Destiny 2 preview roundup

Listen gang, I’m going to level with you: we haven’t had a go on Destiny 2. But we know you’re all hankering for Destiny 2 info, and we want to help get that information into your eager little hands. To do that we’ve rounded up the key Destiny 2 previews and hands on impressions from all over the internet. Saved you a google. 

Xbox Achievements

Dom Peppiatt, roving reporter over on our sister site at Xbox Achievements, has had a hands on and was extremely impressed by the new 4v4, calling it ‘the best thing to happen to Destiny 2’s multiplayer.’

‘Turning the experience into a 4v4 affair, synergising the classes and improving the time-to-kill has resulted in one of the strongest multiplayer experiences I’ve had in years. Granted, I’m a big Halo fan (and put many hours of my life into vanilla Destiny), but it seems Bungie has rediscovered that creative, playful spark that made its multiplayer games the best in class back in the 360 era… from early impressions, it’s not unreasonable to say Destiny 2’s competitive portion is maybe even as good as Halo 3’s.’

Gee, Dom, if you love Destiny 2 so much, why don’t you marry it?

Polygon

The Polygon hands on focuses on the PC build of the game. Destiny was only ever on console so the sequel coming to PC has been a new selling point for many.  While no capture of the PC build was allowed, it has evidently impressed with its uncapped 60 FPS. Polygon’s reporter calls it ‘so much of a superior experience’ that they’ll wait for the PC version to release after the conosle one.

‘After a solid 25-minute round on each platform, I’m not sure I want to go back to the console version ever again.’

Kotaku

Kotaku’s preview also takes on the PC build, describing playing Destiny 2 on PC as ‘wild’ and noting that it appears well optimised. Kotaku also describes the other bits of game that were available at preview, including the PvP and story mission, but is aware that Destiny 2 may not win over Destiny skeptics just yet.

‘If you were hoping for something dramatically different from Bungie’s much ballyhooed Destiny sequel, I regret to inform you that Destiny 2 is still Destiny. If you really like Destiny, of course, that’s not such terrible news.’

PCGamer

No prizes for figuring out what PCGamer was most interested in either, although it sent a cabal of three reporters, so you get triple the analysis. They take on the single player story, PvP, and the strikes and seem mostly positive about the whole thing (even ‘relief’ that it’s not terrible on PC). There are still some concerns around the length of story missions and the evolution (or lack therof) of the combat.

Eurogamer

Continuing a theme, Eurogamer’s preview is positive enough, and excited to see more of what was described at the announcement that wasn’t available in the preview. Overall, however, it doesn’t seem like Destiny 2 has broken new ground yet.

‘The sense of familiarity I felt as I played Destiny 2 is not necessarily a bad thing. There’s a lot that Destiny 1 got right, so I’m glad a lot is staying the same for the sequel. But there’s a part of me that had hoped for more from my hands-on time with Destiny 2, even though as I write this I’m reminding myself that I’ll end up pumping hundreds of hours into it with my clan mates.’

Gamespot

Gamespot has a video preview and its reporters are hopeful that the campaign could be ‘a pretty impressive campaign that could stand on its own pretty well’. They’ve enjoyed the good visuals and sharp textures, as well as the faster, tighter combat (comparing it to the jump from Halo to Halo 2). Like most other people, they’re aware that it feels familiar in some ways. But they’re okay with that.

PCGamesN

PCGamesN evidently had a billboard time playing Destiny 2 on PC, praising the weapons and abilities and looking forwards to it being ‘a special edition to the PC library’. 

‘The move from consoles to PC hasn’t impacted the feel of Destiny; a rapidly paced, kinetic game that defies comparisons with any other shooter. It possesses unique DNA that should make it stand out on our platform despite being awash with countless shooters and MMOs already.’

IGN

IGN’s reporter, describing himself as a lapsed Destiny player, was particularly impressed by the Strike, ‘a vast, colorful, tense adventure with my two teammates that felt, I imagine, like a mini-Raid.’ As with everyone else, there was only praise for the PC version and the mouse and keyboard controls, but there was some concern over the Raid in the final game.

‘In this age of being spoiled by an unending flood of great games, I remain uninterested in spending hours and hours grinding my way to Raid eligibility after the campaign concludes. I wonder if Bungie will narrow (or even eliminate) the gap between the story’s end and the Raid’s beginning. I hope so, as everything else about Destiny 2 has me eager to resume my life as a Guardian.’