Abstract Review - Destiny 2 Beta

Destiny was one of my favorite games of 2015. I didn't like it at launch because of how restricted it felt and DLC being overpriced for what it was. My sister got the game for Christmas with all the DLC and it was great. I played for two years and hearing the developers were planning a new game was amazing to me. For those who think the game was dead from the start, hated the fact that it was and doesn't deserve it, it was a chance for Bungie to redeem themselves in the awful attempt of creating a great story in a game, and so far after the Beta, I am generally pleased with what they have done so far. 

The game throws the play in the story mode from the beginning and shows off the characters (you go to constantly in the first game) in action. I loved that part of the Beta, you never see them in action, but you're told that they're the most elite Guardians on Earth and know more tactics than a war veteran. I am genuinely glad they're doing this, they made them so cool and seeing them show off their moves is so rewarding. You see Cayde kill a few things as he casually strolls by, Ikora destroys a ship in anger, and you fight alongside Zavala! I doubt any of you would know these characters beside Cayde, but god those people were awesome, giving this meaning to these characters instead of NPCs you receive missions and rewards from. And seeing the place that every Destiny Player called home was a battleground, being destroyed constantly by the Cabal. It really gives off a certain emotion you're suppose to feel from the disaster you're witnessing. And the villain is so great, having a goal that affects you and all your friends and you want to stop him. That's the kind of villain I want from games these days, they always try to make it poetic or out of place with no clear goal for them to follow. I hope they make him more of villain in the game, either killing key characters or something of that sort. 

The design they put in the maps were all so stunning as well. I mean, there was a few things that were out of place, like some clipping shadows or objects clipping inside of each other, but I can get over them. I especially love the Plaza part of the story mode, where you fight with Zavala, it looked like the Tower was vulnerable and needed heavy assistance. And I noticed the Ball you play with in the first game is popped and melted in the stairs heading towards Zavala. I don't know about any of you guys, but I had some fond memories with that ball... I loved playing soccer with it... That moment seeing that ball destroyed and gone forever, I want to kill every single last one of those Cabal freaks. 

And apparently, there's not going to be a silent protagonist. Those of you RP Players won't be given a chance to voice your own character anymore since the protagonist already has one. Personally I like that, I always thought it was weird when your character doesn't respond to certain reaction in the first game, it just made it feel as if your character wasn't involved. And the voice actors playing the guardians are great, they're easy to listen to and have a powerful voice, which fits the voice of a hero that's going to save everyone and the "Light." The only thing I didn't like about the Beta was that the races were randomized along with the sex of the character. I'm all for a strong woman and all, but I don't wanna be an Awoken. I know that this is all that they have finished at the moment, but I want to see voice differences in the game! I guess it's just one of my opinions I can't get over... Yeah, it is. Either way, I loved the Female Awoken Voice Lines in the little story we had, they all were well acted and I can't wait to see what else they have in store for your character. 

Speaking of your character, it seems like you're going to have all your weapons in the beginning until the end of the prologue, because you get a freaking Exotic at the beginning and everything you have is Legendary. I don't know if that's actually going to happen, but I hope it does. I think it would support the player's hatred for the villain and motivation to stop him , taking all of your gear and having to start over. Plus, having to go from Last Gen to New Gen sounds cool to me, your gear transcending from the best you had in the old game to best you had in this new one. I would genuinely love that if they did that. 

On to the weapons, they changed up the weapons in the game, primarily for PvP sake. If you're unfamiliar with the previous game's weapon slot, your primary had three weapons: Auto Rifle, Scout Rifle and Pulse Rifle. Your Secondary was Shotguns, Sniper Rifles and Fusion Rifles then Sidearms later. And your Heavy was Machine Guns and Rocket Launchers then Swords later. Now you can have an Auto Rifle in your Primary and Secondary Slot. The reason for this is because your Primary is Kinetic Damage and your Secondary is Elemental Damage. For those who don't know, Kinetic is good against enemies with shields or weak spots, while Elemental is good against Armor and Elemental Opposites. The Elemental Opposites in the first game didn't really matter since mostly any type of damage does the same amount with each weapon regardless and had nothing to determine which element was which. I don't think it would matter in this game either, but who knows, they have a Scorch Cabal as an elemental enemy. 

The abilities, on the other hand, are changed up. The Titans are given the Striker and Defender Class, both from the original game. The Striker Class is different from the first game, having you do a ground pound and walk further to do it again with the same amount of damage. The grenades are the same for the most part as well as the punch. Then there's the Defender Class, having a new ability instead of creating a bubble shield. You can become Captain America with a shield to deflect bullets and beat your foes to a blood pulp. If you want to use the bubble shield, you can hold both button to activate the ability and the bubble will appear, doing the same effects as they did before. You can also have a Wall Shield or a Cover Shield. The Cover Shield being a waist high cover, having the player be able to provide a new cover to duck under. The Wall Shield a complete see through wall. You can't shoot through it, but you can see where your enemies are heading or where they're going to flank. 

The Hunter has the Arcstrider and Gunslinger classes. The Arcstrider ability is mostly just Blade Dancer, but with a staff. You can activate that ability and go berserk on anything you can find. The grenades are pretty deadly, having some long lasting areal damage or a quick blinding attack. The Gunslinger is pretty much the same as the previous game's, but you get a third-person view. It still does an awesome amount of damage and the grenades are pretty much the same.The Third ability can be a bit of a downgrade since it's just a roll. The Marksman's Roll is just a plain roll, but automatically reloads your gun. The Gambler's Roll is the same as the other, but if you run into someone, they take damage. I wish they did something cooler with that.

The Warlock has the Voidwalker and the Downblade. I wish they put more thought with the second name since it's such a cool Class compared to the others. Voidwalker is like from the previous game, but instead of throwing a single energy ball, you can choose to shoot a cluster of them at an arc. It takes some getting use to since the changed how the projectile shoots, instead of it going in a straight line, it shoots at an arc (as I said before). The grenades are pretty much the same as well as the melee. Downblade is similar to Arcstrider, but instead each swing is a devastating projectile and you can fly. It really does a lot of damage, having an unfairly long run. The grenades feeling the same as the Super, throwing a ball of burning light or a fiery explosion. The Third Ability is pretty useful in almost any situation: you do a healing ward,  where whoever stands in that area will be healed and get an over shield. There is also a damage boosting ward, where whoever stands on that area will be damage boosted. I think this and the Titan are the best so far and can save the team instead of yourself. 

Moving on, there is a lot of redesigns for original enemies, like the Fallen, the Vex and the Caba. The Cabal still have those small heads, but not as small to laugh at them. The Fallen might have a new ruling house (or clan, look it up), having them look more edgy and with darker, red clothing. The Vex look pretty much the same, but the Minotaurs have a weak spot now, being the chest. I like that since they didn't have one in the previous game, they were just annoy bullet sponges that teleported and  dealt a lot of damage. Besides that, there are new enemy types for each race. The Fallen have new invisible enemies that hide and snipe the player from afar. When the player is near them, the invisible sniper will dash to a safe spot while cloaked, having the player scramble to the enemy's new location. I think this is a new breed of Fallen since these guys have two arms, but some kind of insect legs on their torso. They're mostly cloaked when you fight them, so you don't notice most of it, but when they dash they do this spider-like crawl while doing so. I love it personally, because I like creepy things, but I can see these things becoming a big annoyance to the community, since they always have dead-on aim whenever you try to dodge their attacks. And the Servitors, the big robot eyes, have a new ability. Instead of healing nearby enemies, they now shield an enemy like one of those Vex Taken, not being able to kill the shielded enemy until the Servitor is dead. At least they made them more of target, instead of a healer than did so little for his job. 

As for the Cabal, they have four new types of enemies on their hands (obvious because they're going to be the main focus of the game) and they're pretty fun to play with. There is the Scorch Cabal, that I mentioned earlier, that can shoot balls of fire at the player and do constant damage on hit. If they miss, the projectile hits the floor and causes that part of the floor to burn, but do constant damage upon hit. They're as easy as most flamethrower enemies, having the fuel tank protruding over their back being an easy attack since it's just above their head. There are the Shield Cabals. I know they were in the previous game, but these are better. They have an energy shield that deflects all damage until you hit the center and disable the shield entirely. They can also make their shield cover more ground than themselves, but still hold the same weakness for their shield or just rush through it and punch the guy instead. I'm glad they made this change since they use to stop the flow of battle, having players leave those guys for last or waste ammo by missing their feet or hands. Makes them fair to fight, but still a challenge and doesn't stop the flow of battle. There is also a Butcher Cabal (not their real name) that do massive amounts of damage in one hit and have the most health out of the Cabal class. Although I understand they're suppose to be the feared enemy type to make the player focus more in the game, but god don't they just destroy when they give you horde of them. I wish they were more prone to stagger since nothing else about them would have to change, I just want to have a mode to escape his grasp when I need it. Then there's the cleverly named Cavall, the dog types of the game. If you ask me, I hate it when they add dogs to a game. They're always the annoy enemy that just like to stop you from having fun. They're pretty easy to kill and learn, but they are so low from the screen that they can sneak up to you and bite you on the ass. What makes it even more annoying is how they can push you, sometimes destroying your momentum.And the one thing I don't like is how they put so many on screen. Three is enough, but when you spawn four packs of them, it's like running from an actual, single dog. I guess this is just a personal opinion, so I guess you can ignore that one. 

There's also a new ability the Cabal have that allows them B-Line towards you. Why is that an ability? Because! They got an explosive stick on their wrist! I'm not kidding. I don't know if it's suppose to be a stick or a blade, but it still is something to runaway from. I like it since it adds more diversity to them, having them do more than just dodge and shoot at you. If you have a Wall Shield up and they pull out that explosive and run through the shield and rush you as if you were the quarterback. I love how they're changing up the enemies instead of giving us a rehashed version of the same thing. I'm genuinely glad they're doing something to make this game different from the last. I mean, there is some things to get use to, but who doesn't want to see something new. 

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this Abstract Review. I really enjoyed the Beta and it feels like the Story is going to be better than the last game, even though there was barely any in that one. I can't wait to play the full game when it comes out and see more new changes they made. Again, I hope you liked this and 'til next time....

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