Destiny 2 Warmind Review

It’s hard these days to find people who have a good impression of Destiny 2. That doesn’t mean that the impression is generally negative either.

It’s like that line that my parents used to say “I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed.”

Destiny 2 was a huge task for Bungie. I felt they did rather well for the most part but it was just missing some of that Destiny magic. There was a real lack of any reason to grind.

Due to that, a lot of the Destiny community dropped off Destiny 2 and Bungie once again has to try and turn heads and bring players back.

The Curse of Osiris DLC, unfortunately,y fell short. When it was released, Destiny 2 was bleeding profusely and Curse the Osiris was a tiny band-aid.

The Warmind DLC has brought some much-needed bandages. That’s not to say it’s without its flaws but it is a step in the right direction.

Warmind Review

One of the main issues players had with Destiny 2 was there was very little post-campaign content to keep them busy.

Sure, it had PvP events and Raids but it wasn’t enough to keep most people interested. Especially when you can’t do a Raid without having a fireteam to do it with.

Bungie is in dire need of a matchmaking system for the Raids or at least a platform like Destiny LFG in game. Due to this issue, I am writing this Warmind review without completing the new Raid lair.

I will try and get on to it ASAP but for the meantime, let’s look at the rest.

I’ll start with the weaker parts of the Warmind DLC so I can finish with some positive news for you. I had high hopes for the Warmind campaign missions. Mostly because Curse of Osiris was a bit of a letdown.

Unfortunately, the Warmind missions suffer from the same shortcomings. There was once again recycled assets for one of the missions and to top it off, the two new strikes were also used as campaign missions.

I find this a bit if a kick in the proverbial dick when we have to pay $30.00 AUD for this DLC.

However, these issues don’t even come close to what hurt me the most in Warmind. That trophy goes to the shoddy writing and complete waste of great lore material.

At one point I thought I had started the wrong mission or had skipped a cutscene. Things just didn’t make sense or follow on from the Destiny lore as I understand it.

Yes, this is just the whining of an annoying fanboy and I want to avoid spoiling anything. You should know though, the lore in Warmind is terrible and definitely doesn’t do Destiny 2 any favours.

Who is Rasputin?

From a gameplay standpoint though, the missions are great. There are some new areas to explore and some new enemies and allies to meet and defeat.

There are also some really great mechanics to the two boss encounters you will come across. Honestly, the only downside is the storytelling in the campaign missions themselves. The adventure missions are somewhat in the same vein except they aren’t as fun as the campaign missions since they’re basically fetch quests.

Onto what are the better parts of the Warmind DLC. The new explorable area is fantastic. Much larger and filled with things to do than Osiris.

Standard Destiny 2 content returns such as patrols and public events. You even get to see the old Warsat public events return. A weapon similar to the axe from Rise of Iron is included in Warmind.

This time it comes in the form of a javelin called the Valkyrie. It can be thrown or used as a melee weapon for a massive amount of damage. What I really enjoyed was some of the added extras that are somewhat more elusive or secretive.

There are well placed interactive objects that lead to a secret quest. There is also some new collectables and side quests to help obtain other special loot as well. This is all coupled with some of the new exotic items and loot that comes with the expansion.

Throwing Javelins

The stand out addition from the Warmind DLC is the post-campaign content; Escalation Protocol. This is a new type of public event that functions like a great piece of Destiny content, a relic of the golden age if you will.

Escalation Protocol is similar to the Court of Oryx or the Archon’s Forge events. You need to trigger the event at certain locations on Mars. Once triggered then anyone in the area can join in to help with the fight.

Guardians will need to progress through waves of enemies to earn high-level loot. There is even loot exclusive to the event itself. What makes this content a double-edged sword is you can access it as soon as you complete the campaign.

Personally, I wouldn’t recommend it. Sure, jump in and get a feel for it but don’t be surprised when you can’t finish even one of the waves. Bungie has made this high level content with the recommended light level being 370. I’m just happy to have a reason to push my light level up now so I can give it a good crack.

Warmind isn’t the content I wanted it to be. But it does give a positive sign that Bungie is trying. Is it repeating some mistakes of the past? Sure.

That doesn’t mean it’s not still offering something to look forward to in the future. The new expansion coupled with the recent season 3 update shows some really positive signs. Admittedly the content I am most happy to see came from the recent update.

This included the addition of season Crucible rankings, new Crucible maps and some really great tweaks to the Exotic weapons. Only time will tell come September if Destiny 2 will take flight again.

Otherwise, it might burn with the ashes of the Warlock’s Fireborn ability.

Warmind was reviewed on PS4 using a digital download provided by the developer.