the first two so can't comment.)

 

[Windcaler]

On general principle I dont like DLC in the first place because it always seems like company's are nickel and dimeing us. Furthermore any DLC that expands on the main story isnt DLC to me, its a piece of the game that should have been in the game at release for the $60 I originally spent.

That said, there are some DLCs that stand out for me. Dragon Age: The stone prisoner (read: shale) was good DLC. You got a new and unique character that you could play throughout the story and who was really a part of the story, not just there like Zaeed from ME2. Shale's addition through DLC is the right way to add a character to the main story

Fallout 3's DLCs like Mothership Zeta were also good DLC IMO. Zeta was basicly a side quest. You could return to explore the areas, they changed as you pushed the story along, and there was actually some real depth to the individual story. Thats what I like to see in DLC, it adds things that dont effect the main story which is the right way to do story driven DLC

As much as DLC is used I think its time for them to start releasing DLC demo's so that we the consumer get a better idea of whether or not we want to play it. Right now about the msot accurate source of information I can think of is watching a play through on Youtube

 

[number2301]

On general principle I dont like DLC in the first place because it always seems like company's are nickel and dimeing us. Furthermore any DLC that expands on the main story isnt DLC to me, its a piece of the game that should have been in the game at release for the $60 I originally spent.

Interesting, I'm virtually the opposite. DLC which doesn't add anything to the main story feels like a rip off for me, example being Arrival for ME2, £7 or whatever for 3 hours tops? That's a rip off. Moving the story on, massive revelations and learning more about the ME universe, well worth it.

 

[Mr. Omega]

As much as I hate Valve fans, I do love Valve. One of the reasons I like Valve is that they do DLC right, Episode 3 not included. Sure the crates in TF2 are probably the biggest middle finger Valve has ever given it's fanbase (next to Episode 3), but there is always the chance they can get rid of them.

You know who does DLC best? Nintendo. What's that? "They don't do DLC?" Exactly. ***** about them all you want, but when Nintendo says a game is finished, THEY FUCKING MEAN IT. No "It's done!...until the new DLC pack comes out for it."

 

[CD-R]

The map packs for Bad company 2 [/B]BECAUSE THEY WERE FREE[/B]

As much as DLC is used I think its time for them to start releasing DLC demo's so that we the consumer get a better idea of whether or not we want to play it. Right now about the msot accurate source of information I can think of is watching a play through on Youtube

Capcom did that with Case Zero for Dead Rising 2. It lasted a few hours, it added to the main story, you could carry over your charecter into the main game, and it was under ten dollars. Might not be a bad idea for PC games, since there's no way for PC players to rent games outside of piracy. Or do something where you can buy the first 1/4 of the game and only pay 1/4 of the price. And if you like it buy the rest. I just hope they don't replace free demos entirely.

 

[Jaded Scribe]

On general principle I dont like DLC in the first place because it always seems like company's are nickel and dimeing us. Furthermore any DLC that expands on the main story isnt DLC to me, its a piece of the game that should have been in the game at release for the $60 I originally spent.

Like @number2301, I have to disagree with you. As long as it's not a key part of the story, i.e. the game itself can be played, beginning to end, without the DLC to no substantial lack of benefit, then it's great to offer something extra. As the consumer, you can decide whether or not it's worth it to you.

I have about half of the Dragon Age DLCs (The Stone Prisoner (Shale), Warden's Keep, Return to Ostagar) and I thought they were all great. They added a little more to the story, gave you some extras for your campaigns in Origins and Awakening, and expanded the world a little bit more.

 

[mjc0961]

Just had my first playthrough of Dead Money for New Vegas, and it actually increased my interest in the game world, and in particular the courier's history.
It was actually realms better than Point Lookout - the best of Fallout 3's DLCs.

So, anyway, my point is: What DLCs have 'done it right' for you and why?

Eh, I actually thought that Point Lookout was pretty bleh. But The Pitt, that was pretty good. It actually had a decent moral dilemma in it too which was a nice change from the usual "obviously good" and "obviously evil" choices.

Both DLC packs for GTA IV were also top notch. $20 each when they were new, yes, but for that $20 you got at least 3-4 times the normal gameplay you would get from the usual $10 DLC most games pump out, so they were both really good deals. Plus they did add a lot of great new toys and some interesting new views of some of the characters you saw when you played the main game.