Destiny 2: Black Armory Review

DESTINY’S BLACK ARMORY IS A GRIND

AND THAT’S A GOOD THING

A REVIEW BY PALMER GAMBLE

IGN CAN SUCK IT

Here I am, back again talking about Destiny. Needless to say Bungie has done a great job of releasing content recently that has really impressed most of the community. Set aside the fact that there are still some guns that are straight broken to use, it’s fun to play Destiny again. Year 2 started off strong with Forsaken, a sweeping expansion full of secrets and an amazing raid, plus with the annual pass Bungie created, the rest of year 2 is slated to be a universe broadening adventure. SO…  This review was sparked by another review on Black Armory, one by IGN. So I urge you to go find that article first to understand where I’m coming from here. In the article, written by some guy named Destin, (I guess that’s why he’s their expert on DestinY) he brings up the point that Black Armory has “repetitive missions and bland gear.” Now Bungie has been hit or miss in terms of getting missions right in Destiny, those in the Osiris expansion probably being the worst offenders, but I don’t believe Black Armory is that type of expansion. Black Armory is exactly what Ada-1 says it is, a place for Guardians to get exclusive new wares no one has ever seen. However in order to get this started, the forges which the armory uses to craft the weapons must be reclaimed. So let’s start there. After one little side note… (I make fun of Destin a lot but I only sorta mean it)

A SMALL GRIPE

In the beginning of the DLC, you claim a pass to enter the Black Armory from Spider in the Tangled Shore, because why wouldn’t he have it? You travel back to the Tower, where you explore the underbelly of the bazaar, which leads you to a wall. You hold up the pass and the wall disintegrates and thus the doors to the Black Armory are open. However we aren’t welcome there. Ada-1 treats us with hostility and disdain when we first enter, because for Ada, guardians are the reason so much war and pain has been brought upon the Earth, and a part of the reason the forges have been shut down. Now while reading the IGN review, Destin brings up how hilarious it is that Ada-1 is so mad at us just for being a guardian and making our way into the Armory, until we flash our pass at her and she immediately starts to *reluctantly* welcome us. Sure, this wasn’t the greatest sequence ever made. But it’s like someone seeing you try to get into a house through the front door and starts to yell at you…  Until you show them you have the fucking keys (that you may have stolen). What are they gonna do at that point Destin? Are they gonna continue to yell at you even though you have the keys to the place? No. It’s fine, nothing in terms of dialogue in this game gets worse than Peter Dinklage. Shout out if you remember that. SO YOUR JOURNEY BEGINS.

FORGES ARE INTENSE

The Forge is a new activity that requires you to face three waves of enemies while throwing “radiant batteries” which charge the forge that sits in the center of the area. The first forge, named the Volunder Forge, has you face Cabal, with enemies glowing blue indicating they are the ones carrying the radiant batteries you need to throw. In this new mode, you’re short on time. And with every battery you throw into the forge giving you only 1-3 seconds back on the clock, you have to be swift. The first day the DLC released I instantly hopped online and gave it my best shot. Being max light level of 600 made me think, oh forsure doesn’t matter what they throw at me I’m maxed out I’ll be fine. My reaction after one try, holy shit this is hard. The first wave of enemies come at you at 615 light, so everyone who decided to hop in at the first chance they got sure got a shock when they got shot at. In the IGN review of Black Armory, Destin gets annoyed at how hard the mode was on the first day. Complaining that people who haven’t even hit 600 light yet and bought the annual pass can’t get their moneys worth, let alone even play it. His point is valid, however it’s not even remotely hard to aquire powerful loot, which increases based on your current light level. With daily and weekly resets, you can get to 600+ light in no time if you know what you’re doing. Bungie even lowered the light level of the enemies in the Volunder Forge by 5 (now 610/615/620) to make it easier for the players who were having a hard time. So guess what Destin?! The first Forge is still difficult, but it’s not impossible like day one anymore.

BLAND LOOT? GIMME A BREAK

When I play Destiny, I want my Guardian to look badass and I want my guns to look even MORE badass. You know what’s been missing from Destiny since the first game? Cool shaders with black in them. Sure we have some shaders with black, but there’s also throw up green in there too. I’m not trying to look like I’ve been rolling around in alien blood. I’m trying to look like a fucking space assassin who’s out for blood because someone killed my dog. Black Armory gives us that dank loot. The Hammerhead, a new addition to the Machine Gun class of weapons, has a slick reloading animation and sounds fierce, not to mention it’s comes in black and red, the coolest color combination you could ever want. There’s The Ringing Nail, another exclusive BLACK Armory auto rifle that comes in… black and red. The guns in Black Armory are meant to be sleek and effective weapons meant to destroy your enemies. They aren’t raid guns, that are going to look extra special, because they come in the first couple of activities you do. The loot in this DLC is fine. There’s literally a sniper that looks like a sword, and when you reload the magazine while it’s still full, you create one bullet that does even more damage. The raid exclusive, exotic grenade launcher shoots sticky arc charges which, when multiple are fired, form a field of electricity zapping anyone in the way. Honestly the only problem with the loot, is that i don’t have it yet.

WHAT DOES THIS DLC HAVE TO OFFER?

Black Armory offers an exciting new raid, a challenging game mode full of difficult enemies and some cool ass loot. I believe Destin missed his mark in his review, forgetting what Destiny is all about at its core. A grind for the best loot, because if it were so easy to get all the good stuff, what’s the incentive to keep playing? But hey, only difference is his review is on IGN and mine isn’t, for now.

THE VERDICT: 6.9/10

Yeah yeah yeah, I know I was just hyping up this DLC and i just gave it a 6.9. That’s mainly because I haven’t gotten to all of the content yet, the new raid Scourge of the Past requires a 640 light, which I have not yet reached. Plus the fact the DLC released being too difficult for people to complete even the first level gave me a bit of a laugh. That’s why Destiny 2’s Black Armory brings us to the harsh realization that grinding is the name of the game, but it always has been. So if you’re complaining now… You might not make it to the two other expansions later this year.