You want to be at least power level 930 before you and your Fireteam tackle Shadowkeep’s raidsandbox to get lost in and a thrilling
series of assassin quests, not to
mention the awesome Gambit mode,
Eris Morn’s story is grindy and bland.
Although that said, the presence of
a paranormal pyramid and a bunch of
phantoms suspended in the lunar air
gives the slightly revamped Moon a
touch of Control’s striking creepiness.
Some parts of Shadowkeep’s
campaign reach utterly snooze-
worthy levels. The only real highlight
is a mission where your Guardian
escapes some pitch-black catacombs
while stealing a magic maguffin
called the Cryptoglyph. The resulting
chase is a tensely claustrophobic
campaign highlight.
Finisher him!
Thankfully, Destiny 2’s crunching
gunplay remains class-leading, while
a series of subtle UI improvements
make the shooter more welcoming
than it’s ever been. A new Seasons tab
helps you keep track of rewards more
easily, the quest screen is far neater
than before, and cosmetic items can
now be bought from a store tab in the
Director menu, saving you a needless
trip to the Tower. New Finishers –
pulled off by clicking the right stick
when an enemy’s health is low – are
also a snazzy and welcome addition.
Hardcore Destiny 2 players are
obviously going to buy Shadowkeep
regardless, yet if you’re a lapsed
Guardian, it’s not easy to recommend
this expansion. While we’ve touched
on the underwhelming campaign,
the quality of the other content you
can only access with a season pass
is also patchy. The Vex Offensive is a
dud new addition. Taking place in the
Black Garden, its arena battles are
pretty repetitive. At least the new raid
is an undeniable belter. Taking cues
from Gambit and its mote-gathering
firefights, it shows Bungie can still
dream up fresh shootout concepts.Destiny 2 is still easily one of the
best shooters on Xbox One. Taken
as a whole, its eclectic blend of
strikes, night-devouring raids, and
exhilarating PvP action outguns most
of the competition with ease. As for
Shadowkeep, despite some welcome
additions, its reheated campaign
reeks of a rush job that needed a bit
more cooking time. QSTRIKING
OUT
Shadowkeep’s Scarlet
Keep strike is a
looting letdown.
Compared to
Forsaken’s breezy
Fireteam quests, the
action on show here
is disappointingly
vanilla. Placing you
and another two
Guardians in the pits
of the Moon’s dankest
caverns, you must
find and track
Hashladun – the
daughter of former big
bad Crota. Aside from
one vaguely exciting
shootout involving an
extended elevator
ride, Scarlet Keep is
upsettingly safe. It’s
also really friggin’
hard to see what’s
going on at times, so
make sure to whack
up the brightness on
your television.“Some parts of
Shadowkeep’s
campaign reach
utterly snooze-
worthy levels”
FAR LEFT We’re
pretty sure we
can get a
headshot from
this distance...
RIGHT Even after
all these years,
the influence of
The Dark Below’s
Crota can still
be felt.OXM VERDICT
A slightly
lacklustre update
to an otherwise
amazing MMO
shooter.6
LEFT Have we
just stumbled
into the Federal
Bureau Of
Control? Or is
this Hive magic?More Xbox news at gamesradar.com/oxm THE OFFICIAL XBOX MAGAZINE 089REVIEW