Developed by Bungie and published by Activision, Destiny 2 has officially launched on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. For PC players, Destiny 2 will be launched on 24 October 2017. While Destiny 2 features many single-player elements, the game does require a constant internet connection. This is due to the title also being a multi-player “shared-world” environment.
While the first game in the series received decent reviews, Destiny 2 is here to right the many wrongs faced in the first outing of the series. This time around, Destiny 2 comes packaged with a cinematic storyline which is accompanied by a 12-hour campaign.
A brief synopsis of the story is as follows: One year after the end of the SIVA Crisis, Cabal forces of the Red Legion sever external communications throughout the Solar System and launch a full-scale aerial assault on the Last City, destroying the upper main portion of the Tower. The Guardian and Ghost, which are player controlled, respond and assist the Vanguard (Commander Zavala, Ikora Rey, Cayde-6, Lord Shaxx, etc.) in the evacuation of civilians, but while assaulting the Cabal command ship of Dominus Ghaul, the military emperor of the Cabal, Ghaul attaches a massive mining device to the Traveler and drains it of the Light, a special form of power used by the Guardians.
This ultimately results in all of the Guardians losing their powers. It’s at this moment where the player controlled Guardian is nearly killed by Ghaul. Waking two days after the attack, the player eventually locates their Ghost and the two escape the Last City and find a safe haven known as The Farm in the European Dead Zone (EDZ). It’s at this point where the Guardian must reclaim his/her Light in order to defeat Ghaul and the Red Region and all other opposing factions.
Unlike the first title, Destiny 2 features a rather fantastic and well fleshed out storyline. It also introduces us to a cast of characters that not only look good, but also sound fantastic too. This is due to the outstanding voice performances by Lance Reddick (Commander Zavala), Nathan Fillion (Cayde-6), Nolan North (Ghost), and Gina Torres (Ikora Rey).
While the voice artists set the scene, Destiny also has a powerful musical score. Destiny 2’s music was composed by Michael Salvatori, Skye Lewin, C. Paul Johnson, Rotem Moav, and Peter Schlosser. The soundtrack features a total of 44 powerful tracks that make Destiny 2 one of the best sounding games of the year.
To add to its praises, Destiny 2 is also a beautiful game. It features a plethora of beautifully crafted set-pieces that make it an absolute must play. In addition to this, the development team has also crafted each and every character, enemy, weapon, and planet with great detail in mind. The team at Bungie should be applauded for launching one of this year’s best-looking games.
As mentioned before, Destiny 2 rights the many wrongs we witnessed in the first title of the series. In the first title enemies were pretty predictable… often strafing left and right and back again, which ultimately made them cannon fodder. This made combat feel extremely repetitive and at times boring. However, this time around, enemies feel more aggressive and unpredictable. This allows Destiny 2 to feel a lot more difficult than the first title. No longer could I predict the movements of my enemies as they were either ducking behind cover, coming straight at me in hoards, or making their way around me in order to flank my character. This makes Destiny 2’s combat feel fresh and rejuvenated.
Throughout your journey in Destiny 2, players will also come across a plethora of different game modes. Players can essentially stick to the campaign and sidequests; however, there are a lot of challenges awaiting the player in the game’s Strike mode. Strikes are high-level activities, which last about twenty minutes on average and functioning much the same as a story mission. However, unlike story missions Strikes require a Fireteam of three players – if you don’t already have one made up in advance, you’ll be matchmade with other players.This time around, Strikes feel a bit smaller, but they also feel more a lot more challenging… come this with the game’s superb visuals and you are in for a pretty fun time.
Apart from playing Strikes, Destiny 2 players can also enter a multiplayer mode dubbed “The Crucible.” The Crucible is essentially Destiny 2’s Player VS Player (PVP) mode where players can challenge one another in various modes, which are as follows:
Destiny 2 Crucible Modes:
- Control – A typical rendition of the PVP control-point style modes we have played in other titles. Your job is to take and hold the three control zones on the map – A, B, and C – whilst the opposing team tries to do the same.
- Countdown – Countdown is a new mode for Destiny 2. One team will plant a bomb and defend it while the other team will try to diffuse it. There are multiple points where you can plant the bomb, so both defending and attacking requires some strong coordination from your team. The first team to six rounds won (by either successfully detonating the bomb or preventing the other team from doing so) wins the match.
- Clash – Standard team deathmatch
- Supremacy – Similar to Clash, but when anyone dies they leave a Crest in their wake, which needs to be collected. Collect more Crests than the other team to win.
- Survival – Again, similar to Clash, but this team each team only has a total of eight lives. Each time a member of your team dies, you lose a life. The first team to run out of lives first loses.
- Trials of the Nine – Trials of the Nine is Destiny 2’s version of the old Trials of Osiris, a challenging mode for the PVP area of the Crucible, which has you attempt to win multiple rounds of a certain game mode in a row, with no losses.
When it comes to Destiny 2’s multiplayer modes, they are nothing but fun and entertaining. Whether you playing as a Titan, Warlock, or Hunter you are in for a pretty good time.
Conclusion:
Destiny 2 rights the many wrongs featured in the first title in the series, which shows that the developers have really listened to consumers. It now features a strong storyline and a much more refined multiplayer experience. To add to this, Destiny 2 features beautiful set-pieces, classy voice-acting, and a music score that ultimately makes the entire package of Destiny 2 well-worth playing from start to finish, and beyond.
By: Darryl Linington
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