Destiny 2 Review

Our Light has been taken, the Traveller has been imprisoned and our home is lost. Guardians have never had to run away from a fight before but this is one fight that cannot be won through brute strength. The opening scenes to Destiny 2 are nothing short of epic, battling through hordes of Cabal and meeting iconic characters along the way. No one expected to lose the city but it happened and it is a devastating defeat. Being separated from the Light, broken and lost in the wilds, I felt vulnerable for the first time in a universe that always made me feel so powerful.

Destiny 2 is the first game in the series to come to PC and took six weeks longer to release than the console version. The development team at Bungie partnered with Vicarious Visions to bring the experience of the first game from console to PC. Everything that made Destiny 2 unique on console had to be recreated for the PC version, from movement to the way guns handle. Unassuming mechanics such as how gun recoil is controlled with the gamepad had to be rebuilt from scratch to work for a mouse. So was the wait worth it? To answer briefly, yes, it was. It is immediate to see that the additional development time reflects how optimised and polished the final product is.

The video options feature a handy gauge to display how much memory is required from the GPU and updates as graphics are changed. This makes optimising Destiny 2 extremely easy and accessible to older and new PC rigs. The controls are fluid and easy to learn, I only had to switch my interact and grenade keys around to get the perfect control scheme for myself. There have been reports of the game being unstable for some players, I have had the occasional framerate drop and even had the game crash on me several times. It is worth noting that the latest patch (at the time of writing) has caused several issues for some users.

Destiny 2 is the first non-Blizzard title to come to Battle.net. This may pave the way for more non-Blizzard games to be available on the digital distribution platform in the near future. Battle.net automatically updates games and has built-in software support tools to scan and fix issues. The game benefits from Battle.net’s social features such as being able to add friends, message them cross-games and see what games your friends are playing live.

Jumping straight into the game, I already knew I wanted to play as a Warlock. For those that do not know, there are three returning classes to choose from: Titan, Hunter and Warlock Each of these classes have their own special abilities and unique armour sets to collect. Titans are the frontline soldiers, able to take and dish out a large amount of damage. Hunters are nimble and precise, avoiding damage and taking down key targets. Warlocks play a supporting role with healing and damage buffs while offering good damage and recovery sustainability. While these roles are templates for play styles, players can mix and match their gear stats to make themselves more resilient, mobile or have better recovery.

Two of the three subclasses make a return for each class but are not available early game, fitting with the story players are stripped of all of their powers and must retake the Light and earn their powers back. Each class is granted a never seen before subclass early game: Titans gain the Sentinel subclass that grants them a shield that can be used as a melee weapon, a thrown weapon and can block incoming damage. Hunters are able to conjure a lighting staff with the Arcstrider subclass that grants high mobility and devastating combo attacks. Warlocks unleash the Dawnblade to launch themselves into the air with fiery wings and rain solar energy down onto their enemies with a flaming sword. Each are extremely satisfying to use and when used at the right time can clear large groups of enemies or destroy a tough boss in a matter of seconds.

The Crucible makes a return and now features 4v4 PVP rather than 6v6 in the original game. The designers explain that this was to help streamline the moment-to-moment gameplay in order to create a better PVP experience. While this is up for debate among players I have had a lot of fun jumping in and playing fast-paced matches. Survival and Countdown are the competitive game modes of the Crucible and feature limited respawns. Players take turns in Countdown to either plant a bomb at a location or to defend the location. Survival gives each team a pool of respawns to use and once these are used up, death is permanent. These modes are a welcome addition, and while they can be entered via matchmaking, they are best enjoyed with a full team due to their modes being tuned towards competitive play.

Players are able to access story missions, patrols, strikes, raids, participate in public events and complete challenges across four different planets, with a fifth planet coming with the Curse of Osiris expansion. New to this title are the Adventures and Lost Sectors. Adventures are linear side quests that help to explain the lore of the planet and its inhabitants while rewarding the player with gear and emblems that can be handed in for rewards (more on that later). Lost Sectors are fun mini-dungeons that require the player to defeat a difficult boss in order to gain the keycode to a locked chest that contain emblems and loot. It is safe to say that between the story missions, explorable content, strikes and PVP there is more than enough to keep players busy and loot is plentiful. My character's progression after a full week’s worth of play has only just begun to slow down, as I reached max level finding more powerful items became a little more difficult. That being said, I am still receiving gear and loot at a very fast pace and already own six exotic items, with a plethora of adventures, strikes and the raid still to be completed.

Currency has been simplified for Destiny 2 and activities reward the player with different emblems for completing tasks on each planet. These emblems can be traded in for what is often legendary or, if the player is lucky, exotic loot. Glimmer is still used for a multitude of things such as buying gear from vendors and applying shaders. However, it seems a little redundant as gear was thrown at me from the beginning to end, resulting in me reaching the cap for Glimmer very quickly once I hit max level. Overall the currency has been simplified for this sequel, and gathering enough emblems to hand in is no chore.

There is much more focus on the story, which has been written in such a way that new players will not feel alienated. Characters feel much more well-rounded than the previous title and many new characters have been introduced. The writing and supporting voice acting is done extremely well and it is a joy to listen to the banter that goes on between the many NPC’s.

The PC version of Destiny 2 replicates the amazing gunplay the first game is known for. The visuals are gorgeous and the environments are so expansive that there is hours worth of exploring to be done. There is a huge amount of content to keep players entertained and almost all of it can be replayed with worthwhile rewards to be gained. This title lives up to its predecessor and has surpassed it in almost every way. For those looking for a casual shooter with a great story or for those who want to challenge themselves in raids and competitive PVP, this title caters to a wide audience making it a great experience all-round.