Destiny 2’s handcannon is about to go down in historical past as one of many PC’s greatest weapons. It feels unbelievable: completely balanced and so punchy it is like firing a miniature railgun that is loaded with clenched fists. And that is not the one factor about Destiny 2 on PC that is going to impress.
Read extra: Destiny 2 story guide.
At the sport’s premier occasion in LA I have been hands-on with the the marketing campaign’s very first mission and The Inverted Spire co-op Strike. The transfer from consoles to PC hasn’t impacted the texture of Destiny; a quickly paced, kinetic recreation that defies comparisons with another shooter. It possesses distinctive DNA that ought to make it stand out on our platform regardless of being awash with numerous shooters and MMOs already.
If you have performed Destiny earlier than, the marketing campaign mission holds few surprises. There’s nonetheless wave defences to have interaction with, and loads of run-and-gun set-pieces. The tempo feels extra forward-focused although, aided by an elevated variety of moments that hark again to Bungie’s work on the Halo sequence. Drop pods hurtle in, crashing by the surroundings like molten bowling balls, unleashing Cabal troopers in your unsuspecting Guardian. While these moments are primarily simply enemy spawns, the wham-bam of all of it actually hammers dwelling that it is a marketing campaign that is targeted on offering an expertise extra akin to a linear motion recreation than a extra static MMO.
Of course, these multiplayer parts come to play within the Strikes: three-player cooperative missions that demand you’re employed collectively by a sequence of aims. The Inverted Spire pits you in opposition to the Vex, Destiny’s dwelling machine race, in an space that feels distinctly extra puzzle-like and inventive than that providing within the marketing campaign slice. It includes a ton of leaping – made extra attention-grabbing than it sounds by Destiny having a literal leaping tech tree for all of its three courses – in environments that warp away from beneath you, plunging your Strike group additional into the world. As the effectively deepens, the multi-stage boss rears its head. Summoning minions, it takes a hell of a variety of bullets and punishment to kill.
While bullet-sponge enemies will be annoying, Destiny 2 counters with spectacular weapons and talents – you will need enemies to final that little bit longer so you may see these abilities in motion. In the marketing campaign I performed as a Warlock Dawnblade and its new Super: sprouting angel wings and hovering above the bottom whereas hurling big flaming swords under. As a Titan Striker I used a lightning strike as seen within the unique recreation, however with a couple of tweaks that make it simply that contact extra thrilling to execute. But even if you’re taking part in as a well-recognized sub-class, there are new parts; the Titan, for instance, can faucet V to put down a holographic piece of canopy. The Warlocks have whirlwind-like rifts that may heal or buff, whereas Hunters get a brand new dodge transfer. Even when you’re vastly aware of Destiny, it looks like there are new toys that change the moment-to-moment motion in delicate however attention-grabbing methods.
Despite the hands-on time of Destiny 2’s PvE parts being quick, it is already apparent that it’ll be a particular addition to the PC library. Simply put there’s nothing fairly prefer it; it cherry picks one of the best concepts from so many locations, however the finish end result, no less than to this point, would not really feel like a mash-up of stolen property. I am excited to see the place Destiny 2 is heading – there’s nonetheless a lot to see and uncover – however already I really feel like we should always all be taking note of this console recreation that is making massive strides into the PC area.
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