Destiny developers Bungie did their best to break the internet with their worldwide gameplay reveal of Destiny 2 today. With PC gamers getting a shot at it it too, it's shaping up to be even bigger and better than before.
UPDATED: PC specs have leaked... check the end of the story.
After leaks and speculation, and the hype of the first trailer for the game, it was no surprise that over 400,000 people tuned in on and to see the stream, which was hosted by Destiny Game Director and presented to hundreds of hardcore Destiny players in Los Angeles - sadly missing the presence of our own Destiny fiend SubReal, who is laid low with the lurgy.
Activision
Highlights included first mission gameplay, battling alongside Cayde-6, Zavala, and Ikora as the Tower and much else is destroyed in an assault by the Cabal Red Legion and their leader Ghaul - our primary antagonist this time round,
Many more cinematics are promised, which implies there's more of a story to tell - something the original launch of Destiny was criticised for. It was partly summed up as "getting the band back together" - with the trio of Vanguard leaders cast to the... err... three corners of the Solar System after the destruction of the Tower. The Speaker is kidnapped to boot, so it looks we'll have to bail him out, hopefully for a better reward than a Titan butt towel eh! C'mon Speaker, hand over the loot...
Activision
The launch game will see players able to access four worlds - Earth and its new European Dead Zone more than twice the size of the current biggest map in D1, Titan and its seas of methane, Io and its lush landscapes, and Nessus - hosts to Vex enemies. Vehicles too were teased, including what looked much like tanks alongside the familiar sparrows.
Meanwhile at launch each character will gain a new subclass and super, and a new third ability alongside melee and grenade, UI is overhauled, while weapons loadouts have changed to allow more mixing and matching of weapons that could allow dual heavies, for example.
Each world will be much more explorable and accessible than before, with direct travel between them - no going to orbit just to select destinations - and each has its own roster of oddball characters with side missions and Adventures, secret zones and areas, treasure hunts, dungeons, undiscovered territories, and the ability to access any game mode and event in-instance.
Matchmaking for Raids, Trials, and Nightfalls is on the way, as is a sorta sherpa-handholding mode called Guided Games where solo players can join groups within the game without using LFG-like sites. For launch there will be a single raid.
Crucible gets an overhaul of sorts but is essentially the same - however it now has a 4v4 structure for all gametypes that could be a route towards eSports.
Activision and Bungie had already confirmed that , and the stream went into no more detail - but they did reveal PC gamers will be able to get the game through Blizzard's service. For you fps junkies: no mention was made of framerates for any platform. Nor of cross-platform play, though one would think that (Activison-)Blizzard's Battle.net would allow shared character progression etc.
All in all it is very Destiny - you'd recognise it instantly. This is no gamechanging veer away from what we love about the game, but looks like a natural progression.
The Beta is in July, and the game's release date is September 8th.
UPDATE: Early rumbles say Destiny 2 on PC will play at 4K (3820 x 2160) with an uncapped framerate, have adjustable field of view, full chat and text chat options, 21:9 monitor support, and other tweaks to make consoleers envious. Nvidia look to have gone whole-hog for it and have announced full support too.
Destiny 2
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