DLC - Bad

This list is old and DLC is here to stay. There's no way I can keep up. Enjoy this old list.

A list of games with bad DLC. The goal of this list is to highlight some really bad DLC. DLC can be good, and it can be bad. DLC can take real development time and effort, or it can be costumes that are already on the disc. If a game is on Xbox 360, assume I am using the cost for Xbox 360. All prices are in US dollars. Games towards the top of the list are the games with the worst DLC. Map packs that contain maps already made for other games will have two prices: cost per map and cost per map assuming old maps were free. Free DLC and post-release support for a game go into consideration for list placement. The Sims 3 has very little free DLC and 4 retail additions, placing it ahead of Halo 3's numerous updates and free maps. This list is in three tiers: games with paid cheat and unlock codes, games with worthless DLC (paid skins for example), and games with a DLC scheme that is reasonable, taking into account development cost, release date of the DLC, amount of free DLC, and price of DLC. If a game has 10 free maps and one paid cheat code, it automatically is in tier one, higher on the list than any game that doesn't pull that bullshit. A "game of the year" edition with all DLC included (especially on disc) *may* cause me to remove the game from the list, depending on how bad of an offender it is.

List items

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  1. Tales of Vesperia

  $75.00 [!!!!!] of cheat codes. Maybe some unlock codes in there too.

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  2. Need for Speed: ProStreet

  $47 of cheat and unlock codes.

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  3. Need for Speed: Carbon

  $101.75 of cheat and unlock codes. Wow. (edit: Did EA lower their prices or something? As of March 2011, the total is closer to $50. What happened, EA?)

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  4. Madden NFL 10

  $50.50 of DLC. All but one $7 add-on is an unlock code. This game makes you pay for cheat codes, then pay again to re-use them. Seriously.

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  5. Skate 3

  $17.00 worth of unlock codes. They aren't even good unlock codes. Skate 2's unlock everything DLC: $5. Skate 3's unlock everything DLC: $7. I see offering an under 200 KB unlock code costs more nowadays.

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  6. The Godfather II

  $10 for two maps and some cheat and unlock codes.

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  7. The Godfather: The Game

  $13.88 of unlock and cheat codes.

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  9. Beautiful Katamari

  Total cost of DLC: $28.50. The game launched with an MSRP of $39.99. DLC unlocks content already on disc. For example, every level add-on is exactly 364 KB.

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  10. Mega Man 10

  $8 of unlock codes

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  11. Mega Man 9

  $8 of unlock codes

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  12. Spider-Man 3

  $3 to unlock a character already on the disc.

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  13. Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation

  $120 of DLC, most of them skins. http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3167642

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  14. The Sims 3

  100 SimPoints = $1.00. The DLC store has hundreds of dollars worth of exclusive content. Don't forget about the 2 expansions and 2 stuff packs announced so far.

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  15. RailWorks

  $678 in DLC for a $50 game as of June 5, 2010. In defense of RailWorks: The DLC is for train enthusiasts. It is very accurate. They could probably stand to offer a cheaper DLC model though.

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  16. Dante's Inferno

  $16 of unlock codes, $4 of costumes, $15 of actual add-on content. This goes in the bad list because of the unlock codes, no matter how many levels they made.

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  17. Soulcalibur IV

  $12.50 of unlock codes and $20 of crap DLC.

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  18. Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing

  $9 of cheat / unlock codes. Also a real level / character for $3. (not bad)

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  19. Resident Evil 5

  $5 Vs. Mode, 2MB. Among other things.

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  20. LittleBigPlanet

  Assuming $60 game, cost of DLC is very high for what you get from it. The GOTY edition doesn't even have all DLC.

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  21. Team Fortress 2

  This game used to be on my "good" DLC list. Any DLC scheme that has paid unlock codes is instantly a bad DLC scheme. Sorry, Gabe. ~$20 of paid unlock codes, some items affect gameplay. Items are randomly dropped and rare. Valve did support TF2 with many free updates.

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  22. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

  $30 of DLC for 6 new maps and 4 already made maps. $3 per map, or $5 per new map.

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  23. Burnout Paradise

  $32 of DLC after some sales. (Probably permanent).

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  24. Halo 3

  I went there. Bungie did offer lots of post-release support and updates for Halo 3, including free maps and updates.

  $27.50 for 9 maps as of Mythic pack 2. 2 maps could be considered "remakes", but they are not straight ports. $3.06 per map, or $3.93 per new map.

  Cost was higher if you purchased Heroic (now free) and Legendary (now reduced).

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  25. Call of Duty: World at War

  $25 for 9 new maps and 3 new Nazi Zombies maps. Maps were free on PC. $2.08 per map.

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  26. Call of Duty 2

  $15 for 7 new maps. $2.14 per map.

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  27. Call of Duty 3

  $10 for 8 new maps and 2 old maps. $1 per map, or $1.25 per new map.