‘Destiny 2’ prepares for busy PC launch

A launch trailer for the PC edition of sci-fi shooter “Destiny 2” arrives in advance of an Oct. 24 release, not long before “Assassin’s Creed Origins”, “Wolfenstein II” and “Call of Duty: WWII”.

Landing a full seven weeks after its console counterparts, “Destiny 2” will make a PC franchise debut upon its October 24 launch.

The series is the current project of Bungie, the Washington USA video game studio that left “Halo” publisher Microsoft for a partnership with “Call of Duty” and “Skylanders” giant Activision.

Players touch down on a lavishly rendered future earth in which alien interlopers have caused chaos and destruction, and a highly skilled, formidably equipped remnant of humanity leads the resistance.

Designed for play on solo missions but leaning heavily on a variety of multiplayer content, “Destiny 2” lays out a carefully balanced cornucopia of activities for its participants, with two years’ worth of free updates, paid expansions, and microtransaction enticements expected before the ten year franchise’s next big release arrives.

Releasing on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One to positive reviews, multiple special editions, and PlayStation console bundles, “Destiny 2” introduced itself as a PC title with a three-day beta for pre-order customers at the end of August.

Feedback was positive, allaying concerns that first steps on a non-console platform might falter, and granting a taste of what was to come when PlayStation and Xbox releases were so much sooner.

That “Destiny 2” was not welcomed with a multitude of optimization complaints works in its favor as a title releasing perilously close to Ubisoft’s “Assassin’s Creed Origins”, another franchise with a penchant for the spectacular and, on PC, the inevitable rendering or programming errors whose slapstick nature ensure that they are quickly spread amongst players and observers.

Instead, there is a general confidence that Bungie will deliver on its promise of scalable screen resolutions up to 4K, uncapped framerates, an adjustable field of view, and support for ultra-wide or special monitor configurations for those with suitably capable Windows PCs.

Also launching on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox one on Oct. 27 is “Wolfenstein II: The New Order”, sequel to a highly rated ahistorical shooter whose strength lay in its focus on singleplayer exploits, declining to offer the same sort of social features as “Destiny 2” does.

Perhaps more challenging for “Destiny 2” on PC is Activision’s other established action franchise, “Call of Duty”.

This year’s annual iteration involves a long-awaited return to its traditional roots with the historical European conflict of “Call of Duty: WWII” from Nov. 3. JB

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