The best expansions and DLC that are like full games

Key foods

  • Grand Theft Auto 4 “The Ballad of Gay Tony” offers a fresh story that shines as brightly as the story in the original game.
  • Prey's 'Mooncrash' expansion offers replayable and randomized challenges, promising a fresh experience with every playthrough.
  • The Monster Hunter World expansion “Iceborne” introduces a massive new subcontinent and significantly expands the base game.



At worst, video game downloadable content (DLC) is a way for publishers to rip off parts of an original game and sell them for a bag full of nickels and dimes. At best, it's an opportunity for fans to get a little more of what they love from the base game in the form of skins, maps, or gameplay mechanics.

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While in the internet age there is less of a difference between DLC and expansion, the latter are usually seen as packages that contain a significant number of new features, but are never guaranteed. However, there are some beautiful examples of DLC games that far exceed everyone's expectations and sometimes rival or even surpass the base game.


8 Grand Theft Auto 4 – The Ballad Of Gay Tony

Beyond Liberty City Encore

Grand Theft Auto 4

was published
April 29, 2008

OpenCritic rating
able

  • Estimated playing time: 14 hours


With each of the open world sandbox cities being masterpieces in their own right, it looks like Rockstar will revisit Liberty City to explore its full potential. unlike Grand Theft Auto 5San Andreas, which became the background GTA: Online After a great offline campaign, Rockstar gave fans a new single player storyline Grand Theft Auto 4“The Ballad of Gay Tony” and to some extent “The Lost and the Damned”.

The expansion offers a fresh perspective on the city's nightlife scene, focusing on the flamboyant Tony Prince and his equally wild sidekick, Luis Lopez, who is just as prone to violence (at least in the player's hands) as Nico. The glamorous ride through Liberty's club culture gives a fresh perspective on the city, filled with incredible action, high-speed chases, and the strange creatures of Liberty in its 15-25 hours of play time.

7 Bait – Mooncrash

Pushing the simulation engine to its limits


bait

was published
May 5, 2017

OpenCritic rating
strong

  • Estimated playing time: 18 hours

Few additional game modes offer such a fresh feeling baitThe brilliant and endlessly playable Mooncrash, which probably inspired another Arkane game. Deathloop. Players are tasked with reliving the attack on a moon base through computer simulation to find out what really happened to the survivors during the disaster.

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8 Roguelike Games That Were Ahead of Their Time

Some roguelikes were more influential than others. Here are some examples that were ahead of their time.

Each run brings something new with random challenges, thanks to an almost bottomless roguelike design. Each success helps improve the odds by granting access to better weapons or items on subsequent runs.

Away to Madness Island

  • Estimated playing time: 20 hours

The fourth entrance of the main line Large scrolls series, forgetfulnessIt may have suffered microtransaction damage through the DLC “Horse Armor”, but it also provided the best example of a great development experience.


Shivering Islands uses NPC artificial intelligence, haunting atmosphere and flourishing effects. forgetfulness Known for giving the Kvach hero an entire island of Oblivion to explore, an island shaped by the maddened mind of his master, the memorable Torophil, Sheogorath.

5 Assassin's Creed: Odyssey – The Fate Of Atlantis

An extensive journey through the most extraordinary realms of Greek mythology

was published
October 15, 2018

OpenCritic rating
able

  • Estimated playing time: 22 hours

If the monster splashes around the landscape Assassin's Creed: Odyssey didn't veer the series out of the “historical fantasy” video game category and into the fantasy bin, its final DLC, “The Fate of Atlantis,” plunged it into the deepest waters of mythology.

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Of course, the series always had elements of the supernatural, but the massive “Destiny of Atlantis” expanded the massive plot of Odysseus with epic views of four different realms: Elysium, the Underworld, and Atlantis itself.


4 Cyberpunk 2077 – Phantom Liberty

Making a dystopian meal

Cyberpunk 2077

was published
December 10, 2020

OpenCritic rating
strong

  • Estimated playing time: 23 hours

Even after years of patching, Cyberpunk 2077's Legacy is still plagued by the backlash it received at launch due to its initial state. This was exacerbated by the frustration felt by it Cyberpunk Fans whose ill-conceived marketing campaign strategy was perhaps a little over-indulgent.

Its first and only expansion redeemed the game in the eyes of many fans by showing that CD Projekt Red had learned the hard lessons from the base version and in many ways felt like a completely new game. Phantom Liberty introduced Dogtown, a sprawling gated corner of the night city with a palpable sense of dread and decay, filled with morally ambiguous characters and decision-driven missions, as well as new abilities, vehicles, and more dynamic combat options. .


3 The Witcher 3 – Blood and Wine

A rich and colorful intoxicating additive

was published
May 19, 2015

OpenCritic rating
able

  • Estimated playing time: 29 hours

The basic story of The Witcher 3 It hardly let anyone down with its hours of gameplay and highly replayable story, but CD Projekt Red wanted to keep playing with its second installment, Blood and Wine. The first expansion, Hearts of Stone, was also an incredibly generous offering that added new mechanics, narratives, and locations.

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However, “Blood and Wine” really feels like it could have been packaged and sold as a completely standalone campaign with the expansive new region of Tocson, a vibrant place untouched by open war but tainted with dark secrets, perhaps Because of the way Toussaint has it. It feels very fresh and different from the rest The Witcher 3the world


2 Elden Ring – Shadow of the Erdtree

A full-fledged sequel disguised as an expansion

Alden ring

was published
February 25, 2022

OpenCritic rating
able

  • Estimated playing time: 40 hours

Hardly anyone can complain about that Alden ring It lacks interesting and explorable spaces or challenges. And yet, FromSoftware completely blew fans away with “Shadow of the Earthtree,” a game that rivals and in some ways surpasses it. Alden ring In terms of beauty, science and challenge.

“Erdtree” upped the ante after kicking off with a less-than-usual offering of the base game, but Soul fans, saturated for punishment, naturally ate up the challenge with glee.

1 Monster Hunter World: Iceborne

A whole subcontinent of titanic bait to hunt

was published
January 26, 2018

OpenCritic rating
able

  • Estimated playing time: 150 hours


A glacial-themed expansion to The world of monster hunter It could have been a spin-off of its own, but Capcom saw fit to release this massive version as an extended edition, adding a massive amount of content that greatly expanded the base game and made the “World” name good.

“Iceborne” takes hunters to the icy regions of the Hoarfrost Reach, a vast new subcontinent (and one of the largest in the world). monster hunter series) is filled with massive and terrifying creatures that would test even the most seasoned hunters, including the great ice dragon, Volkhana.

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