STACK July 2017 Issue 153

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Considering the current
climate, we thought
it was an interesting
decision made to set off
multiple pyrotechnics
during the Call of Duty:
WWII multiplayer
reveal at Sony's press
conference. It looked
(and sounded) brilliant,
but the more faint of
heart may have been
more than a little
shocked.
Pyrotechnics
set in the shattered ruins of
Pointe du Hoc, a clifftop position
captured on D-Day by US
Rangers.
A circular map consisted of
deep trenches and battered
gun emplacements, providing
an emphasis on close quarters
combat. We went with the BAR,
a powerful automatic rifle that
buries enemies at long and close
range.
From the off, it’s total bedlam.
If you’re not in the thick of the
fight yourself, you can constantly
hear the peripheral crack and
ricochet of gunfire around the
map. Bullets fizz by your head,
grenade explosions boom through
the headset, and the controller
rumbles aggressively as another
clip of ammo is expended.
The combat is chaotic, the
weapons' audio phenomenal, and
it looks magnificent, even at this
early stage.
But the best was yet to come.
A new mode known as War
brings a collaborative campaign
feel to multiplayer. War consists
of an overarching objective broken
up into three stages.
First up, our squad was tasked
with holding a position within a
mansion house against a constant
pressing assault. Next, we had to
fight and hold a divide over a river
while a bridge is built, frantically
trading fire and grenades with
enemy soldiers holed up in
buildings across the breach.
Finally, with the bridge complete,
our tank rolled onto an enemy
mortar position.
Each stage progression in
the War mode was a small,
gritty, hard-fought achievement,
composite in an overall victory.
This is of course the true story
of how the Allies triumph in the
Second World War was earned.
There’s a long way to go until
November – and many more key
beats, including more detailed
information on the campaign – but
after spending over 30 minutes
with it, Call of Duty: World War II
was undoubtedly one of the best
games I played at E3 2017.
Alesha: Bungie were the
studio behind the Halo franchise,
and that is implicit in the first
gameplay footage we’ve seen
from the studio’s upcoming
Destiny 2 – most notably in
the Cabal's Tower landings and
invasion.
Destiny was a global sensation.
An online first-person shooter,
you can take to the galaxy solo (or
with a couple of mates) to defend
the Tower, the Traveller, and your
people, from the Darkness. It
thrived on its loot system, and
in-game collectables known as
Engrams that can be transformed
into varying degrees of rare loot
once you’ve completed a mission.
You level based on experience and
‘Light’ – a sort of accumulated
value of your gear, hence the
popularity of a good find.
The first game had a few
substantial expansions, and
Bungie made their plans known
for Destiny to be a ’10 year
game’. So the sequel, released
almost exactly three years after
the first game came out, appears
to be keeping with these long
term goals.
After Destiny 2 was
announced and the hype train
had slowed to a steadier pace,
it was revealed that our original
Destiny characters wouldn’t
carry over to the sequel. The
cause behind this, as it turns
out, is a Cabal lord that looks a
lot like Vilgax from Ben 10. His
name is Ghaul, and for whatever
reason, he’s pissed off with the
Guardians taking up residency at
the Tower. He and his large Cabal
army have destroyed everything
sacred to our community, and
the world has been left without
Light.
Bungie’s sequel will feature
new planets, new locations to
explore, as well as revisiting a few
places familiar to those that have
played the original. Of course,
there will also be new subclasses
for your choice of Warlock, Titan,
or (my personal favourite) Hunter,
each with varying degrees of
deadliness. Nolan North is back as
your trusty Ghost companion, and
veterans like Cayde-6 also show
their faces again.
While we were unable to go
hands-on with any of the new
subclasses at E3, we did get
a chance to jump in for a quick
multiplayer session. It still feels
very much like Destiny, and that’s
by no means a bad thing – why fix
what isn’t broken? Movement is
smoother – I noticed it especially
when doing triple-jumping and
sliding – and the rest of the
mechanics are pretty true to the
original.
It remains to be seen what will
come of the sequel’s campaign,
and more importantly this
generation’s entry into the PC
domain (albeit a little while after
the console launch), but I’m far
from complaining when it comes
to the multiplayer, at least. If
Destiny’s successor is anything
like the original, we can expect a
fun-filled foray into the far reaches
of space, complete with a wise-
cracking Nathan Fillion by our
side; and at least one Strike on
the weekly playlist that everyone
absolutely hates. Here’s hoping
they keep up the seasonal events,
too.
Destiny 2
Image credit Rick Polk
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060 JULY 2017
ACTIVISION