A missed opportunity for change - Destiny 2 Curse of Osiris DLC review

Just after the launch of Destiny 2 it really seemed like Bungie had learned from the past mistakes of Destiny 1. The sequel had a better story, a lot more content and smart gameplay improvements. Together these improvements offered an enjoyable shared-world shooter, with hopes of a long lifespan. However, Bungie failed to keep that momentum going and soon complaints from the community came flooding in.

With the Curse of Osiris DLC the developer promises us an action-packed storyline and a whole new planet to explore. At the same time however, Bungie also warns us that the DLC doesn’t necessarily address the misgivings of the frustrated Destiny 2 players. And unfortunately, this becomes painfully apparent pretty fast.

Curse of Osiris has a new planet to explore, but Mercury doesn’t offer the same level of quality as the others. It’s small and leaves no room for exciting exploration. Almost all the missions take place in The Infinite Forest, a randomly generated dungeon. On paper this sounds like a smart alternative to a bigger planet, but the random blocks get repetitive very quickly. Besides some handcrafted locations that are tied to the story, you get to see all The Infinite Forest has to offer in a surprisingly short time. Plus, while you’re exploring you don’t get to meet other players. Mercury may be a new planet, but its design feels contrary to what Destiny 2 is all about.

The story campaign takes up roughly three hours and focuses on Osiris, Ikora’s mentor. He came to Mercury to thwart the Vex and - with your help ofcourse - hunt down a hive mind. The story is short and focuses solely on Osiris, while the loose ends of the main Destiny 2 storyline remain unanswered. The side story isn’t very exciting though and just feels like a simple A to B to C plotline.

And the rest of the DLC content isn’t very engaging either. The two new Strikes are just reworks of two campaign missions, and the Heroic Adventures are simply harder versions of the regular Adventures that are too drawn-out to be enjoyed more than once. The new Crucible arenas are quite interesting however and the Raid Lair gives you and your Fireteam a reason to jump back into the Leviathan. But the Raid Lair is shorter and less challenging than the regular Raid. To summarize: in a single weekend you can blast through pretty much all the new content that Curse of Osiris has to offer.

After you complete the campaign, it’s back to the grind. The Weapon Forge allows you to craft powerful new weapons. You get blueprints, that strangely enough don’t tell you which gun they’ll reward you. To craft the weapons you need to acquire items with a painfully low drop rate. On top of that you’ll have to earn them by completing Public Events and Strikes, which you probably have done countless times already The endgame of Curse of Osiris does reward you with some cool and interesting new guns, but the path to that destination is frankly quite boring.

And boring might be the ideal word to sum up the whole of the Curse of Osiris expansion. The story campaign is short and forgettable, just like pretty much all the other new additions. This DLC feels a step back for Destiny 2. Players who are looking for a reason to dive back into the game, better wait it out until Bungie comes up with some real and interesting changes to the formula. Curse of Osiris is not that.

Disclaimer: this is review is based on a copy of the game provided by Activision Blizzard.