First Thoughts: Destiny 2 Beta Review

Destiny returns to form in the D2 beta that dropped on 18th for PS4.

Destiny is one of those games that changed the landscape of FPS when it came out in 2014. It was a new IP from Bungie and brought with it all the solid gunplay that we loved in HALO, with a new RPG twist. After 3 years there has been multiple expansions to improve on story and gameplay, as well as grow a very loyal fanbase across PC, XBOX and Playstation. Personally I stopped playing the game still while it was in its vanilla stages, but for the time I had been playing the game it was a ton of fun.

The Destiny 2 beta drops the player off at the beginning of the invasion of the Cabal Red Legion on The Last City, and it is your job to get through the battle and attempt to save what is left of the place you once called home. All the big good guys are still around, Zavala, Cayde-6 and Ikora, all voiced by their original voice actors (Nathan Fillion as Cayde-6 is amazing as always). it gives you just enough of a taste of the main story without giving away too much of the main story and where it will go. All you find out is that The Speaker is gone, The Red legion is here, and your light has been taken away leaving you essentially powerless.

The mechanics of the game are exactly like Destiny 1, but feels more polished. The aim and feel of the guns are right on point, as well as the ability to swap between your main and offhand weapons. There is also the new power weapon that range from a powerful shotgun, grenade launch, etc. The special abilities of each class are still there as well, giving you the boost you need at critical times. The graphics themselves are smooth and detailed, it is to be expected though considering the last game. I played the beta on the PS4 and the game ran smooth as it could, with very little noticeable frame-rate drops even when the screen was full of enemies,

The beta includes 3 gameplay types to try out, capture the flag style Multiplayer, a Strike mission, and Set the bomb style Multiplayer (think CS:GO). The multiplayer is 4v4 capture point driven maps that you and random people, or friends can join to in to play, nothing too different here though from the previous games, or other multiplayer FPS games.

The beta includes one Strike mission, The Inverted Spire. It is a fun strike that can be completed within about 20 minutes with a competent team of 3. The most difficult part of the whole strike is the fact that the map is not linear, and there is a lot of open field with different factions going at it constantly. You constantly run into battles between opposing forces, and you just hope that there isnt another one around the bend just waiting to tear you down. The final boss fight is fun and challenging, with it not just being a generic fight where you run and gun, but you have to be aware of environmental damage, adds, a teleporting boss, and the fact the floor will turn to lava and throw you off the map. But in the end, you get loot, and that’s all we are really playing for anyways.

If you have pre-orderd the game, or just want to try the open beta when it opens tomorrow for PS4 and XBOX i suggest doing so. it is fun and it will give you a good taste of what is to come when the game releases September 6th, 2017.