During the first mission of Bungie’s latest creation destiny 2 expansion, light fall, after hijacking and self-destructing an enemy spaceship, stumbled upon a familiar hangar bay on the way out. Its two-tiered layout, room-filling swarms of purple ships, and wall-length energy shields that stretch out into space are all part of the Covenant that Master Chief invaded in one of Bungie’s early games. It didn’t look like a hangar at all. Halo: Combat Evolved.
Intentional or not, this visual double-take reminds me of that destiny 2 It is a conversation game with a long history. Bungie’s early games aside, light fall We’ve reached the end of a span of 20 years Hello issued.in the meantime destiny 2 Today, it might be almost indistinguishable in sophisticated mechanical complexity compared to Bungie’s 2001 mega-hit.level design, monsters, guns (that homage is destiny 2‘s 30th Anniversary Update), you can see layers and layers of history.
in many ways, destiny 2 Made for those of us who may notice evidence of this history. light fall A review talking about a completely different Bungie title. Because in the old days, it was always a game with one leg stuck. At the back of that menu are pages dedicated to Moments of Triumph and Seals that commemorate everything he’s accomplished in the six years since the game’s original release. destiny 2 We continue to celebrate its history, even as we continue to obliterate it elsewhere.
Mostly destiny 2I can no longer access my Moments. Old campaigns will end when new campaigns are released. To experience the game is to experience the permanent present. It is a present constructed from narratives of the recent past and mechanical material. light fall shows this recursive tendency.
The expansion’s story goes back to the original’s first moments destinywhen he looked up in wonder at a giant white ball called the Traveler that floats like Damocles above the last city of mankind. light fall Start answering the question, “What is a Traveler’s Deal, anyway?” At the start of the campaign, a moon-sized sphere springs into action as dramatically as possible, plunging into Earth’s orbit and challenging its old enemy, the Witness. Now I am actively participating in the progress of the event. Still mostly a mystery, I’ve seen the Traveler change things and change itself.
the mechanical act of playing light fall Likewise, it feels like a mix of old and new. Apart from an arsenal of new weapons with various perks (as is standard in all Bungie expansions), the campaign also grants players a new super-his ability called Strands. Strands allow players to grapple in the air, hook onto enemies among other things, and slam them into them with satisfying explosions. Strand’s extreme mobility and reuse of Destiny’s familiar actions of grabbing and dunking orbs allow us to see the form and behavior of previous mechanics. Strand doesn’t reinvent so much as reconfigure how the game used to work. It also makes old content feel fresh again, especially for players who experienced it all before it got boring. becomes, and the burden of gravity disappears. Or common sense, judging by how easy it is to jump off a ledge.
light fallThe setting is the biggest departure from Destiny’s past. You can start your campaign in the heat of battle in Earth orbit, but you’ll quickly travel across the solar system to the planet Neptune, a new addition to Destiny’s filming locations.Neomna, the city that serves as light fall‘s main location is a sleek futuristic landscape drenched in colorful cartoon neon, soundtracked by synthesizers and playful drum riffs. A funky sci-fi atmosphere inspired by comics such as Guardians of the Galaxy destiny 2An already broad visual patchwork. Your main point of contact is a memorable goof: Nimbus, an 8-foot-tall non-binary humanoid covered in chrome, Sorayama Motokaze costume Complete with Bitchin’ Codpiece.
Neomna is new, but the villain who threatens it, the former cabal emperor Karus, is quite old.Hosted version of Calus destiny 2‘s first raid.I banged my head against Raid’s seemingly impossible puzzle, and the growling reptilian laughter of Callus echoed through my sleep-deprived skull. light fall, Became a pawn of witnesses, but partially enriched because once you could see him on his height.
But what about new players who only know one way or the other? destiny 2Extensive lore and backstory of ? Joining the game itself is relatively easy. You can jump directly after playing the tutorial missions introduced in the New Light update. light fall motion. And the cinematic to introduce light falldoes an admirable job of keeping us up to the relevant story beats that lead to the current moment. However, it doesn’t feel as tense or exhilarating as what we’ve seen in previous expansions. witch queenOn a purely functional level, this should be enough for many players, right?
I’m a little unsure. at the end of the day, destiny 2 It lives and dies by its sense of history, by the dedication of its player base to knowing that history and being loyal to being recognized. It comes from being able to remember how it felt and celebrate how it has changed since then.
Given that light fallThe story ends with many open-ended questions and is just the beginning of a year’s worth of narrative and gameplay content. This requires a level of time investment that many new players hesitate. The gameplay and artwork — polished as they are — are more than enough to attract newcomers.Once the campaign is over, they choose to commemorate “Veterans” (a title given to players who started playing six years ago), willing to dedicate themselves to a world that mostly ignores them. Do you want to start? There is certainly something impressive about games like destiny 2has its own history, but it also has a history that stretches back to past franchises. But I wonder if there’s a space for those who have nothing to do with that history, those who approach the game as visitors and witness just a fraction of what must feel like a lifetime memory. I think
Destiny 2: Lightfall was released on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X on February 28th. The game was reviewed on his PS5 using a pre-release download code provided by Bungie. Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These do not affect editorial content, but Vox Media may earn commissions on products purchased via affiliate links.discoverable Additional information on Polygon’s Ethics Policy can be found here.