Destiny 2: Lightfall offers a future with too much past
During the first mission of Bungie’s newest Destiny 2 expansion, Lightfall, having hijacked an enemy spaceship and set it to self-destruct, I came across a familiar-looking hangar bay on my way out. In its two-tiered layout, its gaggle of room-filling purple ships and its wall-length energy shields leading out to space, it resembled nothing so much as the Covenant hangars Master Chief invaded in one of Bungie’s earliest games: Halo: Combat Evolved.
Deliberate or not, this visual double-take reminds me that Destiny 2 is a game in conversation with a long history. Leaving aside Bungie’s earlier games, Lightfall has arrived at the tail end of a 20-year span that Halo originated. WhileDestiny 2 today may be mostly unrecognizable in its polish and mechanical complexity compared to Bungie’s 2001 megahit, if you know where to look, it’s easy to see; in the level design, the monsters, and the guns (homages of which made their way into Destiny 2’s 30th Anniversary update), you can see the layers and layers of history.
In many ways, Destiny 2 is made for those of us who might notice the evidence of this history, who might even spend two paragraphs of a Lightfall review talking about a totally separate Bungie title. After all, it’s always been a game with one foot stuck in the past. Deep in its menus are pages dedicated to “Moments of Triumph” and “Seals” commemorating all you’ve achieved in the six years since the game’s original release. Destiny 2 continuously celebrates its history even as it continues to erase it elsewhere.
Most of Destiny 2’s moments are no longer accessible. Old campaigns are sunset as new ones are released. To experience the game is to experience the perpetual present: a present built from the narrative and
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