Remnant 2 Dark Horizon review – A fitting farewell

Ever since Remnant 2 first came out, I have been an avid fan of the game, with its fast-paced, brutal gameplay, sci-fi fantasy aesthetic, and impressive variety of load-outs. I feel that the team at Gunfire Games managed to make a title that perfectly slipped right in between the souls and shooter genres while adding a tremendous multiplayer element to boot. However, after a year and three DLCs, have they kept the magic or let it slip with Dark Horizon?

Not their first rodeo

Remnant 2 isn’t even the first in the franchise, and the Dark Horizon DLC is the third release for this title, so I was interested to see what they were planning to add as I took this for review. At only a measly $9.99, I didn’t know what to expect. Looking at a game like Modern Warfare 3, $19.99 will buy you two new skins and a few emblems, so the bar isn’t exactly high.

However, after playing through the new campaign mission and completing it in about six hours on the easier difficulty, I was thoroughly impressed. I immediately went back in, looking for the questlines and loot I had inevitably missed the first time, and jacked the difficulty up to get a more challenging experience. What you pay for, as the rest of the update is free, is well worth the low price, and I don’t think anyone will be disappointed.

Gunfire Games has taken what they have learned from listening to their fans and watching the reception of their game so far and released a free update and expansion pack that delivers. It’s not perfect, of course, but it is just what the doctor ordered and a fitting farewell to the game. I, for one, look forward to what they move onto next.

What a world

I am a huge fan of worldbuilding in games, and I appreciate a team that puts some real thought and originality into their creations. Remnant 2 already has a number of wonderful biomes, each bursting with lore, life, and beauty, albeit often terrifying.

What can often appear to be a stunning glade or towering citadel will always contain some untold horror or inner turmoil. With Dark Horizon, we face another world that beggars belief and contains threats beyond imagination. As with the rest of the game released so far, this is not just a facade; lore and intrigue are buried within, waiting to be discovered.

As I shot and rolled my way through the swaying crops of a seemingly abandoned planet-sized ship, I noticed the lack of organic enemies. The only foe I fought was mechanical, leaving me to wonder why the ship contained the crops these machines were harvesting. The lore opened to me as I dug into the nooks and crannies of the ship.

Time stood still just before the necropolis world of N’Erud entered the Black Hole that destroyed the Drzyr. The world is preserved but devoid of life. Through the review gameplay of Remnant 2 Dark Horizon, I discovered just what was holding the world here, trapped in time. As always, there are multiple endings and many new faces to get to know throughout the world. To properly discover it all takes hours and multiple playthroughs.

The beautiful and terrifying landscape holds secrets, new enemies, and satisfying boss fights that will have you sweating. I found the Dark Horizon DLC satisfyingly challenging during my review, matching the tempo and struggle of the previous worlds of Remnant 2.

Getting high

The world is the biggest they have built for Remnant 2 so far, and this is due to its verticality. As I worked my way through the dark and beautiful landscapes, the 3-dimensional layout of the new map was instantly apparent. Tunnels branch off 100 feet deep in crevasses, platforms tower high overhead, and the map is anything but flat.

The Dark Horizon map has been opened up to these levels with the addition of a glider. Holding onto this winged robot allowed me to glide around the huge pits and valleys, using updrafts to carry me further. If you thought Remnant 2 already had a lot of hidden secrets, just wait until you try to discover the ones tucked away in a dark cave halfway up a seemingly unreachable cliff face.

The glider mechanic, which initially made me a little dubious, is a wonderful way to force some tricky exploration. Often, I would spot something halfway through a glide, unable to quite reach it with the momentum I had. However, with some careful planning and faith in my glider, I was able to land myself on many seemingly unreachable spots.

I was never let down, either. If I saw somewhere that looked like it may just be a secret, it almost always was. Remnant 2 Dark Horizon is full of nooks and crannies that look unassuming but can often open up into huge areas containing boss fights and tucked-away gear.

New toys

I could wax lyrical about the world I enjoyed during my Remnant 2 Dark Horizon review, but equally important is the loot. There is a whole new Archetype to play with, a bunch of new weapons, more armor, and a ton of rings and amulets to boot. As always, Gunfire Games are attentive with their additions, ensuring each of them is suitably unique and with its own redeeming and damning factors.

I have often found that DLC additions will add new elements, like armor, weapons, or cars that are either insanely overpowered or just disappear into the already vast library of uninteresting weapons. However, Dark Horizon has added a number of items to Remnant 2 that I quickly utilized during my review playthrough of the game.

Warden

The new Archetype is a whole world of fun to play with and seasons any second Archetype perfectly. It is a bit of a jack of all trades, able to heal, attack, and shield with a floating drone. This makes the Warden a class that can be paired with anything, only reinforcing where the second class fails. I found it endlessly useful when playing everything from Medic to Gunslinger.

The Archetype can be picked up relatively early on in the game, and I encourage everyone to get their hands on it. I know I was set in my ways with Remnant 2, but when I picked up Warden in Dark Horizons, I switched up my build for the whole review.

Gear up

At the time of writing, I have only managed to unlock one of the guns from the DLC, receiving it at the end of the playthrough for completing one of the endgames. However, I now see where I missed an opportunity to pick up others, and I am playing again in order to pick up the remaining four. The gun I have picked up, a three-shot, charged, long gun, can pack a punch when used correctly, but it certainly comes with a learning curve.

Throughout my review playthrough, I found plenty of rings, amulets, new shards, and an armor set designed for the Warden. Although the armor set wasn’t really for my build, with it being a lower armor rating but light, I can certainly see it being a real boost to other, more agile ones.

As usual, the rings and amulets are found on various corpses and chests hidden around the map. They are random drops on the whole, and each has its benefits. As mentioned before, Gunfire Games put thought and effort into making sure their additions aren’t game-breaking, but all still have the capabilities to switch up a build completely.

Boss Rush

The new mode is an instant favorite for me. I love loot, I love fast-paced action, and I love the boss fights of Remnant 2. This is what Boss Rush condenses into level after level of warfare. With a selection of either three, seven, or nineteen bosses to go up against, this game mode allows players to team up and earn some of the loot they missed in previous playthroughs.

It takes away the slow, meandering discovery of the traditional game mode and instead creates a breakneck warzone in which one world merges into the next. The action has no moments to breathe, and it’s just the switch up the game needed to keep it in everyone’s libraries, at least until Gunfire Games’ next big title comes out.

A fitting goodbye

The final DLC and tweaks to the quality of life, which I haven’t spoken about here, are a perfect end to a game that made some waves in the industry. Remnant 2 introduces new gameplay concepts with the procedurally generated world, fast-paced yet souls-like loop, and loot systems. They intelligently combined a lot of people’s favorite genres by taking the best of each and blending them into a perfect looter-shooter, souls-like, spooky multiplayer RPG.

I can’t wait to see what they do with the next title in the franchise, and I feel this DLC is just a taste of what’s to come. It is glaringly clear, with the change in gameplay and quality of life, that the team is far from done. The endlessly original biomes and lore that they are still producing only hint at what more they can pull from their collective imaginations.

Rather than being disappointed that this is the end of Remnant 2, the Dark Horizon DLC only has me pumped for their next project. I am glad they’re not going to milk the title until it becomes completely worn out, and Dark Horizons is a fitting closing chapter.