Best Expansions & DLC of 2018
It’s award season here at Twinfinite! Let’s look back at the best expansions & DLC of 2018. Voted on by our editors, these the pieces of extra content that showed the industry how to do DLC right. Let’s start with our runner-ups, and finally, of course, our overall winner!
Second Runner-up: – Sims 4: Seasons
Publisher Yamilia Avendano: The seasonal expansion pack was long-awaited. Fans have long since touted any weather effects in the series as one of the most game-changing features that could come to the beloved life sim.
They continue to be right. There’s no way anyone in their right mind – after playing Sims 4 Seasons – could go back to vanilla gameplay. They just can’t. It’s a total game ruiner in the sense that it’s so awesome you won’t be able to play without it once you do.
The development team didn’t just stop at seasons and weather effects, no, no. They really wanted to knock it out of the park to show they still have it. You know, before once again getting a strike with Get Famous. But it’s okay, whatever. Let’s focus on the positive, this is a list of the best expansions & DLC after all.
They added friggin’ holidays, y’all. And not just pre-made ones that are really cute and fit perfectly within the world Maxis has cultivated (Brawl Day is amazing). You can create your own holidays that your sim families can make their own traditions in.
Sims have felt alive for awhile now, but with Seasons, their days feel alive. Their years, their months, they all have more meaning than the endless cycle until they age up to elder and go bye bye. This expansion pack surpassed what any simmer expected to come out of our marches and protests for Maxis to, “Add weather effects into the game! What do we want? Weather! When do we want it? Now!”
Best Expansions & DLC of 2018
First Runner-up: Marvel’s Spider-Man: The City That Never Sleeps
Contributor Michael Allio: Terrific in its own right, Marvel’s Spider-Man was a gift that kept on giving this year. With The City That Never Sleeps DLC series, Insomniac built upon Spider-Man’s excellent foundation with some expansive end-game content.
While Turf Wars played things a bit too safe, The Heist provided what made the PS4 exclusive so initially compelling. The difference between the two episodes rested on their plot’s respective focus – and the void created from Felicia Hardy’s absence in Turf Wars.
Black Cat stole the show in The Heist – and the revelation behind her return to crime was both heartbreaking and believable. Turbulence rose every time she interacted with Spider-Man. The dialogue between the two made the encroaching gang warfare seem a mere distraction. That complex relationship grounded the first expansion’s plot, and intrigued us to the very end.
Turf Wars focused too much on the convoluted Maggia mob conflict – and Hammerhead wasn’t nearly interesting enough to succeed as the narrative’s main antagonist.
The story drifted into the ridiculous as mobsters wielded unbelievably destructive weaponry. But Turf Wars’ gameplay provided a heightened challenge for those seeking one – and in fairness, provided enough to tide us over until the final chapter of the DLC saga releases.
Spider-Man remains one of 2018’s best games, and Insomniac’s efforts with The City That Never Sleeps kept the game alive and well. With Silver Lining slated to release before the year’s end, we have our fingers crossed Black Cat returns to the fore by the narrative’s conclusion.
Best Expansions & DLC of 2018
Winner: Destiny 2: Forsaken
Editor-in-Chief Ed McGlone: I’ve been ride or die with Destiny since day 1 of the first game. In spite of its immense popularity, I do genuinely think that if Destiny 2: Forsaken was not a smash hit, that the series would have been in serious trouble.
This was not the same thing as The Taken King. The situation was way worse for Destiny 2. Forsaken needed to check all the boxes, and be everything that it needed to be to turn the ship around. Fortunately, for everyone, it absolutely was.
Destiny 2: Forsaken is going to go down as one of the best, well-done, and most important expansion packs of this generation. Fans have been waiting for years for Bungie to finally put everything together, Forsaken was the moment in all finally clicked. The potential was finally realized.
Forsaken featured what can probably be considered the first truly emotional story line in the series (unless you’re a huge Mara Sov fan of course), adding re-hauled mechanics that mesh the best of Destiny 1 with the best of Destiny 2, a brand new game type that is quite unique in the industry, and free post-launch support that is among the best in gaming right now.
It’s been a remarkable turn around, and I’m hoping that finally Bungie has a blueprint that they feel comfortable sticking with going forward with Destiny 2 and eventually Destiny 3.
