Destiny 2 holds a lot of weight in the gaming community. As a massive fan of Bungie’s work, I was disappointed when I reached the end of my journey in Destiny; it felt like I hadn’t accomplished anything worthwhile.
On the one hand, there is a passionate fan base that found joy in being immersed in the world, getting loot, and finishing epic raids. On the other hand, players such as myself were left feeling alienated, whether it was struggling to find a fireteam to do any of the endgame content or suffering through having to buy several expansions to get more content.
Destiny 2 – Rebirth of a Franchise
After attending the live gameplay premiere for Destiny 2 , It’s clear that Bungie is taking their misdirected steps and making the next iteration a sci-fi FPS with passion, unique characters, and an immersive universe that old fans can revel in while new ones can create their own legend.
Bungie was clear during their press conference that having everyone start from scratch was a very tough decision. All returning players’ weapons and light level will not carry over into the new campaign. But with this comes a breadth of new changes that could mean a true rebirth for the franchise. Overall Destiny 2 looks and feels very similar to its predecessor, and that’s okay. With a sequel we could expect new powers (which I will cover later) but its the small changes on how the game works that begin to explain how Destiny is shifting.
Campaign
If you were able to check out the Destiny 2 livestream then you know that Bungie is putting a major emphasis on restructuring the story. Rather than intertwine their story into bland missions with vaguely defined stakes, Destiny 2 takes on creating an immersive campaign. A beautiful cinematic starts this tale of loss and redemption, with the villainous Primus Dominus Gaul attacking Last City on Earth and forcibly ripping the players from their connection to the space god The Traveler, and playing it felt just as great.
Right off the bat it is apparent that Destiny 2 feels like Destiny – and this is a good thing. There’s no major change in movement physics or how the guns feel. Instead we’re given a more vibrant and detailed universe. Playing the game made me reminisce about running through Cairo Station in Halo 2, a massive base under attack with constant destruction increasing the tension of every step.
THIS is what the last game missed. Throughout the mission I was constantly receiving dialogue from my teammates, crucial and important landmarks were being torn apart all around me, and there was a true sense that this invasion was not going to end in the Guardians favor. It’s this detail and clarity of narrative that kept me wanting to push through the level to discover what was going to happen next, not run to an objective and guard it for a couple minutes.
Gone are the primary, secondary, & heavy slots. Instead we are given the kinetic, energy, and power slots. This really made me feel like I could choose a weapon loadout that was catered to my fighting style. If my auto rifle was running low, I could quickly swap to my submachine gun; and if things got too close for comfort I brought the power with the shotgun. This created a lot more versatility in how you approach situations, which for me, I personally leaned more towards up close and personal slaughter.
Several firefights ensued as I was able to test out my slough of new abilities. The campaign mission had me playing as the Warlock class which was equipped with the new power “Dawnblade”. If the name wasn’t cool enough for you, imagine flying above your enemies at a staggering height raining down waves of flames from a sword.
Yes, a sword.
The campaign is moving in the right direction. If Destiny 2 can maintain this level of depth, I feel it will really cater towards not just the solo players desires for a sci-fi epic, but to the depth of the lore embedded in the universe.
The Crucible
On top of getting 1 on 1 time with Destiny 2′s beautiful campaign, I was able to try out their new mode “countdown” in the 4v4 PvP battleground The Crucible.
The mode is very similar to Call of Duty’s Search and Destroy. One team attacks while the other defends. Victory is achieved either by eliminating the enemy team or successfully setting off an explosive charge on 1 of 2 objectives. Add in the fantastic abilities of Destiny 2’s Guardians and I was struggling to pull back the reigns on my speed and ferocity in this tactical and strategic mode. This time around I was playing as the Titan, equipped with the ability to hulk smash and send my foes flying.
It was a rocky start for my team but by the time we got our bearings, we were able to come out on top. The combination of each classes’ powers is what strategically put us on the path to victory. Enemy coming at us with the Dawnblade? Juice up that golden hand cannon and light him up. Mixing these powers in one epic competitive battleground made the change to 4v4 just as tense and exciting as ever.
So, what’s the verdict on Destiny 2?
Destiny 2 has a lot riding on its success. Bungie’s acknowledging the fact that the alienated their fan base looks to be a big first step towards creating a versatile game for everyone to enjoy. Whether you’re looking to go competitive in The Crucible, experience the emotional journey of redemption in the Campaign, or build your fireteams to take on strikes and raids, Destiny 2 looks to have it all. With a revamped idea of exploration, new worlds, new mechanics, and glorious glorious loot, I cant wait to rebuild my Guardian and become a legend all over again.
You can expect to see Destiny 2 on store shelves and digitally on September 8th, 2017 for PS4, Xbox One & for the first time ever PC via Battlenet. If you choose to pre-order, beta access for later this year can be yours.
For more new additions to Destiny 2, click here.
What questions do you have for me regarding Destiny 2 ? There was an abundance of information to take in so leave some comments below!
