Language: English
Developer: Bungie
Publisher: Activision
Format: PS4/PC/XB1
Type: Looter Shooter
Demo Box: PC
Synopsis: From Bungie, the makers of the acclaimed hit game Destiny, comes the much-anticipated sequel, Destiny 2.Humanity’s last safe city has fallen to an overwhelming invasion force, led by Ghaul, the imposing commander of the brutal Red Legion. To defeat the Red Legion and confront Ghaul, you must reunite humanity’s scattered heroes, stand together, and fight back to reclaim our home.
An action shooter that takes you on an epic journey across the solar system. immerse yourself in a new epic cinematic campaign. Join up with friends in three or six player co-op activities. Spar with your fellow players in a variety of competitive multiplayer modes
New Legends Will Rise, A new adventure for every player, with new worlds to explore, new stories to tell, new powers to acquire, new loot to earn, and much much more
The Destiny 2 Beta is now over, and as I sit here composing my thoughts for this post I find myself drawn to a single conclusion: The game is good!
Destiny has had a very rough time, the launch was a disaster and it wasn’t until the game had been out for a year or two that it started to improve. Arguably it wasn’t until the release of the last expansion that the game became as good as it is these days.
So when this sequel was announced I was not impressed. Truth be told I was planning to wait a year or two and pick up the complete edition cheaply. However the allure of Destiny is not something you can ignore! So ultimately I pre-ordered the PS4 version and tried out the open beta for that. However I found the game struggling, the movement wasn’t smooth, and the shooting wasn’t as meaty and visceral as it’s predecessor.
So when the PC beta came around I wasn’t really interested but figured I’d try it out anyway. Colour me surprised by how fun and satisfying the game felt!
Performance wise the game was rock solid. In the eight hours I played over the couple of days I never experienced any sort of issues with slow downs, stutter, or crashing. For three days the game was a rock! And what a gorgeous rock it was! Graphically there was a lot of options, so even if you don’t have a high end computer there’s no reason for this not to run on your rig (within reason of course).
Unfortunately that’s where things end. I can’t really comment on anything else because the beta had so little content to it. You got the first story mission, a strike and a bit of PvP. So if you’re wondering how the story is, I don’t know, as none was really given. However there were no ‘protect the bot from waves of mobs’ in the first mission. It was literally run and gun all the way through. That said though, given how smooth the game felt, how good the shooting felt, and the fact I couldn’t stop playing for the three days it was live, I’m definitely going to say this is one to get.
There are a couple of gripes and concerns however. Firstly I noticed that (for me at least) ammo was a bit on the short supply. This was especially true with the Titan’s mini gatling gun, that beast burnt through ammo, but was ohhhhh so satisfying! The way weapons are used was changed significantly as well, and it’s a little confusing now. This is down to some weapons (such as hand cannons) being in both the primary and secondary slot, but only some of them. Shotguns and snipers got screwed over by being dropped into the special weapons slot, along with LMG’s and missile launchers. Which for me is a huge disappointment, as in Destiny 1 I mained a Sniper Rifle and had a lot of fun with it. Given how low the special ammo drop rate is in D2 it’s going to be frustrating to play as a sniper or as a shotty.
The other concern, and this is the bigger issue, is the way its possible to dupe the game into thinking you’re using a controller and thus get a heavy (very heavy) aim assist, making the game unbalanced in PvP. Hopefully this is something Bungie are aware of and will fix before the games release in October.
So will I be buying the game? Yes I will! I honestly didn’t think I would, as IMO Destiny 1 only started to get good with the release of the Taken King. So I was planning to wait for the 3rd bit of DLC to come out this time. After playing the beta I decided it was worth a gamble on it. Hopefully they wont fall flat on their face all over again!