While I can’t really say the same for the content housed within them, I’m impressed with the environments introduced in
Destiny 2: Curse of Osiris. The key inclusion is the planet Mercury. Its surface is home to imagery that is pulled straight out of the Egyptian history books; I suppose it is in keeping with this expansion’s namesake. But things get a bit trippy when you factor in the massive Vex presence. Even more so when you discover the Infinite Forest, a self-generating labyrinth that builds itself one node after another as you progress through it. The Infinite Forest is
Destiny 2 trying its hand at procedural generation – with mixed results. While it’s neat to see elements of modern dungeon-crawling incorporated into a first person shooter (and it’s not at all the first time we’ve seen this), it doesn’t mean all that much when there is so vanishingly little to do in these spaces. And as attractive as Mercury is, it’s just too small.
I’d be okay with a small map if it were more densely populated with meaningful, substantive content. Curse of Osiris is peppered with chores. See, I really liked Destiny 2’s Adventures. Sure, they weren’t all great, but they helped develop the game’s universe. Whether you’re venturing into the unknown constructs of the Infinite Forest or blazing trails on the Jovian moon of Io, the context for your actions is paper-thin, to the point where it feels inconsequential and dishwater dull. If you like chasing waypoints and shooting all the things, there are so many superior alternatives, it’ll make your head spin. If, however, you need something brand new and feel like you need to pay more money than usual for it, Curse of Osiris has you covered.
The level cap has increased to 25; if you drill straight through the main story content, you should hit that cap the second you finish the final encounter. Additionally, if you’re averse to grinding and still want to see Destiny 2’s launch raid, you’ll probably get enough new gear to breach the required Power threshold. But if you're miffed at the way that the Eververse and Bright Engrams are undermining certain elements of Destiny 2's progression systems, you likely won't feel any better about it now.
Destiny 2: Curse of Osiris does feature one novel concept that will probably return in future releases. The Raid Lair aims to hit a very particular sweet spot: all the complexity and challenge of a Raid, but with the comparative brevity of a Strike. Eater of Worlds is the first experiment with this kind of mission design, and as you can probably guess, it’s set on Leviathan.
If you want some more Crucible arenas, this gives you a couple of new ones: Pacifica and Radiant Cliffs. They're attractive, but not enough to elevate Destiny 2's PvP destination past the dull status quo it has championed for three years now.