A lot of video games get DLC these days. Sometimes that DLC is a new cosmetic item, a cool weapon, or maybe even a mission or two. But some goes even further, adding new locations, vehicles, expanded story content, and more.
There are instances where a game’s DLC has pushed things even further. Implementing new mechanics or features, changing, or tweaking the core gameplay, experimenting a bit with what the game is. Whether it’s big and bold, or small and minor, there are a lot of games whose extra content has tried something very different.
9Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon
Originally created as a piece of DLC, but eventually launched as a standalone game, Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon was very different fromthe base gameit spun off from. Taking inspiration from 80’s and 90’s B-movies, the game has a VHS, neon-soaked look to it, with plenty of humor too.
Blood Dragon was a deliberate attempt to push the Far Cry series in a different direction. At the same time, it maintained the classic first-person gameplay, and it formed the basis for many of UbiSoft’s future DLC. Both good and bad.
On the surface, The Burning Shores DLC forHorizon: Forbidden Westdoesn’t do a lot to reinvent the wheel. It gives the main character Aloy a new mission, sending her to a new location, with a meaty story, new characters, and a couple ofnew enemies. It’s what you would expect DLC to be.
What makes this DLC different from the main game is the final boss fight, which is by far the most cinematic, grand, and epic battle Aloy has been a part of thus far. The DLC has you fighting a machine the size of a Kaiju, chasing it down a mountain, leaping onto its legs, climbing inside, and shutting it down. DLC doesn’t usually go this big and epic in scale. DLC is often just more.
The second ofGrand Theft Auto IV’s expansions, The Ballad of Gay Tony served as a sendoff for the main game, wrapping up loose threads, and pushing the chaotic, explosive nature of the games as far as they could.
It’s not only more Grand Theft Auto though. In many ways, The Ballad of Gay Tony served as a testbed for features and mechanics that would later appear inGrand Theft Auto 5. Such as parachuting, business management, and improved visuals and draw distance. The DLC was not only better than the base game, but a tease for what was to come.
Launched alongside a massive update that tweaked many parts of the base game,Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty added not only a new story to the game, but also new features, mechanics, missions, characters, endings, and more. It was a meaty piece of content.
What makes this so different though were the changes it made to the gameplay. It added new weaponized vehicles, to both the main game and the DLC, it made side missions and gigs more story-focused, compared to the straightforward main game versions, and it added wholenew skills and abilities. Phantom Liberty was not only DLC, it was a reworked way of playing the whole game, especially when it came alongside the 2.0 update.
TheAssassin’s Creed serieshas gone places. Running through the whole series is a science fiction, futuristic story about two warring factions vying for information and power. There’s also the more fantastical side of the story, focused on a precursor race known as the Isu.
In The Fate of Atlantis DLC forAssassin’s Creed: Odyssey, you fully engage with the Isu. It’s more colorful and vibrant, and it plays around with tone far more than most Assassin’s Creed titles ever did. This DLC also explored the mythological side of thegames’ settings, as opposed to its historical side.
TheWitcher 3: Wild Hunt’s two DLC expansion packs are among the greatest ever made. They added stories and content that rivaled the length and depth of most video games, while maintaining the quality and enjoyment that the main game offered.
The length and depth were not the only things of note though. The DLC played around with tone, featuring more comedy than the base game. It added tweaks and adjustments to the skill tree, new mechanics, and features, like a home you can somewhat customize.
Hitman 3’s free DLC expansion rebranded the entire game and added a new way of playing. Incorporating all the locations and mechanics of the three entries, World of Assassination gave Agent 47 a home to customize and expand upon. It also provided him with new objectives, goals, upgrades, and unlocks.
It even added a roguelike mode to the experience. One that was reminiscent of the earlierHitman gamesin certain regards, while featuring the more modern standards of the current games.
Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmarewas essentially a whole new game, launched as DLC. Something that was unusual at the time. In it, John Marston arrives in his town only to find that a zombie outbreak has taken place.
Undead Nightmare turns Red Dead Redemption into a Wild West zombie hybrid. You encounter familiar names and faces from the base story, albeit in new circumstances. You also getnew weapons, and everything takes on a creepier vibe and tone. It’s unique.
Preywas a science fiction horror game where alien creatures could transform into everyday objects and attack you from anywhere. It was also a title that launched to little attention but did find a strong fanbase. Its DLC, Mooncrash was a much different experience.
Mooncrash basically added aroguelike mode. It had randomized enemies, traps, and layouts, and every time you died, it would transform into a new experience. It was very much unlike the main game, providing more of the content fans loved, while finding new ways to challenge and scare them.
