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Destiny 2: Forsaken - Hands-On Impressions

Bungie is infusing their next expansion with a hint of the Wild West, and we got a chance to try it out at E3...

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Destiny 2 turns one year this September, and Bungie have a big celebration planned for us. On the fourth of September, the third and by far biggest expansion yet will be released. Forsaken will tell the story of a jailbreak at the Prison of Elders, which causes the death of fan favourite character Cayde-6 and sends the Guardians on a quest for revenge. This journey will take us to the Tangled Shore, a Wild West-esque no man's land composed of asteroids, where eight dangerous barons are lurking after their breakout.

It's definitely a darker chapter in the Destiny saga, and a more personal tale. There's no big war looming over your head this time, only a gang of the galaxy's most-wanted criminals. Forsaken will, of course, bring players the regular goodies of new gear and weapons as well. Most exciting are the new supers for all classes, and a brand new kind of weapon: the bow and arrow. We got to play through the first mission of the expansion at E3, and even if it might sound like a horrible idea to bring a bow to a bazooka fight, it quickly turned into our favourite weapon in the entire game. Drawing the string, letting go, and lining up headshots felt great.

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Speaking of weapons, Forsaken will usher in a complete overhaul of the game's weapon system. Destiny 2 will no longer restrict players by telling them what they can and cannot equip into their weapon slots - if you want to bring three shotguns with you into battle you're free to do so with Forsaken. This change comes in response to some backlash Bungie's been facing since the game released, and it seems like they're trying to fix many of the complaints fans have had this past year. The biggest addition, however, will be the new multiplayer mode Gambit. It aims to combine the best of both PvP and PvE, where two opposing teams of four Guardians engage in combat with hordes of computer controlled-enemies in their own arenas.

Players collect motes by slaying mobs, and the goal is to gather as many motes as possible to spawn the Primeval, a boss character that needs to be defeated in order to win the game. The competitive part of Gambit is the ability to visit the opposing team's arena as a powerful spirit and halt their progress. There's a lot of room for tactics here. When is the most opportune moment to visit your opposing team? Should you focus on killing your own mobs or preventing them from scoring? Should you save up on your supers until the Primeval shows up, or should you use them to gather motes more quickly? It's a lot of fun, and Bungie hopes it'll be a new start for Destiny 2. Gambit even has some esports potential, since it's fun for spectators as well.

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The release of Forsaken this September will also mean a change in the way Bungie and Activision handle their content updates. There'll be three smaller expansions coming out during year two, and the only way to access these are through a Destiny 2 Annual Pass, which basically turns the game into a subscription service. Players who buy a bundle consisting of both Forsaken and the Annual Pass will get a discount, while the expansion will be sold separately for $34.99. If this means bigger and better updates we're all for it, but it still feels a bit weird that it's all or nothing. Luckily, Destiny 2 seems like it's about to become better than ever with the launch of Forsaken, so you better start preparing right now. We'll see you in Gambit before you know it.

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"The beginning of the second year is off to a great start and we really hope that Bungie can avoid any more unnecessary problems in the future."

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