E3 2017: ‘Destiny 2’ Bungie Reveals Overhaul Of Weapons, Enemies, Matchmaking With In-Game Clan Support
Destiny 2 will now be released two days earlier than anticipated, on September 6 for PS4 and Xbox One consoles. Bungie’s Luke Smith confirmed at E3 2017 that the release date does not apply to the PC version of the game. IGN reported that, for PC gamers, the Destiny 2 launch date is October 24.
For those who have ordered the limited edition versions, as well as the standard edition, the beta for Destiny 2 will open up for PC players, PS4, and Xbox One on July 18, lasting 5 days.
Destiny fans have been buzzing about the impending release of Bungie’s Destiny 2 for months. Familiar characters from Destiny are returning in Destiny 2, and fans have worried that the game will be too close to the original. Many are wondering how the game will be different from its predecessor.
During the E3 2017 conference, GameSpot went directly to the source and spoke with Mark Noseworthy, the project lead for Destiny 2 and inquired about the major changes being made to the game.
Weapon categories in Destiny 2 will be different than that of its forerunner. Instead of having slots for Primary, Secondary, and Heavy weapons, Destiny 2 will have Kinetic, Energy, and Power.
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This will change the setup for player loadouts by allowing them to have the same type of weapon in both slots, providing that they are of different archetypes. Mark Noseworthy mentioned the new scout rifle as an example.
“Both the Energy slot and the Kinetic slot pull from the same archetypes, so it’s not the same weapon- there’ll be Solar Scout Rifle [for example]. That’s an Energy weapon, and it’ll have a sweet name and do certain things. But then you can have another Scout Rifle in your Kinetic slot. But it’s a Kinetic Scout Rifle, with a different name.
“And the Kinetic rifle will be good at just doing damage to regular [enemies]. And then the Energy Scout Rifle will be especially good at taking down shields, whether that’s a shielded combatant or another player who has their Super.”
Power weapons for Destiny 2 include the new Rocket Launchers, Grenade Launchers, the Sniper and Fusion Rifles, and Shotguns. According to the interview with Bungie at the E3 2017 conference, these weapons have been amped up for Destiny 2 and will do additional damage.
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Although a majority of the enemy forces found in Destiny 2 are the same breed as those found in Destiny, Bungie has made changes across the board.
“We’re not really detailing any of the changes we’ve made to the Hive, the Vex, or the Fallen, but they’ve each evolved. They’ve all been touched in some ways.”
As seen in multiple trailers of the game, the Cabal are the main combatants throughout the storyline for the Destiny 2 campaign. At E3 2017, Bungie admitted that they have spent a majority of their efforts on the Cabal. The Cabal Red Legion is the primary antagonists of the Red War campaign. Bungie has created the War Beast, the Incendiary, and the Gladiator as new Cabal units moving forward into Destiny 2.
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One of the largest changes that Bungie has implemented into Destiny 2 is a complete overhaul of the currently available clan system. With the addition of in-game clan support and guided games, clans will be able to raid when they are short players, and single players will gain access to the harder multiplayer content of the game without having to make a commitment to any one particular clan. Guided games will not include heroic activities.
“You’re not actually joining the clan, but you’re gonna agree to participate in a clan in that activity. And so this is going to help clans when they’re short one or two people on Tuesday night when they play the Raid, but also give the opportunity for people who don’t have a lot of friends playing Destiny to play some of this great content that they haven’t experienced.”
Bungie has expressed, however, that they wish all players would eventually find a clan that they are able to clique with. Bungie is giving clan leaders the ability to identify the clan with a name and motto. In addition to this, Destiny 2 players will receive rewards for joining a clan. Individual play, while part of a clan, will benefit the rest of the clan. Members of the clan playing together will, in turn, benefit the single players who are not playing at the same time.
Just as with its precursor, Destiny 2 will offer content that is exclusive to PlayStation users. Game director for Destiny 2, Luke Smith, shared news on Twitter regarding the release date of the exclusive content to PC and Xbox One players.
Prior to Smith’s tweet, Activision had only mentioned the content would remain exclusive “until at least Fall 2018.” Based on Smith’s tweet, we can now deduce that PC and Xbox One players will gain access to the PS4-exclusive content sometime between September and December of next year.
The PS4-exclusive content contains the Lake of Shadows Strike, a Crucible map entitled Retribution, an Exotic Sniper Rifle (Borealis), a ship and additional armor.
[Featured Image by Christian Petersen/Getty Images]
