Homecoming
(This
review contains minor spoilers!)
I have an interesting relationship
with Destiny. I personally never
really got into the first game, but I was able to see what it was like and
learn about it through my brother, who quickly became a huge fan. Because of
this, I was really looking forward to trying out Destiny 2, which promised to be a better version of the divisive
first installment.
While not exactly the most original
game on the market right now, Destiny 2 is
an excellent first-person shooter boasting stunning presentation, fun and
engaging gameplay, and some of the best writing I’ve seen this year.
The show is easily stolen by both the
graphics and the music. The orchestrated score is just as good as everyone
makes it out to be, managing to be both epic and atmospheric at the same time.
The theme to The Farm area is especially pleasant to listen to. The graphics
and art design are equally good, creating a fantastic sci-fi environment. Destiny 2 looks like a delightful
mishmash of famous franchises from the genre, utilizing the bright colours and
wacky atmosphere of Guardians of the
Galaxy alongside the dark corridors and unsettling environments of Alien, occasionally used right after
each other to great effect.
There is a little left to be desired
when it comes to the standard enemy types though. While they all attribute to
four tribes and have designs reflecting them, they’re ultimately essentially
the same enemies wearing different costumes. I would’ve liked a bit more
variety in terms of their abilities, as it gets a bit tedious mowing down the
same helpless robots and aliens over and over again, as I’ll discuss in a bit.
The story is absolutely splendid,
creating a great world with memorable characters and an especially intimidating
villain, while at the same time never taking itself too seriously. Jokes and
quips are sprinkled throughout your adventure thanks to a delightful cast of
friends helping you out, and plenty of them are chuckle-worthy.
Despite the clear humourous nature of
the story, the writers also do a fantastic job in making the world one you care
very much about by the end. The villain is legitimately frightening, especially
after he completely wrecks your character in the first ten minutes of the game.
He pops in every once in a while to give a little more background as to why
he’s trying to destroy the Guardians, and these cutscenes are among the
highlights of the game’s story. The characters that fight with you are equally
fantastic, giving you a reason to want to take down the Cabal in the end.
As for the gameplay, Destiny 2 retains the hybrid
first-person shooter/MMO style that made it famous in the first place. You,
alongside an optional group of friends, can jump across the solar system,
complete story missions and sidequests, participate in awesome public events,
or just play in PvP multiplayer. Everything plays just fine, but I found parts
of it to be a little bit underwhelming.
Destiny
2 is a perfectly fine, well balanced and completely enjoyable first-person
shooter experience, but its biggest flaw comes in the fact that it never really
tries to go outside of its comfort zone until the final chapters of the story. Each
of the story missions and sidequests boil down to essentially the same
ingredients: follow a path, shoot some enemies along the way, enter a
no-respawn arena zone, fight a large number of enemies and sometimes a boss
monster, and then you move onto the next one. Don’t get me wrong, the missions
aren’t bad by any means, in fact I only found a couple of sidequests that I
actively disliked. It’s just that once you’re two thirds of the way to the end
and there hasn’t really been a big action sequence to rival the amazing opening
or a special level with a cool exclusive item, I started to roll my eyes a bit
whenever I found myself in yet another arena with a horde of Vex bearing down
on me.
On the other hand, public events are a
complete blast, and something I’d like to see more often in games even if they
aren’t multiplayer. At any given time a horde of enemies will spawn in a map,
and if certain qualifications are met, they’ll be followed by an enormous boss
that’ll take you and all the other players nearby to take down. If you manage
to defeat it before time runs out, you’ll be rewarded with not only cool new
gear, but also secret unlockable subclasses to power up your Guardian even further.
These are incredibly fun, and the way they’re integrated into customizing your
Guardian even further is fantastic.
PvP multiplayer is here as well, and
while it’s perfectly fine for those looking for that sort of thing, I actually
found running around the world and finding new goodies way more fun. PvP is
less of a huge chunk of the game and more like a fun alternative to the real
meat and potatoes, which I’m perfectly fine with.
Destiny
2 is an extremely stellar experience. Despite knowing nothing about the
original game’s lore going in I thoroughly enjoyed the story and characters
thanks to the extremely funny and smart writing. The gameplay is equally
fantastic, and the system to gather loot and new gear is both rewarding and
addicting. Lastly, it can’t be emphasized enough how good the art design and
music are. If you have a 4K console, this will easily be one of the standout
titles on it this year. Whether you’re a franchise newcomer or have been
playing since the first installment, Destiny
2 will have you hooked in seconds.
FINAL SCORE
8/10
Great
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