Destiny 2 - BETA

Destiny – A science fiction game the likes we’ve never quite seen before. It’s a successful blend of sci-fi and fantasy with first person shooter game play mixed with massively online multiplayer nuisances. Combine these elements together with seamless matchmaking in their open world spaces and you get a one-of-a-kind experience that is the foundation for the future of the first person shooter. We already have seen games try to emulate Destiny’s seamless matchmaking with games like Tom Clancy’s The Division, and Bioware’s upcoming new IP Anthem. Bungie has once again taken the first person shooter genre and turned it inside out to create new and interesting game play encounters with our fellow gamer’s and the world they’ve created for us.

Destiny 2 launches on console on September 6th, 2017, and for PC at the later date of October 24th. Though, PC gamer's should be quick to realize that during the gap in release dates Bungie will be working on optimizing the Destiny experience for the variety of PC’s that gamer's will be using to play on, thus creating a more satisfying and stable experience for their fans.

The BETA for Destiny 2 on console came and went during July, and it was fantastic. I personally loath player versus player game-play these days, and I’ve been finding myself experiencing more fun and interesting game-play during single player encounters against the AI enemies or in cooperative mode with friends at my side fighting the enemy. So, during Destiny 2’s BETA I only played the single player story mission and the Strike mission so as to get the full experience of what my personal play style might be like when Destiny 2 launches.

The game-play for Destiny 2’s BETA was super fun, it was a bull’s eye hit in the action department as Bungie has yet again delivered another satisfying and exciting sci-fi shooter. The gun-play feels excellent, shooting aliens has never been more fun and satisfying. Choosing weapons now differs from the original game by having your weapons divided into Kinetic, Energy, and then Power weapons. Kinetic weapons are your standard guns that shoot standard bullets, they are your primary weapons. Then there is Energy weapons, guns that have Solar, Arc, or Void damage pumped into them which have different effects on the enemies you fight, and can play into perks you’ve activated on your gear and subclass. Then Power weapons are your heavy hitting bad ass death bringers. You want to kill multiple enemies at once, cut them down like paper with a light machine gun, or blow them to ribbons with a rocket launcher, or even lob grenades at them with the new Grenade Launchers. The gun-play in Destiny 2 is shaping up to be better than ever, and I’m very excited to get to experiment with the new combos and perks that Bungie is going to give us.

Then there are the additional subclass abilities, which are admittedly very cool! I was skeptical when I saw the Hunter dancing around with their Arc staff, and the Warlock hovering with his Solar blade, and the Titan going all Captain America on us with that Void shield (First they did Thor with the Solar hammer, now the Cap with the shield. I think they should go full on Iron Man with shooting Arc beams out of his hands and chest, you’re welcome Bungie). The sub-classes felt good to play as and in player versus enemy (PvE) it was very satisfying and exciting. They make you feel powerful, and unstoppable, and with the addition of the utility abilities like the evade for the Hunter class and the shield wall for the Titans I foresee some intense and super fun game-play in store.

Destiny 2’s BETA showed me somethings that I personally feel are interesting enough to bring up. The visuals in the BETA are not necessarily better than their predecessors, but they did ramp up the amount of things happening on screen at once, and that is a good move to make in my opinion. So, I instantly noticed when Bungie re-used assets and textures from Destiny in the Destiny 2 BETA, and at first I kind of reeled back and was a little disappointed. But later on when I got out of the campaign mission and joined up in the Inverted Spire Strike mission I really felt like the game was at its visual peak. The set pieces were incredible, the lighting was stunning, and the amount of things happening on screen at once was impressive and immersive. I really enjoyed that Strike mission, and I feel like if this is what they are showing us to rope us in then what they must have in store for us down the road is going to be mind blowing. Simply the amount of geometry on screen at once was significantly more dense then in Destiny. From the additional rocks, to the Vex structures, to the different types of grass and plants tucked into every little corner, the game environment really stood out to me. Additionally to just asset density, the lighting in Destiny 2 is significantly better, it’s very noticeable in the two missions they gave us, and I can’t wait to see how they use it in the rest of the game.

All in all, the BETA was a success, I left feeling excited and ready for the game to come out, and I know that Bungie will deliver on solid game play and stunning visuals. Whether or not the narrative structure is figured out or if their story is actually cohesive in Destiny 2 remains to be seen, but from the interviews I’ve watched I feel like Destiny 2 is shaping up to be a big hit, and I’m definitely looking forward to it.