Destiny 2: Shadowkeep
PC, PS4, Stadia, Xbox One
Not even the raid can escape the sense of déjà vu that permeates the game
Developer/publisher Bungie Format PC (tested), PS4, Xbox One Release Out now
We feel like we’ve been here before. Not the Moon – we’ve definitely been here before, running endless laps of our farming routes for Helium Filaments in the original Destiny. But Destiny itself has been at this point previously: a flawed, if occasionally irresistible first year; a redemption job 12 months later; and now this, where Bungie has to decide what works and what doesn’t about a game that was already in pretty good shape, spends most of its time tinkering in the margins, and puts out something that naturally can’t hit the heights of the dramatic rescue mission that came before it. First there was Rise Of Iron; now there is Shadowkeep. Here, for the second time in five years, is Destiny’s difficult third album.
The Moon is the bedrock of it. It was the largest zone in Destiny and it is in the sequel as well. The existing space has been brought over lock, stock and exploding barrel, old spaces updated and expanded and new areas folded in. Cave entrances that once led to dead ends now take you to Lost Sectors; a new patrol zone in the far northeast leads to the Scarlet Keep, an ornate fortress complex of such size and scale you wonder how the Vanguard managed to miss it the first time around. Zipping around old haunts is a delight early on, but it quickly becomes apparent that this is far from all Bungie wants you to feel nostalgic about.
The campaign, brief though it is – at launch, in any case; Bungie learned from last year’s Forsaken the value of teasing out story content over a number of weeks – leans heavily on tales of Destiny past, requiring you to fight Nightmare versions of bosses from the first game (as well as Dominus Ghaul, antagonist in the first iteration of Destiny 2). Once the curtain has dropped on the campaign, you find these battles have been repurposed as Nightmare Hunts, and are one of the key weekly ‘rituals’ that committed players will have to play time and again over the next 12 months. The first time you fight Omnigul, a Strike boss in Destiny’s first year, or Crota, an old raid boss, the nostalgia fizzes and tingles up the back of your neck. Two weeks later, that sensation is gone, and the months ahead loom long. Fan service, or corner-cutting? Probably a bit of both.
The sensation continues beyond the Moon, given the lack of an update to the loot pool in the wider game. We knew the wind was blowing this way: over the last 12 months Bungie has used each in-game ‘Season’ to pull player focus towards a specific activity by putting all the new loot in it. So there are new guns to be earned on the Moon, and more in Vex Offensive, a rather bland new PvE mode where six matchmade players face off against swarms of robotic aliens. Head off elsewhere, though, and you’ll end your chosen activity dismantling the same guns and gear pieces you’ve been sharding on sight for the last year or two. That Edge Transit or Bad Reputation may have a higher number on it than the 16 you’ve for some reason still got in your Vault, but that can only soften the blow so much. Not even the raid can escape the sense of déjà vu that permeates the game; yes, it’s the hardest, most satisfying challenge on offer, but its mechanics are variations on an increasingly worn theme. There’s a lingering sense that, if Bungie hasn’t reached the limit of what it can build around six space wizards with ridiculous guns, it’s at least getting close.
And so to the margins – where, predictably, we find Shadowkeep’s brightest successes. The new Battle Pa– erm, Season Pass lifts the progression system popularised by Fortnite to great effect, providing both paying and non-paying players with a reason to keep coming back. Naturally, those who get their wallets out get a better deal – a freebie for every level-up instead of every five; an exotic immediately, rather than at level 35; and so on – but the effect on both camps is the same.
Destiny has always been at its best when it allows you to play to your own tastes, rather than dictating your to-do list. The Season Pass means that whatever you do, you’re always working towards something new.
The same applies, to a point, to the Seasonal Artifact, a limited-time skill tree that encourages the use of certain weapon types and abilities during the current in-game Season. Perks offer increased reload speed for submachine guns, hand cannons and auto rifles; mods for each help you take down the new Barrier and Overload Champions, ultra-tough enemies who pop up in high-end activities. And the menu’s final column powers up melee and grenade abilities in two of the elemental classes. When the next season begins, all that will go away, to be replaced by a new set of politely suggested playstyles. It’s smart stuff from a studio that has, throughout Destiny’s life, struggled to meaningfully deter players from the generally accepted meta.
Perhaps the biggest change is Armor 2.0, a drastic overhaul of the Destiny gear system that, in theory, gives players greater control over armour perks, which were previously decided by dice rolls. While the jury’s out for now while we climb towards the Power cap, it’s clear that, when combined with the Artifact, there’s a greater focus on character builds. After two years of Destiny 2’ s limited subclass trees, this is a welcome change.
That difficult third album, then? It’s fine. Shadowkeep delivers on our expectations, giving us more of the things about Destiny we like, while reminding us that nostalgia ain’t what it used to be. There’s new, experimental material that works well in some places and poorly in others. There’s a hint of a bold future, dulled somewhat by the sense of a band going through the motions. It is no triumph, but nor is it a disaster, and given the overall arc of this oft-troubled series, fans will take that. It is
Destiny: a game we think we’re growing out of, but will be playing until the Hellmouth freezes over.