While the whole editorial staff contributed to our 2014 awards, we wanted to allow everybody the opportunity to publicly name their personal top 10 games of the year. While many did play the majority of releases in 2014, please remember that unlike our main awards, the editors are not naming the best games, but their personal favorites out of the selection they played.
There was an interesting moment when we finally run into the Taken again. As new players, the game acted as if The Taken King never happened. With the possibility of a lot of these moments popping up, how have you handled the whole new player vs. returning player conundrum?
Destiny 2 is in a state of crisis. After a successful launch, the game and its developer, Bungie, have been engulfed in controversy. The game’s lack of endgame content, heavy use of microtransactions, and XP controversy have hampered Destiny 2’s prospects and hurt Bungie’s image. It’s this that makes the timing of Destiny 2 – Expansion I: Curse of Osiris so conspicuous. Arriving two months after the console launch , and six weeks after the PC launch , Curse of Osiris promises to add a slew of new content to the vanilla game. At $20, though, does Curse of Osiris bring enough to the table or should this expansion be forgotten?
Taking place on Nessus, one of the two new planets coming to Destiny 2, the strike in the Beta is called The Inverted Spire and focuses on a Vex mind that has been awoken by the Cabal. Nessus is a neat world that kind of combines the aesthetics of the Vex and the Cabal since it was originally a machine world of the Vex’s that has been invaded by the Cabal. The planet itself also has a new look to it, with a muted gray landscape, but one with lush red trees everywhere. It’s a really cool look that brings a new feel to the game.
[JH]: We talk about everything, top-to-bottom, with all our creative partners. The first Destiny had a non-silent protagonist. In Destiny 2, we put an emphasis on the player’s story and we feel that, when it comes to the balance of how much should you talk vs an NPC, it should be more NPC. This isn’t Master Chief or Nathan Drake, this is supposed to be you. We don’t want to be presumptuous about the words we put in your mouth as you’re exploring. Ghost is there to help guide you through the story.
But anyway, the Inverted Spire is all about putting a stop to Protheon, the Modular Mind. To get to him, you’ll have to fight through hoards of Vex and Cabal who are also fighting each other. They take you down into a dig site, where the Cabal have been looking for Protheon. It’s pretty straight forward, but there are some cool set pieces, like the dig site itself, which has you dodging huge drills as you descend, and Protheon’s temple, which changes as the fight goes on.
[JH]: So, that’s kind of outside the scope of where we have our involvement. We’re super dedicated to story, and the high-level development decisions based on classes or specializations happen amongst other teams. We try our best to have a good narrative wrapper around that decision-making. Our involvement in the PvP is to develop a strong character in Lord Shaxx.
Following The Collapse, the remainder of Humanity was not too happy to see The Fallen mysteriously appearing. While Humans were picking themselves up after nearly being wiped out, these tribal scavengers swooped in to pick at the remains. With constant battles against the Guardians, most notably the Battle of the Twilight Gap, The Fallen were relentless with their assaults against The Last City in order to gain access to the Traveler. Unfortunately, they were mostly unsuccessful (with both sides sustaining high casualties), Nonary Manifolds farming at least not until they were able to section off an area of Earth that contained SiVA technology, but that’ll come much later. One of the most well known tribes, The House of Wolves, went to battle with The Reef during this time, which they ultimately lost. Now, while The Fallen are plentiful, their houses have become disorganized and their allegiances varying.
Curse of Osiris does include two new strikes, but both are pulled directly from the campaign with no changes. Crucible doesn’t fare much better with only two new maps on Xbox One and PC, and three on PS4. Unfortunately, as of publication, Crucible is wholly broken thanks to the Prometheus Lens, a new trace rifle that is completely unbalanced. Bungie says they’re working on a fix, but a solution has yet to materialize nearly a week after launch.
As the name suggests, The Last City is the central hub of Destiny and is the only safe haven on Earth. Well, maybe safe haven isn’t the best description of the city and the state of civilization, especially considering the events at the beginning of Destiny 2, but it’s certainly better than what awaits those on the outskirts. The massive walls weren’t built for show, nor are they there to keep Titans out, but instead hostile alien races that have been left over from numerous battles following The Collapse. Most notably are The Fallen, but you’ll also see a monstrous species called The Hive on Earth, as well, due to their hideout being relatively close to the planet.
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