7 Essential DLC Packs That Make Great Games Even Better

There's no universal answer to the often-asked, increasingly tiresome question of whether the advent of DLC is good or bad for video games. Depending on the personal experiences of those you ask, its existence can either be attributed to being a product of the Devil, an unnecessary, but no less welcome, prolonging of a game's lifespan, or single-handedly the best invention to come out of the digital age. In truth, there's no definitive answer. As with near everything on God's green Earth, attempting to evaluate anything in a vacuum is a pointless exercise. Is DLC a way for publishers to monetize content that would otherwise be free? Not always, but it could certainly be argued to have happened. In those cases, sure, greed is a leading factor, but one bad experience should not be repurposed to become a sweeping statement. For every shipped game that's discovered to have content on the disc locked behind a paywall, so too, are there those that make genuine strides to expand the scope of their worlds with ideas that perhaps didn't quite make the cut for launch day. Several examples of the latter are what you'll find waiting for you on the next page, all of which deserve recognition for making already spectacular games even better. 7) The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth - Afterbirth+ For a series that began life as little more than a pet project of McMillen's, The Binding of Isaac has since risen through the ranks of being an obtuse indie game with niche appeal to become a leading example of its genre. A feat made all the more impressive when you consider its humble origins. Born out of a week-long game jam session between McMillen and Florian Himsl, Isaac's original, flash based incarnation seeded itself on Valve's Steam service back in 2011 and eventually went on to blossom into one of the service's most popular titles, without so much as a penny spent on traditional advertising. Wrath of the Lamb, the first and only DLC to be released for the original, stirred hundreds of new items, stages and bosses into the original's melting pot of content, an expansion that was hindered in both scope and ambition purely due to the limitations of flash. In order to bypass that roadblock, McMillen teamed up with Nicalis to create Rebirth, a total remake of the original that, again, included a charitable helping of new content with its own expansion, Afterbirth+, following shortly after. No such finality has been confirmed by the developer, but Afterbirth is largely considered to be the bookend of Rebirth's DLC lifecycle, offering more content than one could ever hope to devour in any feasible amount of time. That, combined with full support for community mods (the best of which are released as booster packs), essentially makes for an endless stream of content that'll never end, at least as long as Isaac remains popular. 6) Battlefield: Bad Company 2 - Vietnam Of all the pricing strategies that publishers use for releasing DLC, it appears that, for whatever reason, those that hold the reins for gaming's biggest shooters appear to have the most trouble setting an acceptable price tag. In recent memory, the most notable example that comes to mind is EA's handling of Star Wars Battlefront's extensive post-launch plans. With a season pass priced at around the $50 mark (not far off the asking price of a full game), for a shooter that was already regarded to be light on content, not even a Jedi mind trick was enough to convince potential customers they were getting good value. Activision experienced similar backlash for its handling of Modern Warfare Remastered's Variety map pack, a re-release of the original's DLC that charged full price, despite it being for a ten-year-old title. Publishers are, of course, free to charge whatever they please, but the price disparity will always raise the odd eyebrow, especially when compared to past examples, i.e. Battlefield Bad Company 2: Vietnam. Five maps, six vehicles, fifteen new weapons and newly recorded voiceovers for the American and Vietnamese forces were all packed inside Bad Company 2's major add-on and branded with a $15 price tag. As a final touch of authenticity, several contemporary music tracks were thrown in, making Vietnam feel like a remarkably polished piece of content. Now, if we can just get a Bad Company 3, DICE, that would be just dandy. 5) Fallout 3 - Point Lookout As Bethesda's first attempt at breathing new life into the long-dormant franchise, Fallout 3 was met, thanks in no small part to its adopting the same template used for Oblivion two years prior, with similar levels of adoration. Besides the decision not to adopt the same isometric format of the originals, Bethesda's interpretation boasted the same level of character customization, exploration and post-apocalyptic settlements as its forebears, but it didn't quite manage to clear the final hurdle. Given its open-ended nature, the fact that players' own Lone Wanderer was locked out of exploring the Capital Wasteland upon concluding the main story left a lingering bitter taste in the mouths of many. That roadblock was successfully removed the following year with the launch of Broken Steel, but it was the add-on which followed that garnered the most praise. Heavily influenced by monster movie cinema, Point Lookout offers a roundabout and refreshing change in tone and aesthetic, taking place in an irradiated swamp infested by mutants straight out of a Wrong Turn movie. Unlike Operation: Anchorage and The Pitt before it, though (both of which were criticized for a lack of exploration), Fallout 3's fourth and penultimate expansion felt every bit a natural addition to the base game, the success of which was clearly taken into account several years later for Fallout: New Vegas' Old World Blues DLC. 4) Dark Souls - Artorias Of The Abyss Just - by the smallest of margins you could possibly imagine - beating out Dark Souls II's Lost Crowns DLC for a coveted spot on the list, Artorias of the Abyss pips its successor's post-launch content to the post for several reasons, not least because of its near-flawless quality. Don't take that the wrong way; each of II's expansive DLC chapters spectacularly sidestepped a majority of the criticisms aimed at the sequel, their self-contained worlds a marked improvement over the often disjointed nature of Drangleic. Artorias of the Abyss, on the other hand, had the unenviable task of merging itself into a title that was already considered to be largely perfect, a feat it managed to achieve with flying colors in every department. With an entry point integrated into the base game so seamlessly as to suggest it had always been there, the Chosen Undead's journey through time not only delivered on the promise of bigger, more intimidating enemies to conquer but also closed the book on several unanswered questions in the dark fantasy world's trademark ambiguous lore. In essence, it gave life to the legends only mentioned in passing by Lordran's still-living present day population, although typically, the legend is often times much grander than the reality. Your role, as a time traveler, isn't to discern fact from fiction, but to be a living, breathing paradox. Don't try to make sense of it, just enjoy the ride. 3) The Last of Us - Left Behind How in God's name do you follow a game as critically adored as The Last of Us with DLC that achieves even a fraction of its acclaim? It's simple; expand on the pitch-perfect writing and character development found in the main game, but tell a different story - one that elaborates on the lives of its characters. In creating The Last of Us, Naughty Dog, whether it intended to or not, managed to strike a rare balance between providing entertainment as both a video game (and all the connotations that come with that) as well as a multi-layered narrative filled with believable, relatable characters. I mean, isn't it after all telling that Joel and Ellie's authentic chemistry frequently attracts the same, if not more, levels of fond remembrance than that of The Last of Us' survival horror gameplay? Both are remarkable, but it's the former that elevates it to a higher plane of appreciation. For that reason alone, it's crystal clear why the studio decided to go with the slow burn that was Left Behind, rather than a rehashed survival mode that others tack on and sell as an essential add-on. Joel's very much a part of Left Behind but, rather than play an active role, he serves as the catalyst for Ellie's standalone story, a perfect change of pace that stands up well on its own as well as an integral part of The Last of Us' overarching narrative. 2) Destiny - The Taken King Destiny had its fair share of teething problems leading up to release, that's certainly no secret. Instead of burying its head in the sand and swiftly moving on, though, Bungie spent the next 12 or so months post-launch working on a project that would hopefully rectify many of the criticisms aimed at the ambitious sci-fi shooter. The Taken King arrived just a few days following Destiny's first birthday, bringing with it an overhaul that, while not quite warranting the status of sequel, certainly did more for the longevity of the title than many Guardians may have perhaps suspected six months earlier. Sadly, I'm not the lucky owner of a time machine, but it's my firm belief that, had Bungie instead opted to let Destiny's problems fester until the arrival of Destiny 2, there might not have been a sequel at all. Besides introducing an entirely brand new, standalone story that was infinitely more coherent than the base game's jumbled mess, The Taken King marked a complete overhaul of the original levelling system, introduced one new subclass to each of the Hunter, Titan and Warlock roles and dumped an armory's worth of new gear for players to seek out. Of course, the expansion's King's Fall raid deserves mention, too, which despite not being as fondly remembered as Vault of Glass, emphasized just how much Bungie's talent had evolved over such a short period of time. More of the same for Destiny 2 please, Bungie! 1) Bloodborne - The Old Hunters Of all the games that fall under the banner of FromSoftware's illustrious and affectionally named 'Soulsborne' series, Bloodborne is the one most open to being criticized, not for its quality (that's largely reserved for Dark Souls II), but rather, its length. It's important to remember that, despite the obvious connections and similarities, that Miyazaki's dual parts Gothic and cosmic horror RPG was never intended to be a lead-in from Dark Souls II, but its own beast entirely. The streamlined progression system and a reduced pool of available weapons in the base game drastically reduced the allure of taking a second stroll through the cobbled streets of Yharnam and beyond. The content already present was great, there just wasn't enough of it. Then, along came The Old Hunters, and, just as it had done prior with the Souls DLC, Bloodborne's one and only add-on proved to be everything it needed and then some. Despite it 'only' having - and I use that word extremely loosely - introduced more of the same content (bosses, weapons, gear, etc), Old Hunters raised the already high bar set by Artorias of the Abyss and the Lost Crowns DLC, yet again proving that you can never have too much of a good thing. It's a testament to FromSoftware and Miyazaki's perfected formula that it need not attempt to introduce gimmicks or new mechanics as part of its post-launch efforts, but rather, offer new options and challenges, even if the latter means getting beaten to a pulp by Orphan of Kos the millionth time. Brilliant.