REVIEW – I always had a rather interesting relationship with the Destiny franchise. I was there for Destiny 1’s release date and bought it as a bundle which began my history with the PlayStation 4. While the campaign was a disjointed mess, and the DLCs (especially The Dark Below) were not too long regarding content, there were still glimpses of genius in the game. Raids which were unique to an FPS game provided hours long challenge to Fireteams, Strikes, and Nightfalls also proved to be another set of unique experiences that gamers could enjoy.

Sadly though Destiny 1 while providing new, and fun modes, had one problem – it lacked cohesion. The story campaign was retooled multiple times, and the first two DLC’s were a mixed bag. After The Taken King, and Rise of Iron expansions were released, Bungie was already working on Destiny 2. Finally, with the release of Destiny 2, we can jump into a brand new adventure in the solar system, and also see if all the wait was worth it.

Paint the town red with war, and loot!

The story picks up after the events of Rise of Iron, and the Last City is suddenly attacked by a faction of the Cabal called The Red Legion. The attack is so successful that most of the Last City is destroyed, and we are forced to flee our once safe haven to a secret location within the European Dead Zone called The Farm. From this point, we start our rebellion, and as the only Guardian who was able to reignite his or her Light, we are the leading force against the Red Legion. During the campaign, we will visit four planets – Earth, Nessus, Io, and Titan. All of the planets have unique environments, challenges, and lore.

The story is rather basic, and while there is cinematics this time around, a proper antagonist, and an actual tangible conflict (unlike the random go and defeat The Darkness talk from Destiny 1), however, players should not expect Shakespearian dialogue or plot. We just need to topple an alien overlord, and get back to grinding once the main campaign is done – the villain does not really have a presence other than saying ten or so lines threateningly. The funny thing is that while the villain is non-existent in presence up until the end, all of the secondary NPCs and even the Ghost are more fleshed out. In fact, while I felt the story campaign to be lacking, Adventures, Side quests, Strikes and Public Events provided more different encounters than most of the Campaign missions.

The grind is back, but more fun

Adventures are long missions where further depth is provided to the overall characters of the game world. Strikes rather than being one long, dull encounter with a bullet sponge boss at the end we get interesting mechanics to handle and pretty much prepares us for the Raid. Public Events now show up on the map, and even tells you how many minutes until it begins (which was missing in Destiny 1). Side quests provided by NPCs at the end (at least most of the times), will result in receiving an exotic weapon quest line. Yellow health bar bosses will drop loot boxes, or cache keys to open hidden loot boxes.

Destiny 2 provides a much more focused narrative, but still lacks nuance, however in terms of gameplay loop, it fixed a lot of issues. Players now have more opportunities to gain experience and prepare for the high-end content. Solo play is also much more friendly, and with the option for guided games, players will be able to experience these high-level contents with assistance from much more experienced players. Exotic and legendary weapons are dropped more frequently by enemies, and also by gaining faction reputation, you receive high-end weapons and armors. There are also challenges that reset weekly which also provide a new source of loot. This allows the players, even the less savvy ones to be able to play the high-end activities, and without the need to play PVP to progress – there are also no quests tied to PVP progress this time around luckily. All three classes have access to the three subclasses introduced in the previous Destiny games, but in order to unlock them, you’ll have to find a particular item, and complete a few tasks before you have access to them.

Speaking of PVP, compared to the Beta, not much has changed regarding game modes, and there are still a few modes missing as Bungie is currently beta testing a few of them. Plus Faction Rally is not available as of this point.

In the end, the gameplay loop is addictive, and fun for all the right reasons, while Destiny 1 felt like a skinner box, with barely any rewards, Destiny 2 showers you with loot, and opportunities to enjoy the content.

Shiny new engrams, but an old engine

Destiny 2 regarding graphical fidelity looks stunning if we are talking about indoor environments. The textures are highly detailed, the lighting is perfect and stunning, plus the design of the new environments are elaborate, and complex with lots of secret rooms to discover. Problem is though that even on the PS4Pro, and regular PS4 the game’s outdoor environments are just at times are really ugly. The field of view is also not too great, so you end up with awkwardly textured backgrounds that are not shown correctly on the screen. Armor and weapons are however stylish and maintain their visual fidelity. Most of them have their own unique design, feel, and even can be equipped with shaders that allow the players to customize their own gear visually.

While the outdoor environments are not the best, the explosions, flames, and particle effects are superb in Destiny 2 and provide a colorful punch to the overall action that occurs during gameplay. Sadly though HDR is not supported on either console and will be added at a later date which is a real shame, since I wanted to see how HDR would look, it seems that will have to wait.

While the graphics are a mixed bag, the sound design rivals DICE, as all of the weapons provide great feedback, and the explosions, music, and even the ambiance is superb. The handguns have a kick/punch to them, and all of the other weapons have equally great composition.  Voice acting is great, and Nathan Fillion (of Firefly fame), who is Cayde-6’s voice in the game is superb, but sadly as mentioned above previously the script is not the best. So while there is great voice acting, and a lot of work has been done to improve it over Destiny 1, the script still needs some work.

At the end of you are looking for the best quality in visuals and sound, you will need to get the PC version which will launch in October. However, the best version is the PS4 version still since it has all the exclusive content in it.

The Guardians of the Loot Vol 2.

While Destiny 1 was considered by many a competent and even addicting online shooter, it was disliked by many for the cut story, and the loot is hard to get. Here though most of the complaints have been fixed, although the campaign difficulty and strike difficulty have been lowered. Some may find this abhorrent and even too easy, but on the other hand at least it does not have bullet sponge bosses anymore (or if it has it is not that egregious), but a bit of a bump to the AI could have been done.

Still, in the end, Destiny 2 was a necessary step to semi-reboot the franchise, and to provide the groundwork for future content, which based on leaks and announcements is right around the corner. For those that loved Destiny 1 will enjoy Destiny 2 as it made a lot of quality of life improvements. For those that did not, well then Destiny 2 is probably still not the game that they are looking for in the end. As for me, I am off to level up for the raid.

-Dante-

Publisher: Activision

Developer: Bungie

Genre: FPS

Relase date: September 6, 2017