Rise And Shine

Jen simpkins goes hands-on with Destiny: Rise Of Iron to discover ow Bungie has forged the ultimate Ps4 shooter.

- Jen Simpkins

Ah, the inevitable MMO drop-off. PS4’s massive multiplayer online space smash-hit shooter Destiny, for all its near-flawless gunplay and incredible depth, suffered it too. Perhaps you hopped into orbit at launch, or found new life in the expansions that followed. But the hours passed; the allure of loot faded. You hung up your helmet, your hand cannon and your cloak. Well, Guardian: we hope you kept your ticket for the Tower coatroom. It’s time to rise again.

Destiny: Rise Of Iron is Bungie’s fourth add-on, built upon the rock-solid framework of Destiny’s past. It includes a compelling fivemission campaign; a new Raid called Wrath Of The Machine; and an increased Light level cap from 335 to 385 (reaching 400 when the Hard mode version of the Raid drops). There’s also a new Strike (plus two remixed ones), a new social space, new arena event Archon’s Forge and new Crucible options. But Rise Of Iron goes further, using Destiny’s most successful elements and raising them to fresh levels of brilliance. With the benefit of experience, the old is made new – and everyone’s welcome back.

Destiny: The Collection is the proof. The retail box contains all of Destiny up to the present day – that’s the base game, The Dark Below, House Of Wolves, The Taken King and yes, Rise Of Iron too – meaning you can jump back in no matter where you left off. Bungie isn’t leaving PS3 Destiny players in the dust, either: though Rise Of Iron is PS4-only, you’ll get a big discount on The Collection if you’ve played up to The Taken King on PS3 – and you’ll retain your progress, too.