Cabal’s fair in love and war…
The original Destiny was a game that had its fair share of criticism, but no matter which way you look at it…it was nothing short of a success and is still played massively by gamers, even with the release of its sequel. Which by the way, surpasses everything the original game did and more…
I’ve spent the last few weeks with Destiny 2, playing as each class, levelling up my Light as far as I currently can and I was lucky enough to successfully complete a Nightfall challenge yesterday with just 3 minutes to spare. I waited long enough for the kinks to work themselves out and making sure I had experienced just enough to warrant my opinion, and here it is…
The story is a vast improvement over the original with some joking whether Destiny 1 had a story or not, but I personally think they redeemed themselves with the Taken King and Rise of Iron add-ons. The Traveller is under attack from a Cabal force known as the Red Legion, they take over the city and drain the Light from you and other Guardians so you cannot be revived if dead. The main antagonist Dominus Ghaul is obsessed with obtaining the Light for himself, so he can be immortal.
It leads to a great campaign across new planets/planetoids including Titan, Io, Nessus and to start with, Earth. You’ll be introduced to new social areas such as The Farm where survivors from the city have taken refuge where you can trade in materials for engrams and get additional items and quests. The new areas themselves are a lot different from Destiny 1, instead, this time you have a more detailed map that highlights public events, missions and even hidden areas called “Lost Sectors” which contain a high-level enemy that when destroyed, lets you access the chest inside for more loot.
The game currently comes with only a few Strikes, but more are planned obviously and the ones included are great fun. There’s also a Beta of a feature known as Guided Games for Nightfall Strikes where those gifted tickets from the postmaster can be paired with 2 additional Guardians for those either not in a clan or who wish to try without them…the only issue is that you get put in a queue which can average 15-30 minutes+ before you even get in. But as I said, it’s currently in Beta and will no doubt be improved over time. Still, it was how I managed to beat this week’s Nightfall so it’s not that bad…
PVP is just as important to Destiny players as PVE content and Destiny 2 is no different. The Crucible has new maps and modes, while still being as competitive and addictive as the original. Last Friday also saw the release of the Trials of the Nine mode where 4 players in a fireteam can take on another team of 4 for access to the Spire, this only runs over each weekend as far as I can tell and is best played for those with the highest Light levels.
Reaching the maximum level of 20 should take no time at all, but it’s raising your Light level beyond 265 where things will naturally slow down. I’m currently at 277 and have only got that far by completing weekly events like Flashpoint, Strikes, earning personal clan XP and playing crucible matches. But I need to wait for the weekly reset before I get a chance to get loot that might raise that.
Visually, Destiny 2 is a seriously impressive game. I’m running it on a PS4 Pro in 4K and it is stunning, although some HDR support would have been nice…it’s still a superb looking game, running at a solid 30FPS. The game is a lot more cinematic than the original and has great cutscenes through the campaign, which is obviously a lot better than the very few we got in Destiny 1. Voice-acting is also vastly improved and the dialogue has some decent moment of humour…mostly from Cayde-6 and Ghost.
The Verdict
Simply put, Destiny 2 may feel like a lot of the same at times…but without all the nonsense from the original. It improves upon it’s predecessor in every way conceivable and there’s bound to be so much more content on the way that we won’t know what to do with. At the end of the day, if you didn’t like the original game, this will probably do little to sway you…but I suggest you give it a chance anyway. For veterans like myself, Destiny 2 is the sequel we’ve been waiting for and more than meets expectations.