When I first heard the news that Destiny 2 would not include most of the content from the first game I was disappointed. After waiting and writing to hear about the game as it time moved slowly towards the release date, that disappointment turned into anger. Anger that all this time I spent on the first game was a waste. That’s the attitude I had going into this review.
Story
This review will include some spoilers. The Guardians have grown complacent in their last city of humanity, just doing the bare minimum to defeat the darkness that always attacks them. Then the Red Legion make a grand entrance, destroying everything they held dear. The leader is a Cabal known as Ghaul. His goal is to take the Light from the Traveler and use it for his own immortality. As the game starts you easily destroy the Red Legion that has just attacked the city. These are the powers you have from the first game. At the point that I thought I had every thing beat the game threw a wrench into that. Ghaul has trapped the Light that was in the Traveler, effectively taking it from all the Guardians. This is when the chaos and murder begin.
After being kicked from the Red Legion command ship I found myself injured and wandering the city. Hordes of Red Legion patrolled the streets looking for any survivors. I made my way to a farm that housed some of the survivors. From that point I started my journey to save the Traveler and the Light I had lost. At this point you start your journey to level twenty and the destruction of Ghaul. The story itself is short and the defeat of Ghaul actually went better then I expected. The story so far has been better than the first game. I still have some questions that need to be answered. What are those ships out in deep space that became active after the Light hit it? Will we be able to go inside the Traveler now that it is alive and a little broken? Hopefully the DLC will give me the answers that I need.
Graphics
Destiny 2 has the look and feel of the first game. Some small things have changed. The Fallen and other enemies look crisper now then even with the last large update in the first game. The new places that you travel to look amazing. From the oceans on Titan to the Vex overgrown Nessus. Each place brings with it a vibrant color scheme that will keep you looking at any small details. The Red Legion are the best looking enemies you will face. The new units are fantastic to look at as you blast them into pieces. The cut scenes bring together the short story mode with some class. I really would of enjoyed some more after I finished the story. Basically to sum this section up, the game looks great with some new places to see.
Audio
The mood is set pretty early on in as the music sets you up for a depressing road to walk down. That road consists of seeing your fellow guardians dead along your path to Ghaul. The music fits perfectly with your every move. The music is something you can’t turn down or cover up with your own personal playlist. Even in the Crucible you need to hear every sound. The soundtrack was composed by Micheal Salvatori, Skye Lewin, and C Paul Johnson. Together they created a soundtrack that is just simply amazing.
The voice acting is top notch. With the problem players had with the last game and that whole thing with Peter Dinklage, I don’t see that happening to this game. One of the cool things is seeing the actor who you hear throughout the game. My wife was watching the show Teen Wolf when we both realized we have heard this man’s voice before. Gideon Emery plays a blind werewolf in the show and in the game he voices Devrim Kay VIII. It was just nice to see the actors face when you only hear them in the game. The actors may not be huge movie stars. To us, in the game they are huge stars in their own right. They helped make this fantastic world that we get to play in.
Gameplay
The gameplay in Destiny 2 is like the first game. Players will lose those lovely powers for a small time. Maybe they should have forced us to play without them for a little longer. Since everything was taken from the Guardians it is time to get used to some new weapons and powers. In my review play through I used the Warlock. I felt like it would be the best one to use. I also couldn’t wait to try the new Dawnblade subclass. This gives the player a devastating special when used correctly. I actually found myself using it to early and wasting it. Finding that broken piece of the Traveler and being forced to go back two more times to get your other powers back was annoying. It kept me from being focused on completing the main story. I mean the game has so many things to do once you start it is extremely difficult to not stray from playing the main story.
One of the things I like is the new weapons set up. Before you could just use any weapon to level up your exotic or legendary. Now those weapons have to be in that class. So to upgrade a hand cannon they have to be a high level hand cannon. This may piss off some players, but to me it just means I have to spend a little more time grinding. The complete destruction of the tower caused you to rethink how to get new engrams or weapons. Strange coins are no longer used. That was a little weird to get used to. It was weird at first to use the new directory since I was so used to having to go into orbit all the time. Having the ability to fast travel around the game really makes things better. These small touches help make Destiny 2 a great starting point for whatever Bungie will make it in the future. Getting used to the new way this game is set up isn’t that difficult. It’s great to see that the developer working to make this game better each year.
Verdict
Destiny 2 is a sequel that will keep Destiny fans happy. It will also appeal to those that have never played the game before. The biggest problems I had though is the forced online play and the feeling like I spent way to much money on a game that doesn’t feel compete. Aside from the graphics and audio I really felt like this game just wasn’t enough to start with. Given that Bungie already has two DLC packs set up for players it wont be long until this game actually feels complete.
Now this anger I had went away once I sat down and played long enough. You could see the love and work that Bungie put in this game knowing some players would just be as mad as I was. I know that from this point on I’ll support this game as much as I can. Especially since my wife and I play the game together.
