The advent of DLC came to the very first Xbox back in the early 2000s. But it was the Xbox 360 that truly embraced the paid DLC era, with successful franchises offering whole new content and stories. Lately, with the new generations, that DLC hasn’t had the same attention, except perhaps the numerous free games with their updates and battle passes.
But the fan-beloved Rain World crowd have some new additions to enjoy in Downpour, with builds to the gameplay and – more importantly – some new Slugcats to play with. Are you ready for a downpour?
Rain World is a game that divided fans and critics. Some dismissed the game on release for its slow mechanics and hard difficulty spikes. But the fans seem to love it, building a very fond community. It’s a hard game though, but like the Souls games it is compelling and beautiful to play with a visual story that takes place over many hours, as we are introduced to the Slugcat.
Rain World: Downpour adds a new challenge, with some new difficulties; it might be wise to play the base game first before you enter into the DLC.
There are ten new worlds to explore here, with loads of new levels to master. But the main addition to Downpour is that of five new Slugcats to play with. Each Slugcat has a different colour, and of course a whole different set of abilities. You have The Rivulet who can swim underwater and move through the environments easily. The Artificer is very aggressive, combat-heavy with explosives. The Gourmand loves to eat and manipulate objects you find around the levels. The Spear Master uses spears – unsurprisingly – plucked from its body to fight against enemies and find food. The Saint uses its long tongue to swing and pull up to ledges or far away places. Each character has its own journey and it’s interesting to find out which one suits you the best.Â
This new content for Rain World doesn’t do anything fresh in terms of how the levels are set out. It still feels like a challenge and there is hardly any handholding either; at least aside from the beginning. But if you got on with the base game, then you will likely love this. Even newcomers will find the new creatures interesting and there is an easy mode too – although that still isn’t easy.
Throw in a local co-op mode that supports up to four players all playing as different slugcats, and you’ve got a great option to help survive this devastating world together. There is also a challenge mode if you don’t find the game challenging enough. Although honestly, that feels a bit insane.
Once again, Rain World looks absolutely beautiful with its pixel art graphics and wonderful presentation. This piece of DLC is no different with some great level design that sometimes feels unforgiving at first. But like all things, you will see the way forward. It’s helped that the soundtrack is amazing and immersive throughout as well.Â
Fan of the Rain World base game? You’ll love the addition of Downpour – another great adventure with plenty of hours of gameplay to get your teeth into and enjoy.
It’s probably best for newcomers to start from the beginning, if only to see if they can handle the challenge, but much like the base game, Rain World: Downpour is a bit of a gem; one that transports you to an alien world with a whole new, highly original, slant on the platforming genre.