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As part of their E3 2015 presence, developer Bungie wanted to give Destiny fans a full suite of experiences.
fans a full suite of experiences. To start, they highlighted the story of the next major Destiny expansion, The Taken King, with a brief story mission called ‘The Coming War.’ In the mission, players meet Oryx, father to raid boss Crota, who it seems has a big vendetta against the Guardians.
But, of course, the confrontation with Oryx was just a small slice of the pie, and is focused purely on PvE. Not to be outdone, Bungie’s E3 2015 presence also included closer looks at two new PvP modes for Destiny: The Taken King , both of which look to shake things up a bit.
Now, by and large what Destiny currently offers for PvP is fairly straightforward, players eliminate opponents and earn points. Sometimes they do so while also controlling capture locations, while the new, round-based Elimination modemakes it so players can’t respawn only revive.
That’s all to say that Destiny ’s PvP, while fun, hasn’t done much to shake things up, but that should change with The Taken King expansion. As we saw and played during E3 2015, the new Rift and Mayhem modes are unlike anything Destiny players have seen thus far, and could reinvigorate the Crucible fan base.
For a more extensive look at the new Rift and Mayhem multiplayer modes feel free to check out the video above (courtesy of NukemDukem), but the high points are as follows. Rift is Destiny ’s equivalent of Capture the Flag, but instead of taking the “flag,” which in this case is a glowing orb called a rift, to their own base, players score by taking the rift to their opponent’s base.
The rift takes some time to charge and killing a rift-bearer drops the orb, but by and large it’s fairly standard. The one caveat is that if players preform flips or style moves before scoring, they will earn extra points but the risks of getting taken out before scoring are higher.
It seems strange that Destiny is only just now adding a Capture the Flag type multiplayer mode, but as Bungie has said beforethe experience is continuously growing. However, as a pure experience, Rift retains the personality of Destiny ’s other multiplayer modes, while also giving players an option that isn’t just about eliminating opponents.
On the flip side is Mayhem, a new Destiny multiplayer mode that more than lives up to its name. In Mayhem, recharge rates are drastically increased, to the point that players should earn their Super abilities every 30 seconds, even sooner if they are getting kills.
As a result, there will be tons of players running around as Bladedancers, Gunslingers, and any of the new subclasses included with The Taken King. Speaking of those Subclasses, we had an opportunity to try out all three of them – the Sunbreaker, Stormcaller, and Nightstalker – during our E3 2015 hands-on preview. So check that out for more PvE-focused content.
At the very least, the Mayhem mode shows that Bungie is listening. Ever since Destiny launched, players have been asking for a multiplayer mode that is nearly endless Supers, and Mayhem is precisely that. Sure, it doesn’t make for a very tactical experience, but as a fun diversion it works well.
Both of the new Destiny: The Taken King PvP modes offer something a little different, and that in itself should be enough for Crucible fans. Rift is the most objective focused mode we’ve seen thus far, while Mayhem is pure chaos in the best possible way. Look for more details on these and additional Destiny multiplayer modes in the months leading up to The Taken King’s release in the fall.
Destiny: The Taken King releases September 15, 2015 for PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.