Prior to the launch of The Taken King expansion (which Polygon will be reviewing as a separate product), Bungie released a major patch for Destiny restructuring the game into what it has labeled "Destiny 2.0." We spent the last two weeks starting a character from scratch to experience how the game plays in its new form.
The biggest changes in Destiny 2.0 come from how the game presents long-term and moment-to-moment goals to players. There is now a questing system in the game, similar to MMOs, where you pick tasks from characters in the hub city and then go out into PvE or PvP encounters to complete them.
These quests push players through the story that already existed, but they also provide good motivation for running missions multiple times, doing strikes and patrols and spending time in PvP. While the core content of Destiny — and our issues with that content — have not changed, the game does a much better job of motivating continued play. It helps that there’s a constant drip feed of solid quest rewards as well, so players aren’t quite as handcuffed by Destiny’s notoriously stingy random drops.
Also, if you happen to own either the House of Wolves or The Dark Below DLC packs, quests from those will now be tangled together with main story progress in a way that leads to a more varied and satisfying overall campaign experience.
The 2.0 update has also modified Destiny’s unnecessarily complicated leveling system. Without purchasing The Taken King, the level cap is now set at 34. The previously confusing “light level” system is now a simple number modifier based off of the total power of your currently equipped gear.
These seem like minor changes in the grand scheme of things, but they allow for a game where leveling is faster, where the pacing is better, and where even incremental gear upgrades feel better and more frequent.
On the other hand, there are some concerns with Destiny 2.0, especially if you do not own or intend to purchase The Taken King. Some users who have stuck with the core game have reported frustration that core content they got used to over the past year is no longer available. Weekly heroics and nightfalls are now gated to players at the new level 40 cap that opens up when you’ve purchased the expansion, and the most popular PvP playlists are now expansion-only.
In some ways this is standard for massively multiplayer games. But for a title that has continued to awkwardly straddle the line between MMO and more traditional shooter — and with a fanbase largely not used to the former — it has led to some frustration.
Destiny, in its 2.0 update form, still suffers because its core hasn’t changed. It still suffers from an intriguing universe wasted on bad writing and a go-nowhere story. It still has too many missions that fall back on fighting wave after wave of enemies with no real motivation. However, 2.0 is a big step forward nonetheless. Destiny isn’t a great game yet, but the framework for potential future greatness is now much more solidly in place.
Destiny suggests potential it never realizes
Let's wipe away Bungie's legacy with Halo, which put them on top of the world and in a position to make a game they've said they always wanted to make for ages. We'll step back from the whispers of giant budgets, of corporate politics. For now, Destiny is just another game.
As just another game, Destiny is a confusing combination of often at-odds elements — it presents itself as ambitious, almost boastful, while seeming strangely safe and reserved. It wants to eat its cake as a shooter, and have the longevity of an MMO — but it lacks the combat sophistication of the former, and the deep well of content native to the latter.
For all the wonder of its presentation, the swelling potential suggested by its (excellent) score and the basic foundational strength of its controls, Destiny often feels like a collection of its influences' biggest problems.
Destiny was reviewed using retail PS4 discs provided by Activision. You can find additional information about Polygon’s ethics policy here.
Update: 09/18/2015
Destiny review update 1: Destiny 2.0
Prior to the launch of The Taken King expansion (which Polygon will be reviewing as a separate product), Bungie released a major patch for Destiny restructuring the game into what it has labeled "Destiny 2.0." We spent the last two weeks starting a character from scratch to experience how the game plays in its new form.
The biggest changes in Destiny 2.0 come from how the game presents long-term and moment-to-moment goals to players. There is now a questing system in the game, similar to MMOs, where you pick tasks from characters in the hub city and then go out into PvE or PvP encounters to complete them.
These quests push players through the story that already existed, but they also provide good motivation for running missions multiple times, doing strikes and patrols and spending time in PvP. While the core content of Destiny — and our issues with that content — have not changed, the game does a much better job of motivating continued play. It helps that there’s a constant drip feed of solid quest rewards as well, so players aren’t quite as handcuffed by Destiny’s notoriously stingy random drops.
Also, if you happen to own either the House of Wolves or The Dark Below DLC packs, quests from those will now be tangled together with main story progress in a way that leads to a more varied and satisfying overall campaign experience.
The 2.0 update has also modified Destiny’s unnecessarily complicated leveling system. Without purchasing The Taken King, the level cap is now set at 34. The previously confusing “light level” system is now a simple number modifier based off of the total power of your currently equipped gear.
These seem like minor changes in the grand scheme of things, but they allow for a game where leveling is faster, where the pacing is better, and where even incremental gear upgrades feel better and more frequent.
On the other hand, there are some concerns with Destiny 2.0, especially if you do not own or intend to purchase The Taken King. Some users who have stuck with the core game have reported frustration that core content they got used to over the past year is no longer available. Weekly heroics and nightfalls are now gated to players at the new level 40 cap that opens up when you’ve purchased the expansion, and the most popular PvP playlists are now expansion-only.
In some ways this is standard for massively multiplayer games. But for a title that has continued to awkwardly straddle the line between MMO and more traditional shooter — and with a fanbase largely not used to the former — it has led to some frustration.
Destiny, in its 2.0 update form, still suffers because its core hasn’t changed. It still suffers from an intriguing universe wasted on bad writing and a go-nowhere story. It still has too many missions that fall back on fighting wave after wave of enemies with no real motivation. However, 2.0 is a big step forward nonetheless. Destiny isn’t a great game yet, but the framework for potential future greatness is now much more solidly in place.
Initial Review: 09/12/2014
Destiny review: no fate
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