“Destiny 2” has had trouble keeping its players happy. When a new expansion comes out it’s a great chance for players to get back into the game, but the content offered has to be good if people are going to stick around. The “Warmind” expansion is, unfortunately, a very “Destiny” affair. It’s good but disappointing overall.
“Warmind” has players returning to Mars to save the world once again. After the last expansion, “Rise of Osiris,” introduced a brand new planet I was hoping that this version of Mars would be different. Although there are some new, icy areas, the overall look of Mars is the same as it was in the original “Destiny,” a lot of red sand and rocks and some run down buildings scattered around.
A new form of the Hive enemies is introduced as well. Now the Hive are covered in ice and that’s about it. They function slightly differently and there’s a new variant that has an ice shield. Fighting these enemies feels the same as it does in the base game.
The writing in “Warmind” functions as an exposition dump and as a way for the characters to attempt humor. I’ve compared the writing in “Destiny” to the “Avengers” movies, but now “Destiny” feels like a generic Saturday morning cartoon. Every few months the galaxy is in danger again from some threat that came out of nowhere and only these wisecracking doofuses can save it.
Even with those shortcomings, “Warmind” manages to be alright because of the new content outside of the main story. The new public events called Escalation Protocols are a challenge, but it’s a fun and chaotic time. There’s plenty of new exotic weapons and armor pieces to hunt for and most of them are worth the grind.
There’s also a new Raid Lair that takes place on the Leviathan ship. It’s not as long as a normal raid but it’s an interesting mission that’s worth going through. I would have preferred it to take place outside of the Leviathan since it’s the third raid on there. At the same time, the Leviathan has a unique look to it and doing a raid on Mars probably wouldn’t have looked as nice.
While “Warmind” has some good content, the player has to trudge through a lame story campaign to get to it. The game doesn’t have the same cool, new visuals that the last expansion has but it does have more substance overall. It’s a decent reason to come back to the game for at least a few weeks.
It doesn’t help that this mixed bag of an expansion costs $20 and that’s what makes it a hard sell to returning players. That’s why “Warmind” gets three stars.
[Final Score: 3/5]
Ulises Duenas can be reached at [email protected] or @OrionUlisesD on Twitter.
