Destiny 2

Destiny 2 (also known as Destiny 2: New Light) is a free-to-play online-only multiplayer first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie. It was originally released as a pay to play game in 2017 for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Microsoft Windows platforms. It became free-to-play, utilizing the games as a service model, under the New Light title on October 1, 2019, followed by the game’s release on Stadia the following month, and then the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S platforms in November 2020. The game was published by Activision until December 31, 2018, when Bungie acquired the publishing rights to the franchise. It is the sequel to 2014’s Destiny and its subsequent expansions. Set in a “mythic science fiction” world, the game features a multiplayer “shared-world” environment with elements of role-playing games. Like the original, activities in Destiny 2 are divided among player versus environment (PvE) and player versus player (PvP) game types. In addition to normal story missions, PvE features three-player “strikes” and dungeons and six-player raids. A free roam patrol mode is also available for each destination which feature public events as well as activities not available in the original. These activities have an emphasis on exploration of the destinations and interactions with non-player characters (NPCs); the original Destiny only featured NPCs in social spaces. PvP features objective-based modes, as well as traditional deathmatch game modes.

Players assume the role of a Guardian, protectors of Earth’s last safe city as they wield a power called Light to protect humanity from different alien races and combat the looming threat of the Darkness. Like the original Destiny, the game features expansion packs which further the story and adds new content across the game. Year One of Destiny 2 featured two small expansions, Curse of Osiris (December 2017) and Warmind (May 2018). A third, large expansion, Forsaken (September 2018), began Year Two with an overhaul on gameplay. The base game and the first three expansions were packaged into the Destiny 2: Forsaken Legendary Collection. An Annual Pass, which began the game’s seasonal content model, was also available alongside this release and contained three premium content drops for Year Two (December 2018 and March and June 2019). This content became free to owners of Forsaken just prior to the release of the next expansion, Shadowkeep (October 2019), which began Year Three. Shadowkeep and future releases are considered standalone releases, not requiring players to own previous premium content. Released alongside this fourth expansion was a version of Destiny 2 called New Light, a free-to-play re-release of Destiny 2, which also included access to the first two expansions. Separate seasonal passes also became available for each season’s content. While the main Destiny 2 game has since been free-to-play, all other content requires purchasing.

Year Four saw the biggest overhaul on the game, as nearly half of the game’s content from its first three years, including the original base campaign as well as Curse of Osiris and Warmind, were removed from the game and placed into what Bungie calls the Destiny Content Vault, which also contains all content from the original Destiny. Alongside this change, Year Four began with the fifth expansion, Beyond Light (November 2020), which introduced the power of Darkness to the players. Bungie described this expansion as the beginning of a new era for the franchise, as it will be followed up by The Witch Queen in early 2022 and Lightfall (working title) in early 2023, as well as the yearly seasonal content spread throughout. There will also be a final chapter to follow Lightfall to conclude the first saga of Destiny, called the “Light and Darkness Saga,” before the beginning of a new saga.

Upon release, Destiny 2 received generally favorable reviews from critics. The game received praise for its many improvements over its predecessor. The original Destiny received much criticism for its story, but the 2017 version of Destiny 2 was praised as having a “more robust story” and a fleshed out villain—as of November 10, 2020, the story that received this praise is no longer playable. As with the original, gameplay, for the most part, was also highly praised, as well as its graphics, multiplayer, and the public events. Reviews were divided on the recategorization of the weapons, the game’s original raid (which is no longer accessible), and the newer activities, like the Adventures and Lost Sectors, but praise was unanimous on the exploration of the game world. Changes to PvP were welcomed by some reviewers, though others were critical for the mode lacking player choice. Destiny 2 was nominated for and won various awards, such as at The Game Awards 2017 and Game Critics Awards.