Destiny 2 Reviews

I put more time into the original Destiny than I've ever put into anything. I can see myself playing the sequel just as much. Though the core grinding loop might be slightly different this time around, it's still as satisfying as ever. Though it's somewhat of a prelude, the story is a compelling introduction to the Red Legion. Finishing the raid with my clan left me feeling accomplished as its ultra-hard mechanics put a team's mettle to the test. I can't say I've got a whole lot of gripes about this sequel. It feels like a pretty natural evolution of Destiny and does what it always did that little bit better.

The Final Shape is simultaneously Destiny 2's most personal, most daring, and most conservative expansion yet, pushing boundaries while also playing it safe.

Bungie continues to improve its shooter MMO with the best story campaign it has yet produced and a whole lot of great additional content to keep players engaged.

Marked improvements in style and story, coupled with Bungie's always excellent shooting, make this continued space epic a winner. But that never ending grind, though...

A lot has changed for Destiny 2 in the three years since release. After launching as a full-priced product, it decided to take the free-to-play route in late 2019. After teaming up with Activision to bring both the original game and this sequel to market, Bungie cut ties with the publisher to do it alone. And after expanding the base game with two big pieces of DLC, a lot of content was recently removed so the developer can better handle and manage the experience. The popular looter shooter finds itself in an interesting position then as the PlayStation 5 version arrives — a significant update designed to enhance the game for those already playing rather than attract new players. This is the best Destiny 2 has ever looked and ran on consoles to date.

Bungie mostly delivered, too. The planet-hopping, loot-grabbing gunplay was fantastic, even if the end game was a massive grind-fest that four major DLC drops failed to fix. The story never felt coherent, either, unless you researched the Grimoire lore books online.

The PC version of Destiny 2 replicates the amazing gunplay the first game is known for. The visuals are gorgeous and the environments are so expansive that there is hours worth of exploring to be done. There is a huge amount of content to keep players entertained and almost all of it can be replayed with worthwhile rewards to be gained. This title lives up to its predecessor and has surpassed it in almost every way. For those looking for a casual shooter with a great story or for those who want to challenge themselves in raids and competitive PVP, this title caters to a wide audience making it a great experience all-round.

When the issues of a game are rolled and stomped by its greatness, then it’s something to invest on if you have some spare.

A stunning sci-fi shooter that's great with friends.

Once we’ve had more time to try the game on varying machines of varying quality, we’ll also follow-up with another piece that speaks to the PC-specific tech experience. Destiny 2 will also change in the future as Bungie makes tweaks and releases new DLC. Expect RPS to update our collective opinions accordingly at that time.

Though it is held back by a severe lack of social options and PC-specific sandbox tuning, Destiny 2 on PC looks and feels like the best version of one of the best games of 2017.

Destiny 2 is… broad. It is a showcase of improvement and compromise. It is a time vacuum. It’s hard to not enjoy playing Destiny 2, yet still possible to dislike a fair portion of it. This game is a resurgence of excitement and enjoyment that began to fade late into the life of Destiny. It is, through and through, a better, more refined experience. Your Guardian’s journey will continue to grow through expansions and the inevitable third instalment. The community will keep sharing their stories and ideas. Weapons will rise and fall, classes will be reborn and destroyed. But, much like the original, Destiny 2 will be a second home for me and my friends. A place we can share laughs, hardships, defeat, and joy. That, in part, is what makes the Destiny 2 universe worth visiting: the brilliance of quality game design bringing people together.

I think for most of the hardcore Destiny 1 players, this is simply not the game we were expecting. This one is built for the casuals. That's not necessarily a bad thing. I played more D1 over the past two years than probably all other games combined, but Destiny 2 is just going to be another game in my library. It won't consume me, but I will enjoy it every time I load it up.

At its core, Destiny 2 is a game about shooting and looting. Admittedly, Bungie’s latest effort does a superb job at this, giving us the opportunity to shoot a variety of aliens in an incredibly satisfying manner, amongst gorgeous surroundings, and in all manner of ways. It’s enshrouded in a compelling and immersive mythos, with a breadcrumb trail of loot rewards to urge us ever onwards. But is it enough? The time has come to finally weigh in, as this is our Destiny 2 (PS4) review.

Bungie takes players back to the Destiny universe with an improved sequel that's a no-brainer for faithful fans. Even if you're just looking for a new loot shooter, it may be time to become legend.

Minor improvements make for an all-round better experience, but not without a few steps backwards.

Destiny 2 improves upon its predecessor in every conceivable area, resulting in a content-packed, enjoyable FPS that will keep you entertained for months on end.

As an overall product, Destiny 2 is an incredible feat. Bungie spent three years essentially beta-testing this game, and used the knowledge gained from its predecessor to improve and fine-tune just about every aspect of the experience. As with the original, there are still rough patches to pave over, but the astoundingly fun game here is beautiful, funny, varied and constantly rewarding to play. The first Destiny was a game that we played and enjoyed often in spite of itself; with Destiny 2, Bungie has crafted something that’s genuinely worth the time, especially if you’ve got a few dedicated friends willing to join you.

Destiny 2 offers a compelling reason to explore the world of Humanity's last stand.

Destiny 2 has proved that it is not just an expansion, or an unnecessary sequel. It is a second attempt at a game that hooked fans with its incredible gunplay, and now those players can buckle in for a story and activities to match.

Bungie took a big chance when it chose to reset three years of progress and start all players, new and returning alike, at ground zero for Destiny 2. The risk has allowed for a reinvention of troublesome systems and a new opportunity for players to climb the level curve, while still maintaining the successes learned across the many updates of the first Destiny. The result is a game that is more accessible, streamlined, and sensible, with a clear through line in both gameplay and story. However, this refined sophomore effort in the Destiny universe comes at the cost of flexibility to play how you want and fully customize the experience as you go.

In 2014, Destiny 1’s launch lit the world on fire. To this day, it stands as one of the most hyped video game releases I’ve ever been a part of. I had a great deal of fun shooting countless aliens while collecting loads of loot across the galaxy with my friends for well over a year, but eventually, the game became a bit lethargic. From a practically non-existent main narrative to repetitive experiences in shallow shared spaces, Destiny 1 left much to be desired. Sure, expansions like The Taken King and Rise of Iron stoked the flames of enthusiasm, and in many ways teased what was to be expected in the sequel, but they weren’t quite enough to keep me invested in the rich universe Bungie had crafted. At long last, the much anticipated Destiny 2 has arrived. Between storytelling, gameplay, and progression, Bungie’s follow-up to their shared world shooter reignites the hype as it builds upon every facet of its predecessor. Strap in, because there’s a lot going on in this game.

Destiny 2 is a blast out of the gate thanks to its excellent co-op shooter gameplay and strong storytelling in the campaign. Not all the features I’d expected to find are here, but it does deliver the same kind of highly social gameplay and rewarding, loot-driven progression that helped the original keep me hooked for hundreds of hours. The main concerns right now are a few bugs and lack of event options, but I’ll definitely be sticking around to see this big, action-packed universe develop over time.

I will end this review with an interesting thought: The story of Ghaul in Destiny 2 mirrors the story of Bungie as a publisher: humble, runty beginning (being a Mac game publisher), molding by an older mentor (Microsoft Studios) with an ulterior vision for their company, rise to indomitable power (the Halo years), a search for meaning beyond the power (splitting off the Halo franchise to 343 Industries), a fall from grace (leaving Microsoft), to becoming engulfed in the Light of their achieve...

While the first Destiny had its shortcomings, they're not quite so evident here. Destiny 2 does everything that the release version of the original failed to do, with a worthwhile story and plenty of other activities to complete, right out of the box. A fantastically enjoyable and insanely addictive shooter, Destiny 2 is certainly well worth your time. Now, where's Xur hiding this week?

Bungie have grasped the opportunity that Destiny 2 gave them with both hands. Every part of the game has been reconsidered to create a more uniformly rewarding and engaging experience, from the main story and planetary activities to the Nightfall strike and beyond. It has left some of the returning activities feel less rewarding for time spent, and the smaller scale Crucible multiplayer scratches a different, more competitive itch than in the original game, but these are things that Bungie can and will address over time. Destiny 2 is a fantastic new beginning for one of the most popular online shooters out there, and I can’t wait to see how it grows and evolves over the coming months and years.

The PVP is an example of something that has been fixed, even though it wasn’t broken. The new maps and game modes are a lot of fun, and the competitive playlists have a larger consequence for death (limited number of lives per round). But some of the fundamentals of the Destiny PVP have been changed. The Crucible has been cut back, only allowing teams of four instead of teams of six. I enjoyed the larger scale battles, because it meant there was always action on the map and it also meant that you and your entire raid team could all hop into the competitive modes on days when you wanted to fight some other players instead of the AI. Additionally the stats during, and after a game have been changed. Players can no longer see their individual kills and deaths. Want to know how many head shots you got, your deaths versus kills, or your assists? You can only make estimates using the cryptic stats surfaced like efficiency rating and opp. def. number, unless you keep track yourself. Bungie dropped the traditional post-game carnage report, which they perfected with the Halo series, in favor of something that feels soft and welcoming at the cost of relevant information for self-improvement. It feels like the bulk of these changes were made to give Destiny 2 a stronger edge in the esports realm, and while the core gameplay is the same, I miss the large scale battles and knowing my detailed performance during a match.

On the one hand, Destiny 2 will feel like old times, an adventure that begins with the words "Be brave" and culminates in epic shenanigans. On the other hand, Destiny 2's soul doesn't feel any more defined and it's prone to many of the pitfalls of the original while introducing some new mistakes. Highly recommended for Destiny fans and new players but those who didn't like the original might want to think twice.

Destiny 2 commits a lot of the same sins as its father, but it succeeded in doing something the original never did — make roaming around the open world fun and rewarding. It still has a lot of room to evolve with expansions and major updates, but the future is looking brighter than it once was.

Destiny 2 is a significant improvement over the original and its expansions in that the game makes more sense this time around.  The campaign, cooperative and competitive game modes come together to form a more cohesive and focused experience.

Was Destiny lacking anything? The only thing that can be thought of is a story and Destiny 2 fixes that and some. Bungie returns to their roots of impressive storytelling for this game.

Destiny 2.0 is exactly what I wanted the original Destiny experience to be. I wanted to travel the galaxy, complete missions, shoot at different alien species, and get cool gear. I feel liberated from the sour past of Destiny’s gear-heavy Light system, and I feel like I’m enjoying my time with Destiny once again. And with the launch of The Taken King coming in under a week, this is one hell of a time to get hooked on Destiny.