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Destiny 2
In a dedicated public event streamed live from Los Angeles, Bungie today showed off a wealth of details about Destiny 2. Briefly touching on a variety of subjects, the stream made it clear that Destiny 2 is far more than an evolution of the existing game; it is a broader reinvention and reset that to invite new players as much as welcome veteran Guardians.
New in-game clan functionality allows player groups to build their own banners and unique cultures, as well as acquire dedicated clan rewards. And a new “guided game” system aims to connect existing clan communities with solo players, helping everyone in the community to confront high-end activities like raids, Trials matches, and nightfall strikes.
We also got a glimpse of three new subclasses coming to Destiny 2. The Warlock solar-based Dawnblade subclass seems to be focused on a flaming sword, aerial combat, and flinging fireballs. The Hunter arc-based Arcstrider subclass wields a staff in close-quarters, martial-arts combat. And the Titan void-based Sentinel wields a handheld shield, à la Captain America.
A new Director (the in-game map and activity selector) has been redesigned around seamless exploration of a Destination, including new shorter missions called Adventures, and hidden dungeon areas called Lost Sectors. The Director will also be your guide to visiting Destiny 2’s four major new locations: The European Dead Zone, or EDZ (previously seen in a couple of Crucible maps in Destiny 1), features a lush forest and cave systems. The Saturn moon of Titan sees players exploring abandoned platforms in a vast methane ocean while helping Commander Zavala regroup from the devastation wrought by the newly arrived Cabal Red Legion. On Nessus, players visit a planetoid overrun by Vex and aid Cayde-6. And players will visit Jupiter’s moon of Io to help Ikora Rey uncover secrets left behind by the Traveler’s visit there centuries earlier.
The Crucible competitive game is in for some dramatic changes, including a move to 4v4 matches, rather than the 3v3 or 6v6 matches of Destiny 1. The map to illustrate the new PvP action is called Midtown – an abandoned part of the Last City. A new Countdown game type demands that players assault one of two enemy strong points and set a bomb, and then defend it. Killing all opponents, setting off the bomb (on offense) or defusing the bomb (on defense) leads to a round win, and six round wins take the match. Revives are limited by a resource of revive tokens. And the new power ammo type is only available to the single player who pulls it.
On that final point, Destiny 2 is seeing a reorganization of its weapon types, and abandoning the primary/special/heavy dynamic of Destiny 1 . Most weapons (including a new submachine gun class) can fall into either the kinetic (standard bullets) or energy weapon (arc, solar, and void) categories. More powerful weapons, including sniper rifles, fusion rifles, and shotguns, join rocket launchers and grenade launchers as power weapons.
In-person attendees are, as I write this, having a chance to dive in and play some of the Destiny 2 content for themselves. A story mission called Homecoming lets players witness the emergency as the Red Legion arrives. The Inverted Spire strike takes players to Nessus and the Cabal dig site there. And attendees are also being invited to play through matches of Countdown on the Midtown map to get a taste for the new style of PvP.
New insights are certain to be coming out as event attendees continue to explore what’s on offer in Destiny 2. Activision also revealed that the PC version of Destiny 2 is coming to Blizzard's Battle.net.We’re also happy to share that our upcoming issue (launching in June) will feature an extensive feature that digs into additional detail on Destiny 2. We’ll be watching the game closely in the next few days, but also in the lead up to the game’s launch on PS4 and Xbox One, scheduled for September 8, with an unscheduled PC launch at some later point.
Today also provided a chance for some hands-on impressions, a first gameplay trailer, a video breakdown of PvP features, and a bevy of screenshots. Suffice to say, it's been a big day for Destiny fans.
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