Jesse's Top Five Games of 2016: Number Four

We're now a few weeks into 2017 and most of the "Best Of 2016" lists have come and gone, but here at The Loud Table we never got the chance to go through our games of the year. The past year saw a litany of high quality releases from big developers and indie studios alike and while this series doesn't comprise the full scope of what I played throughout 2016, these are my personal top five picks of the year. Side note - All of the games in this series have killer soundtracks that you should go check out immediately.

      Destiny: Rise of Iron

    You’re likely having one of two reactions my number four pick. It’s either “is this guy fuckin serious” or “right on, Rise of Iron is fun as hell.” Destiny has always been a hate or love game since it’s initial release in 2014. Clearly I fall in the latter camp, so buck up and keep an open mind or put on your hater shades and wait for the number three pick. Destiny: Rise of Iron is about as solid as a $30 expansion to a game can be. Offering new story content, new solo and cooperative missions, a new PVP mode and maps, new Challenge books (milestones to keep players involved), a new six person cooperative raid and continued updates, this expansion was no slouch.
   
The story content of Destiny throughout the past two years has been a point of contention, and Rise of Iron likely won’t sway anyone into thinking that developer Bungie has created a narrative juggernaut here. Focusing on the return of a long dormant artificial intelligence virus/plague dubbed SIVA, the story of Rise of Iron sees players combating the newly awakened plague, restoring glory to and ultimately joining the fabled “Iron Lords” who once fought against the SIVA threat. While it’s not going to win any awards, the story is told better than earlier stories in Destiny and new characters are well introduced and acted. For players invested in the lore of the series, there’s a lot of cool information to be had here.
   
In contrast to the narrative content of the short lived campaign, the missions and zones themselves are masterfully executed. New areas are brought into the world with surprising fluidity, with nothing feeling like it was simply hemmed in with no attention to detail. The areas of the game that were altered feel substantially different. Giant sections of walls are ripped off, plasma burns in metal still crackling hot. Winter blankets everything, drifts of blustering snow wisping into players faces. SIVA pustules burst into the landscape as a visual queue of the severity of the plague. The new SIVA infested enemies are strange to behold and fight differently than their less augmented cousins. Bombastic fights in a variety of locations had my heart pounding, regardless of whether I was playing solo or with friends.
   
As Destiny has been since its initial release in 2014, a huge amount of content awaits players once they finish the campaign in Rise of Iron. The new raid, Wrath of the Machine, is streamlined in comparison to the multi hour long affairs that came before. It still offers plenty of challenges to the uninitiated but once players know what they’re doing it’s possible to clear the raid in less than an hour. This has been a godsend for me, and probably others, as I love the cooperative challenge Destiny’s raids present but don’t always have a few hours in a row to dedicate to the game.
 
 Outside of the raid, the endgame of Rise of Iron offers plenty of other activities. Weekly bounties to explore the expansion’s new zone, the Plaguelands, and the ad-hoc cooperative arena of The Archons Forge can lead to special gear and new paths to endgame advancement. Multiple post-campaign quests can lead the player to new Exotic weapons, Destiny’s most sought after gear. This time around the weapons all have more of a story behind them, making obtaining them feel more like epic quests than a list of chores to complete. Crucible and Iron Banner offer plenty of challenges for PVP junkies looking to try out all their new toys against their fellow Guardians, and the new Supremacy mode is a welcome addition to the various game types in PVP.

Content updates has been a little light since the new year, but unless you’re going hard at the game, there’s truly bountiful amounts of content to be had in Rise of Iron. Strikes recently got an update that added an arcade style scoring component and new bounties to go along with it. Right at the end of the year Bungie brought back the fan favorite Sparrow Racing League for a couple weeks and left the game mode available for players in private matches. The winter lull in content may continue for a little while longer, but Bungie promises fans that their live team is hard at work to bring rabid players the next update. Rise of Iron ate a good chunk of my late 2016 and it still occupies my attention from time to time. With more updates and the oft-rumored Destiny 2 supposedly on the way in 2017, should Bungie’s shooter/rpg hybrid continue producing quality content, it will likely continue to garner my praise in the coming year.

Jesse McGirr