Playing Destiny 2’s Open Beta And The Future Of Bungie’s Shooter

After three years spent with the original Destiny, Bungie’s hugely successful shooter is heading off into the sunset. However, a new era of Destiny is almost upon us, with the hugely anticipated sequel having been announced a couple months ago and the doors to this being opened to the general public with the open beta – currently only available to those who have pre-ordered, before it’s opened to all tomorrow. With a number of hours with the Destiny 2 Beta under our belt, Jake and I have more than a few thoughts on how the game is shaping up.

Firstly, this isn’t anything we haven’t seen before, with the beta featuring the first mission from the game as was shown at Destiny 2’s gameplay reveal back in May, but playing it really emphasises that Destiny 2’s story feels both much more robust and spectacular this time around. It puts me at ease knowing that there aren’t going to be as many lonely and mundane cutscenes and missions only featuring the Guardian and Ghost. Instead we’re treated to the likes of Cayde-6, Zavalla and Ikora Rey going full ham and unleashing the abilities at their disposal to fight back against the Cabal’s Red Legion.

I really enjoyed playing through the two-part introductory story mission, which showed the audacious attack on the Last City of Earth. The Cabal showed up in numbers, with tons of huge ships and a bizarre device that they attach to the Traveller, eventually cutting off all the Light that he provides to the Guardians. You also meet the new big bad, Dominus Ghaul, who taunts you as he does so. He’s won, at this point, and you have to rise from the ashes to defeat him.

Throughout the game, particle effects and enemy animations shape Destiny 2 into a much more polished game than it’s predecessor. Importantly it still feels like Destiny, from the jumping mechanics to the way the guns handle and right down to the closed in field of view, but this extra polish across the board is exactly what the game needed; it feels next gen now.

This leads into the Inverted Spire Strike on Nessus – though given the way that the Vex transform the planets they land on, I sadly thought it was a hybrid of the Mars and Venus levels from the first game, while also being rather reminiscent of the Vault of Glass Raid. That said, the scale of the environments on show is impressive, and you’re sent arcing through the sky at various points through catapults, dodging massive drills, which is surprisingly challenging, and doing battle with dozens of enemies at once in large, open spaces.

As ever, the forces that oppose humanity never stop bickering, and the ascendant Cabal forces are pushing hard against the Vex, seeking to drill deep into the planet to uncover Vex technology for themselves. You get to see some of the tweaks and changes to the races, with different weaponry and slightly different approaches in combat.

The Vault of Glass comparison comes to the fore as you fight Protheon, the Vex Mind at the end of the Strike, which is the spitting image of Atheon. The actual fight, however, sees the arena adapt depending on how much health Protheon has, dropping players through floors to the next phase until the boss is defeated. Considering that the final area sees you hemmed in by electrical hazards, I’d hate to see this with Arc Burn in future Nightfall Strikes!

Each of the classes have been tweaked with modified and new supers and new sub-class abilities. The Hunter, for example, has seen its Golden Gun ability given five deadly shots instead of three like in the first game, while the new Arcstrider super is based around a lightning staff and rapid movement, replacing the Bladedancer sub-class.

For Titans, Fist of Havoc has become Fists of Havoc, which is no longer a single smash, but charges its fists for multiple electrified smashes and shoulder charges, while the Sentinel sub-class has a touch of Captain America with a throwable shield. My favourite subclass is probably the Warlock’s Dawnblade sub-class which allows players to throw blades made from the power of the sun to destroy enemies, while the returning Voidwalker class makes the void bomb attack slower but with better tracking for its main orb and splintering into lots of mini seeking attacks.

However, they also all have sub-class abilities. The Striker Titan can create a small barrier to crouch behind, the Hunter has a dodge roll and the Warlock can boost nearby players. They’re an interesting set of new abilities, but also easy to forget about for seasoned veterans just slipping back into the groove.

That’s also a problem for the overhauled weapons set up. You now have Kinetic, Energy and Power weapon classes, with the first two both featuring all of the Primary weapon types from the first Destiny – your hand cannons, pulse rifles, the new SMGs and so on – but with Kinetic being pure versions of these and Energy then combining them with elemental damage. The difficulty is that it’s all too easy to forget the distinction in the heat of the moment, where there was previously much greater clarity in visual design and gun characteristics between Primary and Special weapons.

Special weapons will now be joining the Power weapon class, so you’ll find fusion rifles and sniper rifles joining rocket launchers and new grenade launchers. It’s a clever shift especially with the competitive multiplayer in mind, restricting the use of these weapons behind the time-locked pick ups on the maps, aiming for a more considered pace.

While I’ll miss the 6v6 matches of the original, The Crucible is still pretty fun despite downscaling to 4v4. It means that all the maps will now be of a small to medium size, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and another positive side effect is that matchmaking and connectivity should be more robust as well.. Maps are more detailed and have a lot more nooks and crannies to hide in, making it much more a game of tactics and great plays, especially when you consider the subclasses and weapon system changes.

Control returns, but the scoring system has been altered so that a single point is awarded for a kill, which is then multiplied to if you hold two or more of the control points on the map. With the smaller map in the beta, it feels more intimate, like your actions mean more to these fights. That’s obviously true of Countdown as well, with one team attacking and the other defending two control points. It boils down to being a Destiny spin on Call of Duty’s Search & Destroy mode, almost certainly signalling that Bungie (and Activision) would love to capture some of the esports audience with this game.

Already, it’s clear to see how Destiny 2 looks to continue and evolve from the original, tearing apart the world and rebalancing the game’s weaponry, enemies and combat, but keeping the same look and feel. Really, the only problem is that the beta doesn’t even give us a glimpse of the wider open world that will be available in the full game. We’ll get to visit the new social space, The Farm, on the 23rd, but where the first game’s beta enticed and excited by letting players explore Old Russia and the Moon. Here’s hoping the improvements to that side of the game will be worth the wait.