The Witch Queen is the best campaign Destiny’s ever had, and it’s made Destiny 2 the best shooter of the year so far. Now everyone can try it out for themselves. Bungie announced today during its Lightfall showcase that Witch Queen and every other Destiny 2 expansion will be free from now until August 30.
In addition to Witch Queen, which is normally $US40 ($56), that also includes 2019’s Shadowkeep and 2020’s Beyond Light. Destiny 2 is technically already a free-to-play game, but in actuality, only a very small part of it falls under that umbrella. Each new expansion adds new locations, story missions, and activities which are gated behind the paid DLC. Fortunately, for the next week at least, those gates are disappearing on PS5, PS4, Xbox One, Series X/S, and PC.
While Shadowkeep is alright and Beyond Light is good, Witch Queen is on a whole other level. The main campaign has a legendary mode that plays like a classic Bungie shooter, complete with clever level design, breathtaking spectacle, and tense, high-stakes shootouts. Even if you have no desire to grind for loot or engage with the rest of Destiny 2’s muddled live-service sandbox, Witch Queen is worth playing all by itself. It even has mission checkpoints.
It tells the tale of Savathûn, an alien god of mischief who invites you into her magical Throne World to uncover the secret of her power and the betrayal that jump-started her transformation to boss queen. One minute you’re scaling French gothic cathedrals, the next you’re navigating a mysterious labyrinth inside a giant black pyramid on the icy moon Europa. There’s a mix of light puzzles and platforming, but mostly it’s the beautiful environments and first-rate shooting that elevates it.
Fortunately, you won’t lose any of your progress when the free offer expires, and anything you earn will follow you back into the free-to-play parts of Destiny 2 if you choose to keep going. Season of the Plunder also just kicked off today, and Destiny’s best-ever raid, King’s Fall, returned as well and is now part of the free base game. And anyone who starts playing on PC via the Epic Games Store will also get access to the Bungie 30th Anniversary expansion for free too (it’s an unofficial cross-over with Halo that revolves around a game show hosted by an equestrian space ghost).
Mostly, however, a free week of all of Destiny 2’s expansions is great news for the people who already own all of the game’s content. That’s because their friends no longer have any excuse not to play with them.
Leave a Reply