After a month of teasing, Bungie has finally pulled back the curtain on Destiny 2 with a gameplay reveal live stream. So now, let's look at what's to come and what we know.
A World Without Light
Bungie didn't waste any time getting down to business. The first piece shown was the opening mission of the game, called "Homecoming," and Destiny 2 is going to start with a bang. The Cabal has launched an all-out assault on the Last City on Earth, and the Vanguard is desperately trying to hold it off.
From there, you jump in, fighting alongside characters like Zavala and Ikora Rey, characters that were little more than talking heads in the first game. You also get to see more of the city as the Cabal invades, culminating in a tease of Dominus Ghaul, commander of the Red Legion, and the villain of Destiny 2 who is out to take the Traveler's light for himself.
Bungie also didn't waste time showing off the new powers players will have at their disposal - the Dawnblade for Warlocks, the Sentinel for Titans, and the Arcstrider for Hunters.
The Dawnblade gives Warlocks a solar sword that has melee and ranged attacks; the Arcstrider looks to trade the dagger of the Bladedancer from the first Destiny for an arc-charged staff; and the Sentinel gives Titans a personal void shield that can be used for defense or to do your best Captain America impression.
The worlds have also been switched up, with a new section of Earth and three new worlds to explore. On Earth, the European Dead Zone will replace the Cosmodrome from Destiny, and will be the largest playspace that Bungie has design for the series.
As for the new worlds, there's Titan, Saturn's largest moon that houses a sinking human settlement that has been abandoned for centuries. Next is Io, a moon of Jupiter, and was the last place the Traveler touched before humanity's collapse. Then there's Nessus, a planet that has almost been completely transformed by the Vex and lies deep in the Red Legion's territory.
Get To The Action
In terms of gameplay, it looks like Bungie has really upped the craziness with the powers mentioned above and the new weapons. While going through, the devs made a point of saying that weapon loadouts are now designed to be more customizable. Now, rather than the previous primary/special/heavy slots, it will have kinetic/energy/power slots.
The power slot will be used for weapons like sniper rifles, fusion rifles, and grenade launchers, while the kinetic and energy slots can have the same weapons, just one has an element burn attached.
In terms of getting to and exploring the worlds, Bungie has also streamlined that, now allowing players to go from planet to planet without always having to go to orbit, which was a constant bother for Destiny players.
Once planetside, there are new activities like adventures and lost sectors, the latter of which can give some big rewards if players can take down the boss guarding these treasure hordes. There will be new strikes and a new raid available as well, though only one strike was teased.
Moving to Crucible, Bungie decided to make some interesting changes, cutting the team size to four, making most matches an eight-player affair. While Bungie didn't go into detail about all the modes, the team did unveil Countdown, the newest Crucible mode that is the first true attack/defense mode.
A much-needed addition also came in the form of clans and guided games. While clans already exist in Destiny, there were no real in-game markers, aside from a clan tag on your player emblem. Now, people will have a banner and be able to interact in-game, giving clan mates the chance to organize matches and raid within the game.
Then there's the mentioned guided games, which works as a sort of in-game LFG system. If a clan wants to run an activity but needs one or two people, they can open it up so someone looking to play, say a raid, can join up without having to be in the clan. It remains to be seen how well this system will work, but having something LFG-like in the game is a welcome addition.
So it's safe to say that Bungie has done everything it can to make the game people wanted out of the first Destiny while expanding on what worked the first time around. While fans still have to wait until either the summer beta or the official release on Sept. 8, Bungie's gameplay reveal has definitely set the tone right.
