Destiny 2 Beta: First Impressions

Those looking for some competitive action will find it, once again, in the Crucible. Overseen by Lord Shaxx, the Crucible has undergone some radical transformation since the original game. All game modes are now 4v4, down from 6v6. Whether this is a positive change for the franchise will remain a mystery until players get their hands all over it.

Other (obvious) additions to Destiny 2 are the new subclasses and extra abilities. I’m a Titan main, so most of my time was spent with the new Sentinel class, but I also got to check out the Dawnblade Warlock and the Arcstrider Hunter. All three are similar in a lot of ways to their previous subclass, but with more aggressive tendencies. The Arcstrider is almost identical to Bladedancer, save for the super, which gives you some mad bow staff skills. Dawnblade gives you a flaming sword and the ability to essentially fly around the map as you swing fiery blasts at everyone. That’s instead of Sunsinger, which brought you back to life and gave you unrestricted access to all the melees and grenades you wanted. Instead of Defenders and their Wards of Dawn, Sentinels will get a Captain America shield that they’re able to throw around and smash into people with. So while I think that the new subclasses are less tactical than the original ones, they grant new and interesting game mechanics to players. The new supers are about taking out as many baddies as you can, and in that case, all three are extremely successful.

The story campaign has more missions and cinematics than you’ve ever seen in a Destiny 2 Armor 3.0 game. The player experience has more variety, more types of activities, and more ways for you to enjoy the experience by yourself, or with other players. It is, in terms of the action you’ll enjoy, a more diverse experience than any Bungie game ever.

We have all-new worlds to explore. Immediately after the opening act, your character is exiled into the European Dead Zone. It’s an Earth destination and the biggest map we’ve ever created by far. You will explore this destination and its lush forests. That’s really where you’ll start your new journey. You’ll journey to Titan, an oceanic moon. The entire moon is one big sea, but there are these human installations that were erected during the Golden Age. You’ll go to Io, which is one of Jupiter’s moons and is the last place the Traveler touched before the Collapse. It’s a place of magic and mysticism. Finally, you’ll go to Nessus, which is an unstable planetoid that has been completely transformed into a machine world by the Vex.

Weapon rarity remains identical to Destiny. Basic (white), uncommon (green) and rare (blue) will be your most common drops while playing the campaign. Once you reach level 20, legendary (purple) and highly coveted exotic (yellow) weapons will begin dropping.

What we want to do is make every player in Destiny feel essential. We want every single player to feel like a superhero that gets to save the day at some point during the match. As a support player, I’m guilty on many occasions of hanging back and scoring assists. In Destiny 2, I’m going to be provoked into being a hero and helping my team of four in the competitive landscape.

Not yet, but I promise that I will talk to you all about when it will happen as soon as we nail that down. It will happen this summer, obviously, and then on September 8 Destiny 2 will be available on PS4 and Xbox One. We’ll solidify and announce the PC ship date when we have it ready.

Kinetic guns fire physical ammo and are replenished with white ammo, and can generally be any type of gun. Auto Rifles, Scout Rifles, Pulse Rifles, Handguns, Revolvers and Submachine guns are all eligible for this category.

Each species now has new enemy types that do change the flow of combat. The Fallen’s Wretch lunges at you with their long spear. The Cabal are the key beneficiaries here with multiple new enemy types. The Incendior uses a giant flamethrower to ignite the floor around players and War Beasts gallop in on four legs to tear out Guardians throats. The Hive and the Vex, while getting some new variants of existing types, haven’t gotten the same amount of attention as the Cabal or Fallen.

We’re not bringing back any of the old weapons and armor because all that stuff is turned to ash and dust by the Cabal. That’s one of the great things about Destiny 2. It enables us to create a brand-new tale with a fresh start for every single player. Whether you’re someone who looked at Destiny from afar, feeling like you couldn’t jump into the world or feeling like you’ve been left behind, or whether you’re a veteran player with 100% completion in your record book, you are all joining this new adventure on equal footing. You will be attacked in the same moment. You will all lose the things that your Guardian holds dear. You will all need to go out into the wild and rebuild from the ground up.

Each of the three Guardian Classes – Hunter, Titan and Warlock – come equipped with a brand new subclass. An Arcstrider Hunter becomes enveloped in Arc energy and unleashes attacks via an electrified staff. Sentinel Titans summon a shield constructed out of Void energy, which they can throw at enemies or use as a melee weapon. Last, but not least, is the Dawnblade Warlock who summons a Solar sword and rains fire from the skies.