Destiny 2 Beta: First Thoughts

The Destiny 2 beta is finally here and that means the full game is right around the corner. I jumped on the early access beta and here are my first initial thoughts on the game so far.

First initial thought while it was “transferring data” was , “damn, this game is going to be gorgeous.” The images that were popping up were in true Destiny fashion of vivid worlds and places I want to go. After the hour of installing was done, you get to pick your character.  I chose the route of the warlock. Right away it opens with a cut scene and throws you into, what I assume is the first story mission of the game. You battle your way through the level and at the end, you are met with another cut scene that is kind of like a cliff hanger. A couple things I noticed while playing was the enemies seemed a bit laggy. I know this is a beta so I am hoping they get that fixed. I am actually really excited for the story after playing that opening. I know many others feel this way, but the story was missing from the first game. I mean you get kind of one, but I am hoping this dives deeper into the Destiny lore.

Secondly, there is a strike to play in the beta! This was an awesome little treat and you get goodies for completing it. The strike took me about 18 minutes with two other people and it was fun and actually had some humor in it. The only thing, just like the campaign, some enemies seemed to lag a bit causing them to teleport.

The last thing you can do on the beta is the crucible. That is what I was most interested to play. To see the shift change from a six person teams to four. I am little disappointed on the teams dropping as we have a nice crew that all play and if we all want to play together, we are going to have to do a private match.  While playing the matches I felt like they were a little off balance. It didn’t seem to have that same flow as the first installment. Between control and countdown, the two game types you can play, they seem to get one sided pretty fast. I can see that getting very frustrating. The two maps feel very small with what seems like a lot of choke points, which I guess is good for 4v4, but I hope they can fix the balance issues. Don’t be like CoD.

Overall, I am extremely excited for the new game. The new abilities feel fun and fresh. The new types of guns are intriguing and there is a new class ability that is available. It is going to be interesting to see what transfers over as Bungie put on their website:

“Sequels represent the start of a new adventure for every player, with new worlds to explore, new stories to tell, new powers to acquire, new loot to earn, and much more. This led us to a decision that would enable us to serve both the game and the player’s best interests: Destiny 1 power, possessions, and Eververse-related items and currency will not carry forward.”

We do know that your characters appearance will carry over, but it appears that is about it. I do hope they add a customizer where you can adjust how your current character looks, because I made the mistake with a stupid haircut on my titan.

​Have you played the beta? What are your thoughts?