Destiny 2 wowed me last week at the official gameplay reveal in Los Angeles. I mean, yes, it’s basically just Destiny 1.5, but on PC – but I wasn’t expecting it to feel or look quite so good compared to its console cousin. We all know “PC Master Race”, but there at Hawthorne Airport, it became so apparent that the PC has the leg up with this game. And those players willing to give up the XBone or PS4 will likely be very happy they did.
I’ve been writing here long enough to know that a great many of you are PC gamers either exclusively, or primarily. I remember just how many people hated whenever we covered Destiny because it was console only. Thank the gods, we get it on PC this time around and for all intents and purposes it’s looking like the definitive version.
No doubt, Sony will get some sort of timed exclusive, and my guess at the possible reason Destiny 2 on PC might come later than console is because both Sony and Microsoft are pitching a fit that PC gets one of their feathers to share in its cap. Bungie can say it’s because they want to make the PC port the best it can be, but frankly? The PC version is the one people couldn’t stop talking about, and clearly the better looking one at the gameplay preview too.
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Settings on the PC were locked at Medium if the menu is to be believed, but it ran at 4K with an uncapped framerate too. There was noticeable fog and view distance disparity between the two as well. And let’s not forget just how much better shooters control with a mouse and keyboard, even if I suck at them with either mode of operation. I can’t stress enough how good Destiny feels on PC, even if I’d remap some of the controls to personal preference. I was able to nail headshots, a feat I don’t even bother trying on console.
Then of course, there’s the little fact that Activision-Blizzard has smartly partnered with Blizzard itself to use the Blizzard App (Battle.net app) to sell and showcase Destiny. This means, if you use any of Blizzard’s games, Destiny 2 will be staring you in the face any time you launch the app. It won’t be on Steam, Origin, the Ubiplay app or any of that. It’ll only be available via Blizzard’s launcher. I’ve spoken to nothing short of 10 friends and colleagues who basically told me they weren’t planning on buying Destiny 2, but knowing that it’s tied into Battle.net is pushing them towards it – such is their voracity for all things Blizzard. (Note to self – ask Blizzard to publish MMORPG.com’s newsfeed on Battle.net. Maybe then people won’t use adblocker.)
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So again, while I wholly expect PlayStation to buy out some sort of exclusivity for Destiny 2 on PS4, I expect one of two things will happen with those gamers who want to play the sequel later this year. Number 1 – they’ll simply buy Destiny 2 on both the PS4 and the PC (a likely case regardless). Or Number 2 – if PC Destiny 2 is delayed for real, there will be plenty of folks who simply pass it up on console and wait for the PC version because it will wind up being the most complete and technologically advanced version in the long run.
If indeed there is a PC release date delay, which isn’t official by the way, I might get it on PS4 to bide the time until PC – at which point I’ll never touch the PS4 version again. I think that’s possibility number 3 in this equation, and something that Sony can’t stop no matter how hard they try.
