By Jerry Maynard
Yesterday the new expansion for Destiny was released and naturally we were eager to write our review after finally getting to play the finished product. So here’s our first reactions after a couple hours of play-through of the new expansion.
Our current venture started off in the new void based hunter class, the Nightstalker. This new class is like Robin Hood on steroids with magic powers. It starts off with what is a basic smoke grenade but then later upgrades into one that poisons enemies which is a handy ability to have. You also gain what is more or less a line grenade which basically creates a wall of fire which turns out is REALLY handy when you have enemies coming at you down a hallway or just in a line in general. Now as for the Robin Hood part, your supercharge ability, the Shadowshot, gives you access to a bow that launches an extremely powerful arrow that deals void damage and slows and silences enemies, which has a number of nifty upgrades such as multiple shots, bigger range and area of effect, and a grenade effect which causes all tethered enemies killed to explode, thus causing further carnage and void kabooms. Also in case you were wondering, Nathan Fillion is still hilarious. Oh yeah speaking of new voice actors….
The new voice actor for your ghost, Nolan North, is certainly no Peter Dinklage but he is definitely an interesting change. He lacks the same personality of sarcastic wittiness that Dinklage exuded from his Ghost but you do gain what sounds more like a computer personality than Dinklage’s previous version. However while that may seem a bit more appropriate, it seems like the new Ghost is perhaps a bit more timid than Dinklage’s in regards to how it reacts to various…threatening situations. It’s basically like comparing C-3po to Jarvis.
The new enemies, The Taken, are an interesting lot to say the least . I won’t spoil too much for you but I will say that the name of the aliens is quite accurate both in plot and in-game mechanics. They are taking over the universe…..in a manner of speaking.
Currently we are only just beginning our venture as the new titan class since ya know….space wizard Robin Hood was too cool and we got distracted for a while killing specter shadow aliens. Now its time for firebending Thor! The new Titan subclass, the Sunbreaker is genuinely one of the most absurd things I’ve ever seen in a video game before, and I mean that in the best way possible. Your supercharge ability, Hammer of Sol, gives you access to the ability to throw flame hammers at everything that moves…..and watch them explode…..yeah….just bask in that for a second. You can also gain the ability to chain set things on fire via your grenades. Your melee special ability acts almost like a Falcon Punch and sets your enemies on fire which you know was enough for me to be happy with the new expansion.
The new warlock class, Stormcaller, allows you to become a Sith Lord and float around and blast lighting at EVERYTHING. I am almost certain that Bungie decided that chain lightning was the biggest thing missing from this space adventure so they then added it to ALL OF YOUR ABILITIES. Your melee ability now has an upgrade which allows you to chain lightning when you use it, as does your grenade and your super ability, Stormtrance, is the scene in which Darth Sidious electrocutes Mace Windu to death. Unfortunately there is not unlimited time in the world and given the game just came out yesterday I have not had as much time to invoke a lighting storm all over the galaxy…..yet. However I will say that invoking your Stormtrance ability does have a secondary effect that can cause damage to enemies around you via the lightning…(Super Saiyan 2 mode could have used this effect if they had been smart about it). There is also this handy little skill called Perpetual Charge that allows you to instantaneously recharge your melee when you get a grenade kill and instantaneously recharge your grenade when you get a melee kill…I’ll stop and let you simmer on that for a while.
Overall, I’m excited and quite happy with the new expansion and await eagerly the new raids coming to it along with whatever else Bungie has in store for our futures. One last note: You level to max via experience now! Now get out there and light up the galaxy!