Destiny 2
Destiny has evolved for the last three years. As a game lacking story comprehension to improving on every aspect of its gaming with updates and patches, Destiny has become the best shooter for this new generation. Now its sequel has come out and the hype behind it is beyond enormous. The game exceeds some expectations but also falters in some questionable decision making. It still is one of the best shooters of 2017 and will be nominated for some awards at the end of the day.
One of the biggest improvements is the story to its base game. This time there is a more comprehensible story and one that is an improvement to the Rise of Iron DLC that was released last year. Not to spoil much but your guardian is stripped of his/her power by Cabal leader Ghaul. There are much more added cutscenes within the campaign and your supportive cast has some more air time. Cayde=6 is funny as ever and Zavala shows a human side as somone who sometimes doubts if the guardians will ever regain their home back. What is questionable is that your guardian has no lines. Your guardian uttered a few phrases in the previous game but this time he/she does not say anything.
Gameplay wise Destiny is still the shooter to beat when it comes down to mechanics. The weapon handling is still great. It does not hurt that it has not changed its core concept. Jumping is a little different at first, almost like you float more but you get used to it. The names of weapon types have changed; for example, heavy weapons are now called power weapons. Not only that, but shotguns and fusion rifles are only exclusive to that category. Hand cannons can now be equipped on the kinetic weapons (normal guns) or energy weapons (basically the special class). All guardians have new variations to their sub-classes as well. In addition to that, the skill tree is smaller than the previous game. Is it for better or worse? It depends on the player.
After you are finished with the base game, the end content opens up. Most speficically, there are weekly milestone quests that are available to you to gain power gear. Power gear is another word for better legendary gear to level up your guardian. This includes doing the heroic versions of the public events. Strikes are finally available after you beat the game. This was an odd choice as strikes were set together with story quests on vanilla Destiny. Playstation owners get a total of six strikes to play. Another type of quests open up called Adventures. These are like patrol missions but with a lot more meat to them. Think of them as mini-strikes. Oh, and there is the return of weekly nightfall strikes. The biggest change to this mode is that it is timed now. You do not fail the mission if everyone dies, you just lose time. If the timer runs out the mission fails.
The hot PVP modes Crucible and Trials come back, but this is where the decision making faltered quite a bit. First, PVO has changed from a 6 vs. 6 affair to only be 4 vs. 4. The reasoning for this was to make the action faster by having less players. I do not see this validity. Modes like control, clash, and supreme are back but Bungie took away rumble while adding new ones like countdown and survival. Survival is like clash but your team shares a finite numbers of revives. This makes the game pretty exciting. The other mode, countdown, is not my cup of tea. There are two areas on the map that teams either defend or set charges. The problem is that many times you charge a bomb and the other team has a long time it seems to diffuse the bomb. Sometimes matches hang on the randomness of when the charge will explode. And finally, the ultra competitive trials is renamed The Trials of the Nine. The gear does not look as awesome as the Osiris Egyptian themed armor from Destiny 1. It is also not 3 vs 3 but 4 vs 4 and either you play countdown or survival depending on the week. The other annoyance is that you cannot pick what PVP mode you want at all. It is all random. You have no choice. Why? The strikes are also random as well and you could be playing the same strike three out of four matches. Was Bungie trying to copy Overwatch's way of gaming from its launch? PVP is also team shot based which means most times you are obliterated if you are going to an area by yourself and have mutliple guardians shooting at you. If that happens its basically autmatic death. In destiny 1 you still had a chance if you ventured solo to be the hero if you played smart. Here, the best strategy is just to go around the map together and team shot everyone every time. The PVP is not as fun as the previous game.
Two bright spots that continue the Destiny legacy are its graphics and sound. Destiny 2 has some beautiful world designs. The plansts of Io and Nessus show an improvement in Bungie's art design. Space themed wildlife are brought to life with a colorful palette. The crucible maps also look great. The CGI scenes are crisp and have improved. Next, the musical score is again top notch. Do not be surprised to see Destiny 2 be nominated for sound of the year. Some musical tracks are instant classics based on when they are played. The track "Journey" is a perfect example of a song portraying the plight of the guardian and his/her redemption.
I do commend Bungie on creating a way to unite friends together for this adventure with a new option of Clans. You can recruit your friends and create an official clan with party name and a banner to show off. I think this is pretty cool. You are limited to 100 members for a clan though. You also cannot join more than one clan which can be a bummer. If you want to join another clan you have to leave your orginal clan. There is a point to all this. There are clan perks that can be accumulated weekly as points are tallied for each member obtaining and reaching goals like winning in the crucible, finishing strikes or the raid. In addition, all clan members get a free power gear if members of the clan finish some of the milestones mentioned above. So you can get raid gear without doing the raid. I think Bungie did this because not everyone is guaranteed to find players to join them in a raid.
Destiny 2 sure does have its ups and downs. The graphics and music are very good. The story campaign is better told than most of the previous story modes. The gunplay is still the best in the industry for this generation of games. Having milestones to shoot for and be rewarded for them is a great idea. I also kind of enjoy that the nightfall strikes have a time limit, thus increasing the drama to them. The things that took a step backwards is the implementation of many of the crucible activities, the fact that playlists are random with no choice and the raid is not as fun as previous ones after you get through it due to its complexity for many players and that most items are only good for looks which is a shame. Destiny 2 is still a very good shooter and game to get together with your friends. Time to suit up guardians for another adventure.
Score: 8.7
Pros:
- Stronger story campaign than previous ones.
- Great music soundtrack.
- New powers are fun to use
- Gunplay mechanics still best out there.
Cons:
- PVP team shot emphasis.
- Random playlist for Crucible
- Raid not as good as previous ones.
Update!
Destiny 2 won an award in 2017. List of accolades:
2017 Game Awards
9th Place Overall Game of the Year
1st Place - Best Multiplayer/Co-op
2nd Place - Best Shooter
2nd Place - Best Art Direction