Destiny 2: Shadowkeep Review
Game Information
Publisher: Bungie Developer: Bungie Rating: Teen Reviewed On: PC (Steam) Other Consoles: Xbox One, PS4
There are no spoilers in this review beyond what happens in the intro mission.
In Shadowkeep, Guardians return to Earth’s moon in response to a seismic disturbance and are confronted with nightmares from the past. Eris Morn, an expert on the darkness, calls Guardians to discover the secrets behind the source of the nightmares. The Hive stands in the way, guarding the pyramid that Eris Morn believes holds answers. Meanwhile, mysterious red Guardian-like phantoms are floating all over the Moon, and nightmares are appearing in lost sectors all over the galaxy.
Rating
Gameplay: 9.5 – Destiny gameplay has been updated quite a bit with this expansion. Most of these updates are not tied to Shadowkeep specifically, but are still worthy of mention.
Bungie has redesigned the pursuits tab, renaming it quests and separating bounties from quests. This has made it easier to keep track of your bounties and quests. For PC players, Bungie has also added the ability to have a key binding for quests. This addition means you can go directly to quests without having to go to the map first. Another new addition to gameplay was the addition of finishers. Finishers are an attack you can use when an enemy’s health is low. It is a bit hard to adjust to using a finisher instead of your fist. However, it looks pretty cool, and with the right armor mods can reload your weapons or regenerate your health.
With the release of Shadowkeep, Bungie updated how armor works in Destiny 2 with what they are calling Armor 2.0. Mods are no longer single use, which means once you can unlock them you can use them on any piece of armor. Each armor piece has a limited amount of energy available and each mod costs a certain amount of energy. The energy is elemental, so void mods will only be available on void armor pieces. Not all mods are tied to elements.
Additionally, armor appearance has been updated. The new system is similar to how ornaments work on exotics but uses unlocked Eververse items, which can be earned through gameplay or purchased from microtransactions. I do wish that there were more options available beyond Eververse items for appearance ornaments. A cool thing about this change to appearance is that shaders and ornaments are separate. This means you can keep the shader and change the appearance (or do the reverse) which is nice if you like to change your appearance often.
Story: 8.75 – Shadowkeep’s storyline is terrifyingly brilliant. It taps into our Guardians worst fears and explores some of the greatest mysteries in the Destiny universe. Guardians are confronted by nightmares from the past, in both enemies and the boss rooms. After the main quest line is over, there is still story to play, especially since the Vex are being drawn to the Moon by the source of the nightmares. The actual campaign is a bit short and abrupt. However, the lore and the impact to the overall story of Destiny is well done, as always. It is very interconnected and the questions we have been asking since Destiny 1 are beginning to be answered. A lot of pieces are falling into place.
World Design: 10 – Shadowkeep’s main story line takes place in a familiar location: the Moon. For Destiny 1 players, being on the Moon will bring with it nostalgia and oh so many memories. Bungie did a good job balancing the changes they made to the area with the nostalgic aspect of the world design. They have added more of a variety of things to do in the patrol zones, including lost sectors and the Vex Offensive. Additionally, there are some pretty cool Easter eggs hidden in some of the most unexpected places.
Graphics: 9 – Bungie has done an amazing job on the graphics for Shadowkeep. However, some older computers may struggle with the textures and details. The use of the red throughout the design of Shadowkeep gives a spooky feel to the Moon and to the new enemies. They’ve even incorporated the red into the updated destinations map. The new design of the Hive and the Scarlet Keep stays true to the Hive designs of the past, but adds a layer of change that is evidence of the new influence of the nightmares.
Playability: 9 – With this update, all items were brought up to power level 750. The highest power level required for the main storyline for Shadowkeep is 850. However, it is recommended that your Guardian be light level 760 for the first story mission of Shadowkeep. Leveling up your Guardian’s power level isn’t very time consuming as long as you are willing to use some blue items temporarily. The difficulty of the new story missions are equal to those of the last expansion. Some of the missions are not easy, but are still doable for single players. While it is made for single players, having a fireteam of at least two players does help.
Replay Value: 9.25 – Destiny has a very high replay value as there are always more things to do and places to explore. The bounties, adventures, dungeons, and seasons, all add variety to the game. Bungie has added a seasonal artifact that gives mods specific to the season. There are many new and old places to explore on the Moon. Some of the details in the story missions are easy to miss the first time around since you can get focused on seeing what happens next and not so much your surroundings. There are bounties with rewards for replaying story missions, as well. Bungie has made it worth something to replay the missions, and there is so much to do on the Moon after the main story is over.
Final Score: 9.25
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*Editor’s Note: Neither The Rampage nor Bluefield College is affiliated with or sponsored by Microsoft Xbox, Sony PlayStation, Steam, or Bungie
