Destiny 2: Beyond Light

 PC
User Score
4.1

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 139 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 47 out of 139
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 139
  3. Negative: 83 out of 139

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  1. Writermj
    Dec 20, 2020
    4
    Destiny 2 for PC was at first a very unique and interesting approach to the looter shooter genre. Over the last few years, the game has had a few major bumps in the road, and ever since Beyond Lights announcement, we the player base were assured by Bungie that these issues would be addressed in what would be a significant overhaul of the core game and its gameplay mechanics. Sadly that wasDestiny 2 for PC was at first a very unique and interesting approach to the looter shooter genre. Over the last few years, the game has had a few major bumps in the road, and ever since Beyond Lights announcement, we the player base were assured by Bungie that these issues would be addressed in what would be a significant overhaul of the core game and its gameplay mechanics. Sadly that was nothing short of a flat-out lie, seeing how none of the major issues plaguing the community for the last two years been fixed but somehow in some cases made worse.

    Destiny 2 Beyond Light has a very engaging and interesting story taking place on the mysterious ice moon of Europa. Over the course of the story, the player is introduced to familiar and returning characters, new powers, and the dark secrets left behind by the golden age legend of Cloves Bray. If I were to simply judge the story and its post-campaign content I would give it an 8/10. Although interesting and a very welcome improvement, I found the overall campaign way too short and a few of the main missions a bit repetitive. However, the main campaign is only a small fraction of what Destiny has now become.

    Once the player completes the story and post-campaign missions, that's it. Literally, that's it, there is no content nor worth wild activity to do after completing the main storyline. This is an area that Bungie has become known for and at this time gives no signs of improving. This is due to one of the biggest changes to D2, the removal or vaulting of destinations such as Mars, IO, and Titian. This has led to one of the oddest things to come out of the Beyond Light expansion other than the removal of destinations, was the removal of strikes and other PvE activities such as raids and dungeons. Strikes at one point had some of the best loot an average player could get outside of raids and dungeons whiles earning ep, materials, and other loot related objects. But this was quickly changed as exclusive loot from these strikes became near impossible to get, and by the time anyone received this loot, it was already phased out. Now although there are a few strikes remaining in the game, none of them have loot worth a dam, and the new strikes that were said to come out with the launch of Beyond light or to be added during season 13 (the current season) such as Will of Crota, The Devil's Lair, or Fallen S.A.B.E.R have yet to drop.

    As for dungeon’s and raids, truth be told I was never a fan of these activities seeing how a raid or dungeon could take upwards of five hours for the hope of getting an exclusive weapon or armor piece. However, that being said credit where credit is due. Both the Prophecy dungeon and the Deep Stone Crypt raid are very well done providing both story and challenge with decanting rewards both throughout the activities and the end. The only issue I have is that the Deep Stone Crypt raid can be a bit intimidating to first-time raid players and I find that the puzzle system is way too complex for that reason.

    Overall Destiny 2 Beyond light is an okay expansion on its own, it is a massive improvement over Shadowkeep but in the end, I have to grade the game as a whole and seeing how Bungie has not fixed any of the games major issues such as the current train wreck that classes balancing, the current PvP meta that still focuses more on time to kill and overpowered ability builds rather than skill or game proficiency, the unacceptable poor execution of sunsetting, the clear lack of playtesting or any game testing before release, and the number of cheaters/hackers still present in PvP modes after the expansion makes giving the current state of Destiny 2 anything more than a 4/10 very difficult.

    If Bungie wishes to truly fix the current state of Destiny 2, the only recommendation this reviewer can give is a complete overhaul of games PvP mechanics in order to build a proper meta and class balancing system rather than encouraging the player base to play this broken aspect of the game, a clear dived between PC and console versions of the game rather than adapting the console version to “work” on PC, a true sunsetting system in order to phase out overused and broken weapon archetypes, and to add proper seasons and in-game events rather than fetch quest events like activities such as The Dawning and boring gird seasons such the current Season 13 Season of the Hunt.    … Expand
  2. JTonicOA
    Apr 28, 2021
    4
    You are paying more to get less.

    'The slow but steady removal of contents' is now the grand trend of Destiny 2. I cannot quite comprehend the reason why; to add little or no new contents is one thing, nevertheless to delete already existing contents is something a rational mind cannot possibly understand. Yes of course, Bungie, the developers, came up with all the fancy excuses.    You are paying more to get less.

    'The slow but steady removal of contents' is now the grand trend of Destiny 2. I cannot quite comprehend the reason why; to add little or no new contents is one thing, nevertheless to delete already existing contents is something a rational mind cannot possibly understand. Yes of course, Bungie, the developers, came up with all the fancy excuses. Unfortunately, I doubt those hallow words truly convinced anyone. They were pathetic.

    Don't get me wrong. I like this game. I played a lot, and still playing to some extent. However with every patch, with every new season and expansion, Bungie somehow managed to make it worse every time. It showed their utter lack of understanding of the game. I genuinely wonder if the developers have actually ever played their game. Don't even get me started on the bloody 'Sunsetting'.

    The recent outrage has been sparked by Bungie's preposterous greed. I personally don't mind micro-transactions on items which do not affect the actual game play, such as aesthetic related items. However it does become an obvious problem if micro-transaction is the only 'contents' the developers are dedicated for. Minimal new contents. Re-used contents. Deleted contents. Glitches and bugs left out for eternity. Yet, more and more new items added on the micro-transaction section.

    Destiny 2 is slowly dying. It is still possible to revive it, however based on what we have observed so far, I would say to have any degree of hope is simply too much of an optimism.

    The 'Activision era' was far better, superior. This pretty much sums up the current state of the game.    … Expand
  3. TheBillyJoel
    Nov 23, 2020
    4
    The complete lack of content in such a beautiful landscape as it is Europa can only be described as regretful, but the most current concern would be mainly focused on the complete lack of loot for an Destiny Year Expansion, the removal of 4 planets or locations and every activity and map related to them (already PAID content btw), and a undying habit of "tell no show" for the main storyThe complete lack of content in such a beautiful landscape as it is Europa can only be described as regretful, but the most current concern would be mainly focused on the complete lack of loot for an Destiny Year Expansion, the removal of 4 planets or locations and every activity and map related to them (already PAID content btw), and a undying habit of "tell no show" for the main story arc of the expansion only leaves the music, artwork, the secondary story arc and Stasis as the worthwhile components of Beyond Light. Combining this with having more content being released ONLY for the season pass owner's (and therefore having to pay more in order to get what have usually been there without any further charges) only raises the question of "can there be any real improvement from the Activision days with what we have seen so far?" As an additional note, the continuance of the devs to leave the most powerful loot of the entire game with no matchmaking is still, for me one of the main reasons why the game can't thrive any further, as there is a considerable amount of players (just like me) that can't just put together a squad of six or three to do the activities. To encourage matchmaking for all activities could make a positive change for the better.… Expand
  4. VuTeK
    Mar 20, 2022
    4
    Who ever at Bungie wrote Stasis into the Darkness lore needs to be fired immediately. Something like a Shadow spec would have been much better than the rubbish they put out in Beyond Light.
  5. GrigoryLee
    Nov 13, 2020
    3
    3-hour campaign. The story itself is one of the worst in all the destiny universe. No endgame besides the raid at all. Neither you will get new content, nor there are most of the old locations and activities anymore. And they're asking full price for this stump of game. The previous season literally had more to do and was more entertaining than this.
    Also, thanks for reusing old locations    3-hour campaign. The story itself is one of the worst in all the destiny universe. No endgame besides the raid at all. Neither you will get new content, nor there are most of the old locations and activities anymore. And they're asking full price for this stump of game. The previous season literally had more to do and was more entertaining than this.
    Also, thanks for reusing old locations again and failing to do even this easy task. Why the hell would you add a new noname cosmodrome vendor when there's Shiro-4 who is well-known and was on the same planet in d1?
    Thank you, bungo
    amazing game
    P.S. They can't even remake the bright dust farming methods that they were talking about since the beginning of 2020. "Did we say that it'll be easier to get bright dust so that everyone can buy all the items in the store with enough effort, and people won't have to grind hundreds of bounties? lmao no let's just decrease the amount of the bright dust they'll get from weekly bounties so they'll have to either spend money or grind more to get the appearance items" such a pathetic decision    … Expand
  6. taki12982
    Nov 16, 2020
    3
    Sunset and we get no Vendor refresh... WTF BUNGIE. Delete Planets and the current ones are still irrelevant for powering... WTF BUNGIE. Doesn't play test Stasis in PVP...WTF BUNGIE. AN EXPANSION NOT WORTH 40 DOLLARS AND THAT GOT DELAYED... WTF BUNGIE.
  7. VCBeugelaar
    Nov 18, 2020
    3
    While the new subclass is a great addition to the PVE side of the game.. everything else is lackluster. All the gear being sunset and getting almost nothing new in return is just stupid. The first seasonpass content is the biggest joke by Bungie yet and shows their priority, keep us busy with the same playlist stuff we have played the last couple of years.
  8. DocWalker123
    Nov 18, 2020
    3
    Shallow loot pool with uninspiring weapons and armor. The vendors haven’t been refreshed so we all get the same garbage guns we have been using for 2+years. The new weapons are so bad I have deleted all of them already. Stasis breaks PvP which use to be my favorite activity. Honestly this DLC has a hard time justifying a $10 price tag let alone $40. Save your money for other gamesShallow loot pool with uninspiring weapons and armor. The vendors haven’t been refreshed so we all get the same garbage guns we have been using for 2+years. The new weapons are so bad I have deleted all of them already. Stasis breaks PvP which use to be my favorite activity. Honestly this DLC has a hard time justifying a $10 price tag let alone $40. Save your money for other games that are fun and have replay value… Expand
  9. MasterJoi
    Nov 18, 2020
    3
    I pre-ordered the deluxe edition when the expansion was announced, hoping that Bungie would release long-awaited good content and fix old bugs. But I already see that the new year in Destiny will bring more bad than good. From the pros: the interface has been improved, beautiful locations (although I play at low graphics settings), a new unique subclass, interesting exotics. Briefly aboutI pre-ordered the deluxe edition when the expansion was announced, hoping that Bungie would release long-awaited good content and fix old bugs. But I already see that the new year in Destiny will bring more bad than good. From the pros: the interface has been improved, beautiful locations (although I play at low graphics settings), a new unique subclass, interesting exotics. Briefly about the cons: a primitive and boring plot, broken PVP due to stasis, terrible optimization (I play on a weak computer, but FPS was enough for a comfortable game at low settings, now it's difficult to call it a comfortable game, when even the plot videos started freezing), lack of new content even to partially replace the removed old one, terribly little new equipment and the absence of the old one due to sunsetting, the same endless Bounty farming despite the developers promises to change this system in a new addition. And lastly, I will say about the new season of the Hunt and the new seasonal activity. It's very sad so far. Dull activity in which you cannot play in a party, with weak bosses, you cannot farm what you want, since every time the type of loot obtained is randomized. And the weapon itself is not particularly needed, except that you can have an actual light level, and armor drops with low characteristics up to 60 points. Although this is far from all the content of the season, the main opinion has already formed.… Expand
  10. sufka28
    Nov 28, 2020
    2
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I gotta say this was a good try on bungie's end. However they did not clearly think this through. When you remove four planets that have resources you need to farm for in order to make purchases from banshee like upgrade modules for example. The point is if you're out of alkaline dust or phaseglass needles, there's absolutely no way to farm for them if spider is not selling them. For whatever reason why bungie decided that this was important is beyond me. Here is a spoiler for you, bungie has a chart of how many players there are on this game, and how many hours they logged in. This tells the player that they only care about you grinding your ass off. The number one goal for bungie is to have as long as possible play time for as many players as possible so they get they're recognition as a valid game on the market. Here is what I'm going to tell you bungie, you better implement other ways to get resources in the damn game if spider isn't selling them, and the only way to get those fricken resources is farming for them on a planet you removed. If you don't take care of this very soon, your going to be sending emails out to gamer's asking them why aren't you playing Destiny 2 anymore?. And we all remember that, sucks when the customer speaks with they're wallet and chooses to not buy your **** as a result of your carelessness huh.… Expand
  11. xAurora
    Nov 16, 2020
    2
    They somehow don't know how to make content. Yet asking big premium for the little they do produce. They are a 600 people studio and the amount of content is equal to an indie studio.
  12. chnn92
    Jan 20, 2021
    2
    The game removed some old content in the original game and requires you to buy new DLC to do almost everything. Oh, and the new Beyond Light DLC is utterly crap. It's over repetitive and new map is one of the most laziness map design I ever seen. You have to backtracking A LOT to do the same thing you just did 15 minutes ago in the same area.
  13. Franco5150
    Nov 12, 2020
    2
    Bungie charges premium price for an expansion that actually removes 75% of existing content and loot. Stay away, much better shooter's out there.
  14. Sprew
    Dec 6, 2020
    2
    Once again we are presented with a premium-priced minuscule expansion with the added bonus of having over half the game removed or made useless. Lore might be content but not in the context of a looter shooter.

    If you were one of the poor sods that bought all of the expansions prior to Beyond Light I feel for you.
  15. Finsky
    Nov 18, 2020
    2
    Disappointing Story was okay, decent missions but ended up going to the same locations over and over. Would speak to a character then get told to speak to the same character in a different location for the next mission.
    Europa is ok. Cool scenery and art with great dynamic weather systems. However planet is boring, nothing to explore or any unique activities. Taking away guns and planets    Disappointing Story was okay, decent missions but ended up going to the same locations over and over. Would speak to a character then get told to speak to the same character in a different location for the next mission.
    Europa is ok. Cool scenery and art with great dynamic weather systems. However planet is boring, nothing to explore or any unique activities. Taking away guns and planets is absolutely awful, the game feels drier than ever with little to nothing to do other than the stiles or crucible. Too many    … Expand
  16. HikkaruHikka
    Nov 12, 2020
    2
    I bought all DLS and seasonals for the sake of taking away DLS and giving Europe .... Minus 70% of the content, what can I lose, I knew how to play the game in garbage and I’ll score on it when there is no content, but what is given for a couple of weeks is enough .. bye Destiny
  17. vinestain
    Feb 7, 2021
    2
    Destiny 2 was in almost perfect condition before this "expansion". with Beyond light you are actually paying to have 75% of the game removed and really aweful content left in its place. The campaign is just bad frankly. The good strikes have been removed and the ones remaining are boringly easy. NIghtfall is now a joke - easier than normal strikes. My time with Destiny is nearing anDestiny 2 was in almost perfect condition before this "expansion". with Beyond light you are actually paying to have 75% of the game removed and really aweful content left in its place. The campaign is just bad frankly. The good strikes have been removed and the ones remaining are boringly easy. NIghtfall is now a joke - easier than normal strikes. My time with Destiny is nearing an end and I've made a commitment never to purchase a Bungie title again - they are just the worst… Expand
  18. zeeyaa
    Nov 17, 2020
    1
    Such a letdown! Overpriced, nothing to do, things taken away. I so regret I bought it, will not play.
  19. Spook_Master
    Jan 9, 2021
    1
    For a 40$ you get less content than the God dam Warmind. But warmind was sold for 40$, beyond light is twice as much. Bungie murdered this game with their own hands
  20. MtiiZ
    Nov 19, 2020
    1
    For 40$ the game became a joke, no content to grind for, full of bugs. Plus all the content (weapons, armor, maps) they removed its just a bad joke. Well done Bungie you just destroyed Destiny 2.
  21. madmad90
    Nov 25, 2020
    0
    Story is still an embarrassing mess, 80% Of the weapons are gone, still way too much grinding and barely any new content, plus they cut 40% Of the game. Destiny needs to Die already.
  22. Speed
    Nov 30, 2020
    0
    Don't waste your time!
    Short review:
    1: no dedicated servers, PVP not so great due to laggy players
    2: crossplay enabled by default, AIM assist for controllers which makes the playgame unfair
    3: not much content compared to previous expansions, nothing to do!
  23. Rocharox
    Nov 14, 2020
    0
    Really horrible expansion. It's obvious that the developers tought that the new classes would justify the $60 price tag (it doesn't).
    - PVP got no new maps/Arenas;
    - PVE lost 65% of it's content, and 2 of the current destinations, introduced in the 2 latest expansions (Forsaken and Shadowkeep) are next to useless, since all it's gear are now obsoleted. - People playing on X-Box couldn't    Really horrible expansion. It's obvious that the developers tought that the new classes would justify the $60 price tag (it doesn't).
    - PVP got no new maps/Arenas;
    - PVE lost 65% of it's content, and 2 of the current destinations, introduced in the 2 latest expansions (Forsaken and Shadowkeep) are next to useless, since all it's gear are now obsoleted.
    - People playing on X-Box couldn't open their vaults
    - incredible boring new campain that had it's time artificially increased by placing the teleport point in one edge of the map and forcing you to run to the other edge to execute said quests.
    -The Darkness, which finally came to our system and is on the move, get a barely mention in this. We saw more darkness in the last season pass (Season of Arrivals) than we did on this full expansion.

    - Reused content list;
    - Aside from 1 new Vex unit, "EVERY SINGLE ENEMY" is just a Reskin of know enemies. I mean, they did exactly that on Shadowkeep too but we had a lot of content on that expansion;;;
    - Open Map events are ALL REUSED, some from the original Destiny 2 (vex plates)
    - Cosmodrome from D1
    - Lot's of indoor areas.

    This is just a minimal work on new maps and new classes with a full expansion price tag.    … Expand
  24. hephaestion
    Feb 11, 2021
    0
    There are too many terrible things about this expansion to list them all. Main points: taking away hard earned weapons, just to reissue them for a new grind is a laughably bad idea. Stasis has flat out broken Pvp, and Bungie does not care in the least. Also hand cannons have been the only relevant Pvp weapons for years, again Bungie does not care in the least. Destiny and Destiny 2 whereThere are too many terrible things about this expansion to list them all. Main points: taking away hard earned weapons, just to reissue them for a new grind is a laughably bad idea. Stasis has flat out broken Pvp, and Bungie does not care in the least. Also hand cannons have been the only relevant Pvp weapons for years, again Bungie does not care in the least. Destiny and Destiny 2 where two of my favorite gamers of all time, but Bungie has really screwed the pooch lately. Streamers are quitting. Casuals are quitting. Bungie's only care is getting as much money out of this dumpster fire before it burns up as they can. About at all costs.… Expand
  25. sunshine7913
    Nov 27, 2020
    0
    Beyond Light still didn't fix and improve fundamental issues and yet they are charging $40+$10 for new contents. There aren't any new strikes and the amount of strikes had been reduced. The glassway is exactly identical from the campaign. The one from Cosmodrome is from D1. Public events are boring as hell, there is nothing new specifically. The campaign itself is very obvious. The raid isBeyond Light still didn't fix and improve fundamental issues and yet they are charging $40+$10 for new contents. There aren't any new strikes and the amount of strikes had been reduced. The glassway is exactly identical from the campaign. The one from Cosmodrome is from D1. Public events are boring as hell, there is nothing new specifically. The campaign itself is very obvious. The raid is the only thing I liked but that's only one. Bungie released several secret missions and raids within a year before! Also, you still need to farm and do same things over and over and over again! There are only 2 new types of enemy and that's it. Same foes with different skins for more than 4 years! That's the biggest problem and yet Bungie is not willing to improve but being greedy. Since Forsaken, Bungie kept failing and they are expecting us to pay more for next and next next year. I expected more from Beyond Light but this is really disappointing as hell since I have to do same stuffs over and over again! Seriously!

    For those of you who think Beyond Light is great, you have no idea what you are talking about.    … Expand
  26. Dshot
    Nov 12, 2020
    0
    Bungie, os teneis que poner las pilas, nos habeis quitado el 70% del contenido para hacer esto? Debe de ser una broma no? Si a alguien le sirve no malgasteis viestro dinero en esto, al menos de momento.
  27. Hemphiz1
    Dec 30, 2020
    0
    I can't even explain the misery of this latest expansion. Its not even an expansion. They deleted 60% of the game then gave us 3 hours of repeatable Missons with like 6 guns for £60 while making EVERYTHING you earned prior useless. These guys need suing
  28. BundleGem
    May 14, 2021
    0
    Changed my mind bungie literally selling you pay to win.
    You have problems with your aim? Freeze oponnet and do everithing you want.
    Bad aim on long range distances? Do simple activity 2 times and you will have headshot machine scout rifle gun with perfect accuracy. Don't like when someone you freezes? Sorry, but developer literrary think that this is very interesting active gameplay to    Changed my mind bungie literally selling you pay to win.
    You have problems with your aim? Freeze oponnet and do everithing you want.
    Bad aim on long range distances? Do simple activity 2 times and you will have headshot machine scout rifle gun with perfect accuracy.
    Don't like when someone you freezes? Sorry, but developer literrary think that this is very interesting active gameplay to sit and wait to freeze someone.    … Expand
  29. J-Lead
    Nov 24, 2020
    0
    They literally charged you $40 for the biggest removal of content the game has seen so far, with VERY, VERY little content to take it's place. Entire destination planets have been removed from the game with only one new destination and about half of another old one to replace them, but the worst part is, perfectly viable weapons (THAT YOU GRINDED FOR!!!!!!!!) were sunset with no actualThey literally charged you $40 for the biggest removal of content the game has seen so far, with VERY, VERY little content to take it's place. Entire destination planets have been removed from the game with only one new destination and about half of another old one to replace them, but the worst part is, perfectly viable weapons (THAT YOU GRINDED FOR!!!!!!!!) were sunset with no actual reason other than Bungie would -really- prefer you use these other, newer guns (not all of which are new, which implies some favoritism among the devs making this decision.)

    There's a reason they pretty much built this up to be "Destiny 3" and while I do agree with the decision to build D3 in D2 instead of making a whole new game that would eliminate all progress in the current one, but they STILL somehow managed against all odds to release Beyond Light in a way that is near-equivalent to Year 1 of D1 and D2, complete with some of the worst issues those years had, which means you're gonna have to wait around at least a year for Bungie to get their fat heads out of their collective asses before this game is worth playing again.

    DON'T pay for this expansion, certainly not for the Season of the Hunt. It's not worth it unless they change some seriously mental decisions that border on straight-up anti-consumer as soon as possible.    … Expand
  30. Ninileboss
    Nov 24, 2020
    0
    Just another joke from bungie... After forsaken this studio made full **** But this is a insane **** for 40$
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Awards & Rankings

51
#51 Most Discussed PC Game of 2020

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
73

Mixed or average reviews - based on 22 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 22
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 22
  3. Negative: 2 out of 22
  1. Gaming Nexus
    Jan 4, 2021
    70
    Destiny 2: Beyond Light is worth the investment for existing fans of the genre and franchise. Otherwise, the best way to experience this expansion is through Game Pass on Xbox or PC.
    Read full review
  2. Gamer.no
    Dec 18, 2020
    80
    Beyond Light is approaching the quality of both Forsaken and The Taken King.
    Read full review
  3. Game Revolution
    Dec 7, 2020
    40
    Beyond Light is the first note in a dirge for Destiny 2, and major steps need to be taken by Bungie to fix the issues caused by sunsetting and content vaulting. But regardless of what Bungie’s next steps are at this point, it’s difficult to feel excitement for any future expansions given the direction Destiny 2 is headed in.
    Read full review
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