Bungie’s Destiny 2 Beta test Impressions.
This is a mostly “Stream of consciousness” review. You’ve been warned. 
I’ve been involved in several Beta test events over the last 10 years. Halo, multiple Call of Duty games, etc.
I also was able to be involved in the original Destiny beta test 3 years ago.
Been playing the Destiny 2 Beta on and off since last week. Since there’s no real world exploration outside the strike, it’s a bit limited,
but the initial playable campaign story (Homecoming) was pretty sweet and makes me want to know more. 
Replayed the strike a few times to get different loot. Duplicate weapon/armor drops do occur in all available
game modes (The PvE Strike and the 2 Crucible PvP game modes) and apparently in Destiny 2 they removed the random weapon perk rolls from Destiny 1… So I’m kind of annoyed
with that. But who knows, they may revise that feature before the final game drops.
The updated Crucible control mode is cool, but power/grenade/special recharge times are stupidly slow.
I went the entire match without getting a super attack or didn’t get it until the end of the match. Honestly, I’m an average FPS player. I’m in no way a top tier player like some of the people who stream on Twitch. I work a real job, and play nights and weekends… when I can make time. But that’s me. 😉
Destiny 2 introduces some new weapon types, and changes others. The new SMG weapon type is pretty cool but seems similar to the auto rifle in several respects.
The new Fusion Sniper rifle weapon type is interesting. I got one to drop as an end of game reward. It doesn’t seem quite as powerful as the “regular” sniper rifle, but truthfully, I haven’t used it that much. The addition of a Rotary Grenade Launcher is a new change as well.
The changing of shotguns/sniper rifles from a secondary weapon type to a “Heavy” weapon type was a good move.
The apparent loss of Heavy Machine guns and most Rocket Launchers as a weapon type
(if they’re in there, “I” never got one in the Beta test) is an interesting design choice, but again, that decision
may change in the final game.
Bungie has already posted a notice that the Beta is an early build of the game, so many of
the complaints people have about some of these game features may have already been changed in the final build
of the game as well. Time will tell of course.
Honestly, I could be classified as a Destiny “Fanboy.” I have been playing it since the original Closed Beta 3 years ago. I have over 150 days of game time invested in Destiny (yes, you read that right 24 hour DAYS of game time. Many nights and weekends of spare time I could have been doing things like remodel my house…) so yes, I have pre-ordered and will be buying it no matter what. I enjoy the Destiny universe as much as some have enjoyed Halo or Mass Effect.
The Beta test, as presented, in the end is just a taste of the future game release. It is NOT designed to be a representation of the finished game but a playable sample of what the the final game will be.
There’s a clear but subtle difference there. The final game will have all the features for the player to explore. Unlocked customization, weapons, environments, etc. The Destiny 2 Beta is NOT perfect, and in turn many of the complaints will be addressed by the game creators and I’m sure problem aspects will be tweaked and improved upon as time goes on. That’s the nature of modern game design. A design studio gets the game as close as it can for launch, and then fixes any issues that crop up after launch. As a comparison, Respawn Entertainment has fixed/tweaked game features in Titanfall 2 that were missing at game launch. Bungie is fixing the main complaint of the first Destiny game by giving the players a more fully realized and integrated story so you don’t have to find things in game… and later go to Bungie’s website to get the Grimoire “cards” to tell the missing story.
The Week long Destiny 2 Beta has been what it’s supposed to be. It’s supposed to be a TEST of the game servers and give the current, and hopefully future players a sample of the yet to be revealed gameplay and story.
In most situations, a game Beta is not supposed to be THE final release of the game.
If you kept that in mind while playing the Destiny 2 you’ll do fine in just over a month when the final game releases September 6th, 2017.
