Ever since Bethesda threw Oblivion's infamous Horse Armour at us for £1.50, downloadable content has been a disappointment. A few new maps, costume packs that would once have been in-game unlockables, paid-for cheats... Yes, there's a market for it, and no, we have no problem if you want to make Dan Hibiki fight in a hula skirt. But DLC can be better.
The cheats and costumes and map packs have come to define the market, but DLC is a chance to take a great game and build on it without the pressure of a full sequel, or the kind of development costs that can bankrupt a studio if it fails. It's a place where everyone can play a little, experiment, break the rules of the game and have some fun.
Nobody's released an expansion quite like Oblivion's Shivering Isles since 2007. It was a full 20-hour quest set in the world of madness and mirth, and an experiment that became a huge success - exactly what DLC should be.
THE QUEST CONTINUES
But did Bethesda's ambitious approach pay off with the kind of cash a studio needs to keep being creative? It's notable that Bethesda's next game - Fallout 3 - skipped the nickel-and-dime Horse Armour and New House DLC in favour of five brand new, story-driven experiences that ranged from an arcade-action trip to Canada to a redneck rampage in Maryland's swamps.
This is the kind of thinking that gives us DLC worth caring about. It's rule-breaking stuff that uses the game you bought as a launchpad for something so brave and so surprising you never knew you wanted it until you saw it downloadable for eight quid.
Comments
19 comments so far...
billysastard on 12 Feb '12 said:
the only dlc that was ever worth buying ended up getting a full retail release. pretty much everything else was removed content that we alreadey paid for (ie the complete game)
gmcb007 on 12 Feb '12 said:
Since when was Alsaska in Canada?
Imaduck on 12 Feb '12 said:
Dead Money was guff, really, pity like but it was. Minerva's Den was the best DLC I've ever played, and I've played a hell of a lot. Better than most games these days.
damoxuk on 12 Feb '12 said:
I very rarely buy DLC for games unless it's single player DLC or DLC what add's stuff into the existing world.
LAir of the Shadow Broker for ME2 is prime example of DLC what was absolutely brilliant.
Missing Link for Desu Ex although a touch steep price wise was awesome (but if comparing it to COD mpa packs a bargain).
I would never pay for costumes/map packs/avatars/weapon unlock DLC as they should be in the game or at least be able to be unlocked within the game via some kind of reward for a mission etc.
I miss the big PC Expansion packs.
dicky1993 on 12 Feb '12 said:
dlc i have bought and enjoyed is mainly rockstar dlc (undead nightmare, both gta4 packs and LA NOIRE cases), i really love Minervas Den it is a great piece and played through it 3 times.
Vietnam for BC2 was pretty decent aswell.
Shame alot of people charge too much for too little, if cod map packs were 500points then i'd buy them, but at 1200 for 2 zombie maps nuh uh
DaftTechno on 12 Feb '12 said:
No mention of all the DLC for Borderlands? With all 4 DLC packs (Zombie Island of Dr. Ned, Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot, The Secret Armory of General Knox, and Claptrap's New Robot Revolution) you almost double the total amount of game content. You get new enemies, massive new areas to explore, and more of everything that made Borderlands great.
MattyR95 on 12 Feb '12 said:
I rarely buy DLC, even when I hear good things about it and they're cheap (like the ME2 arrival, just forgot about it basically and I can't be bothered going back to it). Only DLCs I get are ones that are on the game like Oblivion GOTY or if theres some special offer (Like when all the FO3 DLC was given away for free for PS+ before new vegas came out). I think the last DLC I properly bought was the undead nightmare for RDR.
Reegeee on 12 Feb '12 said:
Well said and I'm amazed they forgot about it. I see the Borderlands and GTA DLCs as top of the class.
HBK_nWo33 on 13 Feb '12 said:
Good article.
I think that gaming websites/magazines could help matters by reviewing DLC. Gaming websites generally ignore DLC, they announce it will be released, then we never hear of it again. Gaming websites should review all DLC for big games, and as many downloadable game titles as possible.
If gaming websites and magazines do this, and put an emphasis on it, gaming companies might think twice before churning out the same old crap. Especially if the reviews actually do have an effect on sales. I have always wondered why gaming websites always treat DLC as an afterthought and then complain when developers do.
Fingers crossed games one day actually learn the benefits of DLC, instead of taking things away from our main game experience for a cheap cash in.
TheLastDodo on 13 Feb '12 said:
I'd never seen the infamous horse armour before.
It would be great if you took it into battle and were laughed to death.
rhyfel on 13 Feb '12 said:
DLC is a rip off, nothing more nothing less, nowadays game developers are nothing more than corporate thieves all you ever hear is how badly done to thay are with losing out on the used games market, TUFF take it out on the retailers and not your customers, we all know game publishers are the scum of the earth.
YouStoleMyKill on 13 Feb '12 said:
I dont mind paying for dlc if i play a game and enjoy it then why the f**k not
but their is some really how can I put it 
.. pointless and/or s**te like Resistance 2 Black Ops character skin ... who in there right mind would spend money on a dlc they cant even see 
besides if I dont spend my spare money on dlc then id end up spending it on drugs or worse .. alcohol 
mattdark on 13 Feb '12 said:
Interesting that the article starts off by going on about the Horse Armour, despite the fact that they never released any of the DLC for Oblivion on the PS3 (with the exception of shivering isles I belive)
superfruit on 13 Feb '12 said:
Why do we need any assertation of someone's sexuality in games? So what are we saying, C&VG? Keep the gays for DLC, segregation if you will?
Most action games are full of rampant homo-erotic subtext anyway.
coldburner on 13 Feb '12 said:
DLC for Castlevania on PS3 is way overpriced. DLC for GTA4 is perfecrtly priced.
wrightandrewjame on 13 Feb '12 said:
Hmm, I think PSM3 have a few things confused. The Knights of The Nine expansion was included on the PS3 edition of Oblivion due to it being released a year later than on Xbox 360 and PC. In addition Shivering Isles was never released in Europe as DLC, not until the Game of The Year Edition were we able to purchase it on PS3. Actually thinking about it no DLC for Oblivion was ever released on PS3 in Europe (a quick search on the PlayStation Store confirms this).
So the worst DLC ever released on PS3 was actually never released on PS3. I think someone's getting the PS3 and Xbox 360 confused at PSM3 Towers...
WHERESMYMONKEY on 13 Feb '12 said:
No mention of PIgsey's perfect 10 for Enslaved. That was amazing! Still i think the problem is that we have been swamped with maps and crap not the full fledged expansion packs that dlc should be,
jm3811 on 13 Feb '12 said:
Don't talk about DLC but call that "unlockable content"; where you used to earn extra features you now have to pay in order to play the full game (in 90% of the case). Sometimes it doubles the price of what you paid originally. On top of that you have no guarantee that you'll be able to play them for a while when the console breaks down.
TehSlenderMan on 27 Feb '12 said:
DLC should more be like Vietnam in BC2 and B2K in BF3. New stuff fully, instead of one crappy item noone wants.