How to completely misread an audience.
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00:00Ever since the age of DLC began, not with a bang but with a gold-plated
00:05pfffftttt
00:07video game fans have long been wary of the practice.
00:11You see, for every genuinely great season pass,
00:14there have been many more examples of publishers using DLC
00:19as a low effort cash grab to siphon more money from their most profligate customers.
00:24I'm Ewan, this is Wild Culture Gaming, and here are 10 DLCs that totally missed the point of the game.
00:31Number 10, The Final Horizon, Sonic Frontiers.
00:35If you're wondering why Super Sonic looks so pissed off here,
00:39it's because the requirements to actually unlock his new super form in Sonic Frontiers
00:44are about as pleasant as a Sriracha sauce enema.
00:47While Sonic Frontiers was largely appreciated by the wacky, wonderful, and slightly terrifying Sonic fandom,
00:54look, I can only give my insight from the outside looking in, okay?
00:57Its DLC, called Final Horizon, didn't fare so well.
01:01Simply put, Final Horizon brings all of the base game's issues to the forefront and makes them worse.
01:07Frontiers' loose controls and graphical pop-ins were more forgivable in the main game,
01:12as the challenges were simple enough that you could work around those issues.
01:16Final Horizon, however, demands a level of precision platforming simply not present in the base game's challenges.
01:24Resulting in howlingly frustrating deaths and restarts of the same damn sections over and over again.
01:32Oh my god, I'm being driven mad.
01:33I mean, look at poor Scott Tailford. He's goddamn traumatized by this thing.
01:38Final Horizon ensured that Frontiers' final blow saw the game split its trousers open
01:43and let one gigantic Eggman rip over its unsuspecting fanbase.
01:48Number 9, The Ultimate Shortcut Bundle, Battlefield 4.
01:53The joy of multiplayer first-person shooters comes from mastering their unique systems.
01:58Or if you're a sicko like me, it comes from being blown up repeatedly by artillery and hell let loose.
02:04Either way, multiplayer shooters thrive on the sense of achievement that comes from hard-earned proficiency.
02:10Or, you know, you could just chuck another $50 at the publisher and unlock enough weaponry to level a small town.
02:16Such was the case with Battlefield 4's Ultimate Shortcut Bundle.
02:20A precedent grand's worth of DLC that gave an undeniable advantage to those with the means and lack of scruples to pay for it.
02:29Those who purchased the bundle gained immediate access to the game's best weapons,
02:33giving them a massive head start over us mere unfortunate sons who had to slum it in the normal ranking system.
02:40However, I would say that anyone paying $50 to unlock every gun in the game probably is just losing at life anyway, but I digress.
02:50So, happy anniversary, Battlefield 4!
02:53We'd like to say that DICE learned its lesson from this, but then it made Battlefield 2042.
02:58Man, you'd think they'd have figured things out 2,038 games later.
03:02BADUM-TSSHH!
03:04Number 8, Get to Work, The Sims 4.
03:07Ever since The Sims launched way back in 1998, yes, it really has been 25 years, its raison d'etre has remained the same.
03:16Players can either live vicariously through their sims, or torture the poor sods by making them go for a swim,
03:23then removing the ladder so they can't get out, like some kind of Sims jigsaw, crafting tests for an ungrateful sim populace.
03:32Oh, sorry, I literally don't know where that came from.
03:35Anyway, let's talk about the excruciatingly dull Get to Work DLC pack,
03:40which, unfortunately, interrupts the fantasy with the drudgery of daily labour.
03:45I am definitely not the jigsaw killer.
03:47Now, to be clear, jobs have always been a part of the sims' lives, they just occurred off-screen, out of view of the player.
03:54The Get to Work pack pushes the sims' bread-earning activities front and centre though,
03:58and in the process makes their lives, and ours, a heck of a lot duller.
04:04Not all the jobs offered in the pack are remotely fun to engage with,
04:08and watching your sims slog their way through their tedious workday completely wrecks the idea that they're living their best lives.
04:15Basically, if you want your sims to suffer, just stick with the swimming pool, yeah?
04:25Marvel's Midnight Suns was a beautifully bizarre mashup that, against all odds,
04:30successfully combined a wonderfully deep card battler with a Persona-style social system
04:35that encouraged you to hang out with the Avengers between missions.
04:39I do have to ask what the Avengers were doing in a Midnight Suns game,
04:44but, nerd tantrum aside, this was a good title.
04:47Sadly, horrendously poor sales means we will never see its like again,
04:51which is what makes the small slice of additional content we did get so goddamn disappointing.
04:57Midnight Suns' season pass was, frankly, terrible.
05:01The original game sang because of its intricate turn-based battles,
05:05which pitted the game's expertly designed cast of heroes
05:08against a thoughtfully crafted selection of enemy combatants.
05:12The season pass, unfortunately, failed on both of these fronts.
05:16Now, the DLC featured a bevy of heavy hitters.
05:19Deadpool, Storm, Venom, and... Morbius?
05:23Wait, what are you doing here? Get out of here, you wee rascal!
05:26Regardless of Morbius, Morbin, everywhere,
05:30none of these characters were given the care they deserve,
05:32with many of them reusing abilities and animations in the game's original group of heroes.
05:38On top of this, the new vampire enemy faction were a chore to fight,
05:42especially with their irritating ability to resurrect fallen troops.
05:47All in all, Midnight Suns' DLC was a wasted opportunity
05:50that saw one of 2022's best games fizzle out of existence
05:53rather than going out in a Johnny Blaze of glory.
05:57Number 6. The Verizon Costumes. Marvel's Avengers.
06:01Ugh, Matt, why is that a thing I've had to say aloud with my mouth?
06:06Marvel's Avengers Verizon Costumes. Stop it, Gabe, and get drunk!
06:10Marvel's Avengers is arguably the most potent argument yet
06:13against the game industry's obsession with live service.
06:17What started off as a promising-looking single-player action RPG
06:21soon devolved into an MMO-like mess of repetitive missions,
06:25boring loot, and the bizarre image of Hulk choosing which ribcage to equip to increase his DPS.
06:32Hulk confused by gear system, huh?
06:35Gaming and Marvel fans turned their noses up accordingly,
06:39resulting in the game's eventual delisting,
06:42which is a shame given that some of the combat in here
06:44and the graphical fidelity on display was pretty impressive.
06:48It was just stuck in a terrible shell of a live service.
06:51As warnings against corporate greed and shortsightedness go,
06:55they'll come much clearer, which is why the ability to deck the Avengers
07:00in Verizon-emblazoned apparel is at once completely outrageous and wholly appropriate.
07:07As Verizon is currently under investigation for using toxic lead in their cables,
07:14seeing the Avengers advertise their brand is grotesquely fascinating.
07:18The world's most famous champions for justice,
07:21sponsored by a company seemingly epitomising the worst aspects of corporate America.
07:275. The True Ending – Beautiful Katamari
07:30Speaking of poorly thorn-out cash grabs,
07:33the original Katamari Damacy became a cult classic soon after its 2004 release.
07:39Creator Keita Takahashi's game about amassing random objects into a bigger and bigger ball
07:45was a weirdly attractive delight, helped by the game's charming visuals and catchy soundtrack.
07:50It was also a cutting commentary on the dangers of consumerism.
07:55The act of ceaselessly collecting items to make a bigger and bigger ball
07:59until there was nothing left to collect was Takahashi's method of rolling
08:03against the destructive nature of consumer culture.
08:05Unfortunately, its publisher did not get the message.
08:09In 2007, Bandai Namco released Beautiful Katamari on the Xbox 360.
08:14Excited by the prospects of charging customers even more money for a game they'd already paid for,
08:19Bandai Namco made the contentious decision to hide the game's true ending behind a paywall.
08:26Although Beautiful Katamari's final levels were included on the disc,
08:30to actually play them, you had to purchase an additional DLC pack.
08:354. Warden's Keep – Dragon Age Origins
08:39Those who booted up Dragon Age upon its release in 2009 soon came across an NPC
08:44called Levi Dryden. Mr Dryden could be found loitering around the player's camp,
08:49hoping that the hero would help him explore a haunted castle to help clear his family name.
08:53Agree to help him, though, and you'd be whisked away to a checkout screen,
08:59asking you to pay £5 for the privilege of helping Levi out of his mess.
09:04Nothing says grimdark medieval fantasy more than a random NPC joining your camp
09:10and demanding you pay actual real-world money to go on a quest.
09:15It's fun to imagine the conversation the player would have had with Levi off-screen.
09:19What the hell is a pound? Why would he give you £5 to solve your problem? You should be paying me!
09:26Dragon Age was a real labour of love for Bioware. They spent over a year solely focusing on world
09:32building. Given that, you can't imagine the writers were too happy to see corporate-mandated
09:37DLC being shoehorned into their baby, with all the subtlety of an action figure screaming
09:42Buy me! Buy me! from a Toys R Us aisle.
09:453. Pinnacle Station – Mass Effect
09:48The first Mass Effect game is beloved for many reasons. It introduced us to one of the most
09:53evocative sci-fi galaxies ever created, and gave life to some of the most beloved party members
09:59in RPG history. But for all its undoubted virtues, the original Mass Effect's combat
10:07has always felt like a bit of a first draft. Mass Effect wasn't Bioware's first attempt
10:13at real-time RPG combat, but it often feels like it is. Floaty physics, imprecise aiming,
10:19and a near-total lack of impact from your weapons means the game's many fights are
10:24occasions to be endured rather than enjoyed, which is like amplified by double when you
10:29throw in the Mako. As such, the Pinnacle Station DLC was a total misfire. Its USP was that it
10:36provided more than a dozen unique combat scenarios for buyers to indulge in. Unfortunately, due to
10:41the aforementioned issues, actually playing the DLC is an experience akin to wearing B.O.
10:47scented deodorant. It doesn't solve your problems, it just gives you more of it.
10:512. Lonesome Road – Fallout New Vegas Fallout New Vegas was a great RPG,
10:58but a pretty terrible FPS. Guess which part of the equation Lonesome Road focused on?
11:04Prior to the DLC's release, New Vegas developers Obsidian had crafted a trio of excellent DLC
11:11packs to support the main game, and the hope was that Lonesome Road would see their work
11:15on the franchise end on a high note. Sadly, it wasn't a B. Lonesome Road ignored what
11:20made New Vegas so great to begin with. It's stellar writing and quest design in favour of
11:25precision VATS highlighting the game's shonky combat. The DLC was a tiresome trudge through
11:31a detritus-lined canyon that bombarded the player with high-level enemies and mini-bosses galore,
11:36in what felt like a bad pastiche of the Borderlands games. Frustratingly, the final
11:41conversation with Lonesome Road's villain is classic Fallout fare. Weighty, thought-provoking,
11:47and excellently written and acted. Yet it stands in such blatant contrast with the tedious,
11:52three-hour-long gauntlet that precedes it, you can't help but wonder what might have been
11:57if Obsidian hadn't spent so much of the DLC's runtime playing against their strengths.
12:011. The Oscorp Search and Destroy Pack – Amazing Spider-Man
12:07As the stratospheric sales of the recently-released Marvel's Spider-Man 2 show,
12:11people love nothing more than the chance to slip into the shoes of the webbed wonder.
12:16What is it that makes Spider-Man so much fun to play as? Is it the exhilaration of web-swinging
12:21across New York? The thrill of battling his iconic rogues gallery? The relentless dad-joke-level
12:26quipping? Well, according to Activision, it's none of that. The real answer is the chance to
12:32play crappy knock-off games on Peter Parker's fictional cell phone, which they did in 2012's
12:38The Amazing Spider-Man tie-in game. For a mere price of $2.99, true believers could purchase
12:44the Oscorp Search and Destroy Pack, allowing them to experience the giddy highs of playing
12:50two poorly-made rip-offs of classic video games on Peter's Oz phone. Whether fighting waves of
12:56robots in Space Invaders clone Gwen's Hunter, or rampaging through Manhattan as a giant snake-like
13:03creature in Destroy the City, the only thing you'll be amazed by is the fact that someone
13:08from Activision genuinely believed that someone would pay for this. The Amazing Spider-Man's
13:13delisting means it's no longer possible to sample the dubious delights of the Oscorp Search and
13:18Destroy Pack, but maybe that's for the best. This DLC is one blip that should stay in the dust.