The PC has always been home to world's best first-person shooters: Doom, Unreal, Crysis, Quake, Half-Life, the pantheon of legends stretches in an almost unbroken line and all have made their primary home on the platform. So, with Bungie's recent announcement that Destiny 2 is coming to PC, why should PC gamers specifically get excited?
Bungie is making it
Well first up, there's the pedigree of its makers. Yes, Bungie will no doubt forever be associated with the Xbox flagship shooter Halo, but alongside id Software, they were one of the early pioneers of the first-person shooter (FPS) with the admirable Marathon trilogy (1994) which introduced among its many multiplayer innovations, vertical axis aim, dual wielding and the rocket jump (and which you can still play here).
Bungie went on to enhance their first-person credentials with three huge Halo games on Xbox (and a port with Gearbox on PC), and the original Destiny. Let's put it this way, they know how to make a great FPS.
Its weapon play is totally unique
This heritage shines through most in Destiny 2's core value, its gunplay. There's something slick, smooth, satisfying and almost hypnotic in the way that you move and fire in a Destiny game, something which Bungie honed in both Halo and the original title. Each enemy type has a different movement and attack pattern and boasts different vulnerable spots to target. When your aim aligns with your movement and the firing and reload pattern of your gun, to land a perfectly timed volley which scythes through your target, there's something almost balletic about it.
Destiny's innate feel, that satisfying combination of movement, firing, grenading and deploying your explosive specials, leads to a shooting experience like no other. It's difficult to describe unless you've actually played it, but on PC, with better graphics, a more responsive interface, and greater control over your Guardian's movement, it promises to play better than ever.
It has guns for all types of players
It's no exaggeration to say that Destiny has one of the most intriguing and exciting loadouts ever found in an FPS, boasting a formidable arsenal of weapons to enjoy. Whether you're a fan of scout or assault rifles, hand cannons or swords, its basic weapons set is hugely gratifying and when you add in heavy variants like the rocket launcher, sniper and fusion rifles, it only increases your appetite for destruction.
Each and every weapon can be upgraded by unlocking various sights and perks and you earn new models and varieties through triumphing in combat, with regular drops adding a sense of progression that's incredibly rewarding. Whatever your preferred combat style, Destiny has a weapon variant that will have you covered.
When it comes to adversaries, facing you are five of the most varied and challenging foes imaginable. Whether it's the machine-like Vex, the insectoid Fallen, the zombie hordes of the Hive, the mutated Taken, or the brutal Cabal, you're going to face some of the most taxing and intelligent opponents ever to fall under your gun sights.
Dispose of these waves of foot soldiers and even more daunting battles await, in three-man strikes or six-man raids, as you team up with your fellow Guardians and go toe-to-toe with gigantic, monstrous bosses, which will put both your shooting skills and tactical acumen to the ultimate test.
The addictive progression system
Triumph in these contests and reward will be yours in the form of ever more collectable loot, armor, and exotic weapon variants which constantly upgrade your Guardian, honing them into a formidable battlefield warrior. Destiny 2 utilizes a progression system which borrows heavily from MMORPG mechanics and completing missions, strikes and raids will reward you with ever more impressive spoils.
Nothing quite beats returning from a mission with a legendary engram on board and impatiently waiting to see if it will be decoded into that brand new Scout Rifle, you've long lusted after—it's a risk-reward mechanic that is hugely compelling.
The co-operative raids
One of the original Destiny's greatest strengths and points of difference from other FPS, was its "shared world shooter" universe that emphasized co-operative endeavor and asked players to team up to tackle its biggest challenges. Gaming with friends at least doubles, or in this case triples, the fun and with three classes, Hunter, Titan and Warlock to explore, everyone has a unique role and function to fulfill.
There are few FPS experiences to rival the post-match feeling of conquering Destiny's most formidable raids like the Vault of Glass or the King's Fall, and sharing that sense of achievement with your friends and fellow Guardians.
Destiny 2 is set to expand this co-operative ethos even further with comprehensive in-game support for clans, while adding a host of Guided Game features, so that lone wolves can more easily team up to go adventuring in Destiny 2's four new planetary frontiers of Io, Nessus, Titan and the European Dead Zone. If you do fancy a more adversarial experience, then the trials of the Crucible await, where you can hone your skills against fellow Guardians in a bunch of new game modes and multiplayer contests.
This is an ‘optimized’ Destiny
While there was much to admire about the original Destiny, for Destiny 2 Bungie have made a huge effort to build on that experience to make it even better.
The storyline will be much more prominent this time, with greater use of cutscenes and cinematics to provide more narrative drive and make you feel like an all-conquering hero.
Behind the scenes, a host of improvements like a streamlined interface, a new map, better signposting, more content and a much quicker travel time between locations, mean a mass of minor frustrations have been eradicated.
You can now play it on PC
Finally of course, perhaps the best reason to play Destiny 2 is that it's set to take advantage of the most powerful gaming system on the planet, the PC. Guardian movement is a key part of Destiny and a keyboard and mouse control scheme with customizable keyboard mapping, will mean unprecedented precision and accuracy.
The PC edition also looks awesome, with 4K resolution, an uncapped frame rate, 21:9 monitor support and an adjustable field of view, bringing Destiny 2's magnificent sci-fi planetscapes and beautiful vistas to life like never before.
Destiny 2 was also showcased at E3 2017 running on PC in gorgeous 4K ultra high-definition—calling it eye candy does not even begin to do it justice. Blizzard is also releasing Destiny 2 via its online game manager, the Blizzard App, formerly known as Battle.Net.
Get Game Ready with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 10 Series and experience Destiny 2 on PC. For a limited time, when you buy an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti or an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 graphics card, system, or laptop, you’ll get Destiny 2 at PC launch and Early Access to the PC Beta!
(*This is a limited offer running between June 13 - June 27 and is only available through select partners).
Sponsored by Nvidia
