Countdown in Destiny 2 has pulled me back into the Crucible

I’m always super-happy to wax lyrical about Destiny. I’ll happily talk your ear off about killing Crota with his own sword as his death-howl pierced the veil of his Ascendant Realm and reached the ears of his father Oryx the Taken King somewhere in the cold darkness of space. I’ll gladly tell you of that time I fought off a horde of Fallen in the Archon’s Forge or how I earned my Bad Juju from a particularly benevolent RNGesus during a Strike.

One thing I don’t often chat about however? The Crucible. It’s not that the multiplayer side of Destiny is bad, but rather that its selection of modes aren’t always that appealing to me. Beyond the obvious lag issue inherent to being setup on the southernmost tip of the world, it’s just that most of these modes don’t often capture the frenetic energy of Destiny at its best. It’s just not my cup of tea.

Countdown on the other hand, makes me want to glug that particular brew from the biggest German stein that I can find.

The setup for Countdown is easy enough: Like every other mode on offer the action is restrained to 4v4, respawns are limited and you have only one life to give when said revives are spent. The objective? Activate a charge and defend it for around half a minute or defend said charge and defuse any that have been activated. It’s simple, fast and furious. Which is why Countdown is so much damn fun to play.

Here’s an example of me not actually sucking at the mode, captured from a PS4 Pro that all games of Destiny 2 were played on at last week’s event:

See what I mean? What I like with Countdown, is that it doesn’t feel like it’s wasting my time. Key to all of this is a solid map design, of which we got to experience at least one such arena at the Destiny 2 event. Called Midtown, it’s a concentrated collection of concrete with numerous choke points built inside of it. The high-rise buildings around you result in fights that are street-level brouhahas, while every building is a mere corner ambush away from death.

Design-wise, it actually reminds me a lot of the Numbani and King’s Row maps from Overwatch. That is not a bad comparison to make at all. Dedicated choke points, paths and strategies within this small arena that’s going to be home to some of the most furious fire-fights you’ve ever seen in a carpet shop. Destiny 2 yo.

I think the key takeaway here, is that Countdown is also a mode that feels like it was made for the PC audience. It’s unmistakeably reminiscent of basic CounterStrike:GO or Call of Duty’s Search ‘n Destroy style of gameplay. I’m pretty much convinced that this is a bit of purposeful design, to help Destiny 2 find a dedicated crowd on the master blaster platform after launch.

Solid multiplayer on PC will always be a key hook for those players, in particular, something I feel you’re going to see a lot of focus on in the months to come. At least Countdown is properly solid enough in its design to work splendidly on PC.

I know I’m going to be pinged to hell when I engage it inside of Destiny 2 proper in September, but for those of you who do rock single-digit latencies (bastards), you’re going to find a slick and quick mode that can be either a lunch-break diversion or a bit lengthier when more seasoned teams play. Y’know, like on PC. A platform that Destiny 2 will eventually hit, in case I didn’t mention it enough yet.

Kinda fits together now, doesn’t it?

 

Last Updated: May 22, 2017