[Editor’s Note: The following impressions are based on a Destiny 2 preview event held by Bungie, played on a PS4 Pro. Come back tonight at 9PM Pacific time to watch us stream the launch of the full game and continue this review.]
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you’re going to lose everything. Your vault? Gone. The tower? Left in ruin. Guardians? Executed. The opening of Destiny 2 is about taking it all away, kicking you and your favorite Destiny characters into the mud, and forcing you to scrape yourself off the pavement to face an unrelenting foe.
The situation we’re placed in during the opening mission not only motivated me from a story perspective, but it also gives both returning and new players a sensible reason to climb up the light level ranks, whether it’s for the first time or all over again. To challenge us on the way back to the top, Bungie’s developed a plethora of avenues in the early game that includes Public Events, Heroic Public Events, roaming world bosses, treasure chests, Lost Sectors, Adventure side-quests, patrols, planet specific challenges, Flashpoints, Vanguard missions, and of course, the campaign. Adding to that, there are also items scattered on each destination offering snippets of lore about the location, and gear sets you can acquire by turning in tokens earned from the above activities in exchange for reputation at that destination’s vendor.
With so much going on it’s hard not to get sucked into doing another public event, as you’ll often stumble upon one that’s just beginning even as you’re in the middle of a different task. Or maybe you’ll find a Lost Sector you haven’t explored yet, and right when you think you’re going to get back to finishing the Adventure or Patrol you’ve queued up in your quest inventory you’ll cross paths with a roaming boss that you might as well kick the crap out of because, come on, who’s going to pass up easy loot? I actually found myself having to resist distraction and skip some of those exciting opportunities in order to complete the initial Adventure mode side-quest I embarked upon. It’s a good problem to have, in that I never felt bored, but keep in mind these all seem targeted toward early Light level Guardians. While it’ll help get you to Light level 250 (which is where we capped out during our time with the preview build), climbing to max of 350 is going to require whatever lies beyond the campaign.
Remember that those distractions and optional objectives all run parallel to the main campaign, and the roughly 15 story missions we were able to play kept me engrossed on their own. Each new mission would unveil an interesting new layer of the story, be it getting the Vanguard band of Zavala, Ikora, and Cayde back together; flying to one of the new destinations to meet intriguing new colleagues like Hawthorne (who’s lived outside of the tower her entire life and doesn’t necessarily like the Vanguard, but is still hungry to help in the fight against the Cabal); or driving a tank through enemy territory and paying them back for the Tower with treads and thermite to the face. Every advance results in bad news for the enemy of the hour, and it felt like a triumph each time I caused them any kind of setback as we get to see the frustration my progress was causing the enemy with each amazing CGI cutscene. The story missions also do a great job of presenting a mix of story and action at the same time, making it feel a lot less like shooting hordes of enemies for no reason. For example, it’s great to see the Vanguard at your side during battle instead of having them pipe in some dialogue over coms via your ghost or during a cutscene.
I wasn’t able to see the end of the campaign, but six to eight hours I did see during my solo experience kept me invested in the plot. The story thus far is the most interesting Destiny has ever told because it focuses on an intelligent and methodical foe with understandable objectives. Dominus Ghaul is a Cabal general who believes that he should have been chosen by the Traveller to receive the Light; in his quest to right that wrong he’s trapped the Traveller, blocking it from giving Guardians their magical abilities, kidnapped those who are the most knowledgeable about how that transference works, and become so obsessed with obtaining it that even his colleagues have begun questioning whether his motives align with the goals of the Cabal empire. When we’re not seeing from the Cabal’s perspective we’re witnessing the death and destruction left in their wake, and it’s harrowing.
As a long-time Destiny player it was discomforting seeing “Your powers are gone” displayed prominently on the screen while having to traverse the rubble and corpses of your fallen brethren. After the introductory mission you have no double jump. You have no grenade. Previously, you could be revived by your ghost, but without the Traveler's light you’re warned that you will die permanently should you become overwhelmed. Because of this warning I couldn’t help but feel a nervousness as I went forward encountering more and more devastation.
I wasn’t the only one. Bungie’s done a good job of reflecting that feeling in the NPCs around you as they struggle with the loss of their powers. For so long it’s defined who they are as characters, and how each deals with this loss reveals much about their personalities. It’s a sad but special treat to see the emotional range of Ikora and Zavala extended beyond a few smartalec comments hurled at each other across a table.
I also had the opportunity to try out a few Strikes, which to my surprise were some of the most fun I’ve ever had in Destiny. (The exception is the PlayStation-exclusive Strike mission, which felt cramped with Taken replicating or surrounding you in a small space and forcing you to your death.) However, each mission we played added a visually interesting journey to enjoy as we plunged into the depths to unfold a Hive mystery or track down a high-value Cabal target before engaging in a multi-tiered boss battle. They were fun mechanically because they would take you into sections of a destination that were previously restricted, offering new puzzles. And from a story perspective, each Strike I played featured revelations about the faction you’re fighting, making them a treat in more way than one. Granted, this was my first time experiencing each encounter – we’ll see how they hold up on the 30th or 100th runthrough.
During my attempts to unlock a new Strike I was reminded of one of the best features Destiny 2 has to offer: a fast way to queue up a new event. At any time you can hit the PS4 touchpad or Xbox One view button and go directly from a Strike to PVP, back into a new Strike queue, or to one of the destinations. It gives you so much more freedom to go where you want to go at any time instead of waiting for a countdown or jumping back to orbit first like in the original.
It speeds you along to what we’re all here for: great-feeling first-person shooter gameplay. Shooting monsters in Destiny 2 is even more visually rewarding, in part thanks to tiny, subtle visual rewards, such as seeing the souls of the Fallen escape their bodies when they die. Mechanical subtleties also enhance combat, such as enemy shields that explode when shot with a projectile of the same element type (causing damage to other baddies in the area), Strike bosses will explode as the music rises to a celebratory crescendo, and it’s all capped off with a lovely pot of either engrams, ammo, glimmer, or a chest containing one of Destiny 2’s coveted exotics.
The inventory system has also been improved, no longer requiring that you equip your highest-level gear before decrypting Engrams to get the best result. Now it’ll look into your vault, on your other characters, and in your current inventory to be sure you’re getting an optimal drop every time an engram falls, without any of the busywork.
The reward system will also grant you Bright Engrams that can be decrypted by Tess Everis for each XP bar you fill past level 20. A Bungie employee told us on site that these special engrams will drop a bit faster the first three times, but the XP grind will take a bit longer after that. They can contain Sparrows, regular and exotic shaders, regular and exotic emotes, mods, and more. This continues the theme of “cosmetic only” items at vendors, but adds a large selection of coveted rewards you can get for simply investing time in playing after level 20, which is a big improvement over the Mote of Light reward we used to get in the first Destiny. Tess also had a selection of her inventory available for purchase in exchange for bright dust which you can obtain by dismantling unwanted items you’re granted from Bright Engrams. And of course, you can still “gamble” your way to the items of your choice by buying Silver.
During the time I had with Destiny 2 there was one frustrating design decision that hampered my enjoyment significantly: it doesn’t give you a Sparrow until after you’ve finished the campaign. This means that while my two Fireteam friends were able to zip across the terrain of a destination with their Sparrows (acquired via a Bright Engram drop) I was left hoofing it on foot to my next destination, hoping to see an enemy Pike I could steal just to keep up. That created long stretches of several minutes where I was just running from place to place without much happening. While withholding a Sparrow may force you to experience each location instead of just blowing through it at high speed, there are going to be many who refuse to buy Engrams for real world money from Tess or are slow to complete the campaign, and that’s going to leave them in the dust. Meanwhile the rest of their Fireteam will enjoy the story beat of an adventure or speed off to finish a patrol you’ll never see, and it makes for a bit of an odd and desynchronized experience amongst a party of friends.
While I’ve been mostly positive about what I’ve seen of the leveling system, I have to caution that this could all change with the day-one patch. Bungie’s reps specifically asked we mention that the patch will, and I quote “introduce several key changes” concerning the “investment, and sandbox, and gear systems” in Destiny 2” (which partially explains something about why they chose not to make the version I played available for a full review beyond avoiding spoilers). I’ll be keeping an eye on those when I play after launch.
One of the biggest missed opportunities I’ve come across so far was the anticlimactic way in which you obtain your subsequent subclass quests. You’re given your initial powers for the Hunter’s Arc Strider, Titan’s Sentinel, and Warlock’s Dawnblade subclasses during the campaign, but the others will simply drop during something as random as a Public Event. My Hunter Golden Gun sidequest, for example, had me doing Public Events with other players until my "Melted Hand Cannon Hunter Relic" was powered up enough to go to the European Dead Zone destination and embark on a compelling mission featuring lore and a climactic battle as it’s conclusion to activate it for the first time. The fact that it just dropped in the wild like any other piece of loot made it feel much less special than I’d expected based on its importance to my character’s development. Once at the EDZ, however, I was treated to a plethora of small but lore-heavy stories as told to my Hunter by Cayde. Without spoiling it, you then begin a battle that lets you cut loose on a hoard of enemies. The latter part was an excellent way of telling Grimoire-like stories in-game, but I don’t understand why the path there is to grind out Public Events. It would have been nice to see a tad more development before hand beyond getting a notification that this was added to your inventory.
PVP is hard to discuss pre-launch because there have already been key changes made just between the console and PC betas. Fusion rifles were toned down and supers were sped up, and when the weapon meta is being adjusted to the extent that I can’t begin to comment on balance yet. I can say, however, that my initial impression is that none of the maps we played felt unbalanced or like they had an unfair spawn point, but that’s another hypothesis we’ll put to the test as I play heavily over the next week or so.
From what I’ve played so far, however, the competitive PVP experience was feeling great. New players should be able to hop in and, as long as they have a basic understanding of first-person shooters, fall into their favorite weapon archetypes and have a blast. All currently known PVP modes are 4v4, but as of now we’ve only experienced Survival, Control, Supremacy and Countdown which all are fantastic PVP modes that seem well balanced for the new player count. I only hope that there are many more in the full game as we’re missing a swath of modes from the original including Rift, Rumble, Skirmish, Salvage, Mayhem, Elimination, Crimson Doubles, and more from the original. There are 10 maps total, or 11 if you count the PlayStation exclusive. We know that Trials is dropping on September 15, so expect an update on IGN about that particular mode then.
Loot drops during the modes we were able to play felt similar to Destiny 1, for better or worse. Everyone got exotics, whether they were top players or those who barely contributed.That’s probably going to be confusing to a new player and disappointing to an experienced player who finishes first, only to see the best rewards also go to the guy who shot at the ground the entire match. (Go easy on me though – the ground had it coming and I have to level up somehow.)
Finally, I would be doing Destiny 2 a disservice if I didn’t mention the superb soundtrack, audio tuning, and voice work featured throughout the campaign. The actors are able to strike chords of sadness that we haven’t really felt from their characters before. You hear the loss in Ikora’s voice when she’s contemplating what’s happened to her. Zavala’s determination is fierce, but with a tinge of desperation - almost as though he’s barely holding it together during this dark time. Even the somewhat silly-looking space turtles that we affectionately nicknamed the Cabal have an emotional range, from sadistic when they’re speaking to your Guardian in the beginning to a philosophical pondering you hear as they speak with their comrades. This extends to each of the main NPCs, who have quirks and charms that make them easily identifiable and unique from each other.
The score is also superb and adapts at an appropriate rate, keeping pace with where you’ve advanced during your adventure. Mixing a beautifully orchestrated theme to a cutscene is one thing, but managing to balance that alongside multiple types of gunfire being hurled at you, shrieking Hive, and loot drops is no small feat. It all settled into my experience with a pleasant balance.
My initial impressions leave me with more questions than answers. Is the story going to stay engaging through the end? Are the great drops going to get stingier at higher levels? Am I going to get bored exploring the new destinations? We’ll have to answer those hanging questions later, but based on what I’ve experience so far, Destiny 2 hasn’t disappointed my high expectations as a fan of the original. There have been deliberate steps to improve the moment-to-moment experience, be it something as simple as bringing up the next task with the press of a button or by keeping you constantly climbing the Light ladder without realizing it with enticing dynamic events. That’s all on top of a story the team at Bungie knew they had to get right after the convoluted mess of the first game which forced you to read Grimoire cards on a website to experience the original story. So far it seems as though they’ve succeeded.
All of this is just scratching the surface, and I’ll update with more impressions after I’ve had time with the full game. Or, you can join me live all week long as I play day and night until we’ve explored every nook, cranny, and drop of Vex milk that Destiny 2 has to offer.
If you haven’t heard, Destiny 2 launches on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on Wednesday, September 6 (or, on the West Coast, 9PM on Tuesday, September 5). That’s soon!
Naturally, we’ll be working hard on our review and will have it finalized as soon as we feel we responsibly can. Our appropriately named Destiny/Destiny 2 expert, Destin Legarie, was pretty much born for this review and is raring to go. Follow him on Twitter at @DestinLegarie.
So far, we’ve been able to play a chunk of Destiny 2 at Bungie and, of course, in the betas. You can bookmark this page and set your watch for 7AM Pacific time on Tuesday, September 5 to come back see what Destin thinks so far, based on those experiences. But of course, that’s just scratching the surface of a huge game like Destiny 2, so we’ll be running a review in progress until we’ve had a chance to play at least a few dozen hours of the final launched game and – hopefully, depending on when it ends up making its debut – complete the upcoming raid.
That’s a good while to wait for the final review and score, but during that time you can tune into regular daily livestreams so you can watch the review process as it happens. Starting at 9PM Pacific time on Tuesday (or as soon as the servers flip on) Destin will stream his gameplay right away in our Destiny 2: Day 1 Impressions Livestream. On September 6, 7, and 8 you can come back starting at 11AM and see Destin stream pretty much all day, every day, until he can stream no more and has to pause to write up some brief thoughts on how that day went. Depending on how things go, Destin will likely issue one or more temporary review-in-progress scores to indicate what he’s thinking as he’s working toward the finish line.
Outside of the review itself, make sure to check out our other Destiny 2 features:
Destiny 2: Everything you Need to Know
7 Minutes of Destiny 2 PC Gameplay at 4K 6fps
Destiny 2 Beta Graphics Comparison
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire