My colleague Marco is the Destiny veteran, having spent over three months of in-game time in the original and its expansions. He even went to E3 and interviewed Deej from Bungie, so those who want a perspective on the Destiny 2 beta from a veteran should check out his opinion.
I, on the other hand, never played the original, as I only started gaming on consoles late last year. With that being said, I did hear some good things about Destiny and was ready to jump into the Destiny 2 Early Access beta this week. The first time I logged in, 20 minutes after the beta kicked off, I got an error and had to wait a bit.
However, when I finally manage to connect to the game’s servers, two hours went by as if they were only seconds. The story mission available in the beta, entitled Homecoming, instantly made me fall in love with the game. I couldn’t put my controller down as I destroyed my enemies as the Titan with the Striker with the Sentinel subclass.
The Sentinel creates a shielding dome in an area to protect me and my allies, while the Striker’s ultimate ability Fists of Havoc left a beautiful yet deadly damage-dealing field that can decimate any foes that come close. I mentioned allies, because to my surprise, I saw I had an ally in the story mission, without even needing to join a matchmaking queue. To make things even better, the player had a “ZA” tag in his or her name. It was simply put glorious fun and chaos.
I noticed that I had to pick up ammo dropped by enemies and that there are different types of ammo, so timing which guns I used and taking great care to try and aim for the head was of importance. The most intriguing thing for me was the way the weapons handled and how every weapon had its own unique feeling. Simply put, it was the best FPS experience I have ever had, even though I had doubts about my ability to aim efficiently with a controller.
It is the magnificent gunplay that has, in all honesty, made me addicted to the game after only a couple of hours. When I went to bed that night, I could only think about Destiny 2 and what the full game could have in store for me.
All the mechanics I learned from the game in the first few hours translated well when I tried the Inverted Spire Strike (A Strike is like Destiny’s version of a dungeon), which provided a great challenge for someone new to the game.
I had to land jumps on spires to avoid death and kill some powerful enemies with two other players, we clearly knew more about the game and even the class I chose to play with.
My first Strike experience did exceed even my wildest expectations and when I finished it, the first thing I did was play it again, and again, until it was time for bed.
Since then, I have replayed the Homecoming mission and the Inverted Spire Strike with both the Warlock and the Hunter class, but the Sentinel still remains my favourite. The classes feel unique as they all have their own playstyles and ways of helping a group survive.
Throughout my time in the PvE portion of the beta, I continuously stopped and looked at the beautiful scenery, which resulted in quite a lot of deaths and some teammates who got a bit angry at this guy called “Sillinoob” not moving forward as fast as they did. That’s because the game looks absolutely breathtaking on the PS4 Pro. Not once did I experience any frame drops or graphical glitches, something I would generally expect from a beta.
The only thing I didn’t like from my experience with the beta is the PvP portion. The amazing gunplay is, of course, still there. However, the latency did get to me a bit, especially when trying to melee opponents with my Titan-Striker character. It’s not that bad, as I could compete with some players, but for me, the PvE portion is where the game really shines and will be my main focus come September.
Make no mistake though, I don’t think it is the game’s fault, but rather the latency from South Africa that is the main issue. Unfortunately, that is something we have to deal with because distance from servers…
Even so, playing the Inverted Spire Strike with others felt like an extremely smooth experience. Not once did I experience any latency issues, which was a big relief.
Destiny 2 will release on 6 September 2017 for the PS4 and Xbox One. PC players will have to a bit longer, until 24 October 2017, to finally play a Destiny game. For those PC gamers unsure if Destiny 2 is the game for them, there is a beta happening sometime in August. I, for one, am already hooked on the game.
I try to avoid pre-ordering a game, no matter how much hype I have for it, but after playing the Destiny 2 beta for roughly 10 hours, I found my wallet (it was hiding) and pre-ordered Destiny 2. In the end, I fell in love with Destiny 2.
Before playing the beta, I was a bit down and felt like gaming has become more like work than actually enjoying myself to the fullest. Destiny 2 has changed that, it has reignited my love for video games in a way I never thought possible. Thank you Bungie, thank you.
Are you a Destiny virgin looking to play the sequel and what do you think about my experience as a first-timer in the Destiny 2 beta? Let us know in the comment section below.It is the magnificent gunplay that has, in all honesty, made me addicted to the game after only a couple of hours. When I went to bed that night, I could only think about Destiny 2 and what the full game could have in store for me.
