Game developer Bungie Incorporated set the bar high with their 2014 first person shooter, Destiny. Four packages of downloadable content (DLC) and three years later, fans finally get a chance to see what Bungie has prepared for them in this highly anticipated sequel. Shortly after the last DLC, “Rise of Iron,” is where the original Destiny players can expect Destiny 2 to start.

The player, known as the Guardian in the story, starts out coming back to Earth from a mission to find an attack occurring on the Last City with major damage done to the Tower. The antagonist, Dominus Ghaul, commander of the Red Legion which is part of the Cabal, is met and it is here where the Guardian responds to the call to action. The Guardian must attempt to save the Tower and the people of the Last City while assisting the Vanguard, a collection of other elite warriors. Jake Walters, junior at William Paterson, is a returning player and expressed his main interest in the story line.

“It blew me away with how much could have been improved on from the first destiny, and through all the DLC,” Walters said. “It’s graphically so much better, especially now on the newer generation consoles and story wise had exponentially more content.”

Perhaps what’s so appealing about the story is that the experience is fully catered to the gamer’s play-style. There are three different play-styles a Guardian can be. The Warlock, Hunter and Titan character builds offer different strategies for each. For example, Titan is the style of play where you pack more power while the Hunter offers a stealthier style where you can wait for the perfect moment to strike.

“I like the hunter personally because it’s not just guns blazing and you can sneak around like no other class,” Walters said.

Another aspect from the story is that the worlds are stunning. During the countless hours of play, the gamer will encounter multiple worlds. With those different worlds come different environments with vibrant, eye-popping, rich colors.

“There’s more color in this installment than ever before, it actually feels like you’re in a lush forest, or an oil rig with all of it’s company’s old branding,” Walters said. “You feel like you’re there.”

For a game that is so beautiful visually, it has to have an audible appeal too. Walters said that “the gun sounds are much better than the first.” Now, if a player has a silenced weapon, you hear the difference. In addition to the updated gun sounds is the euphonious soundtrack. A highly acclaimed soundtrack however, is nothing new to Bungie’s reputation.

“The soundtracks are fantastic from Bungie games, so much so where the songs are recognizable outside the game,” Walters said. “If you go all the way back to the first couple Halo games that Bungie also made, people would go around saying ‘did you hear this song? It’s from the Halo series.'”

While this game isn’t 100% perfect, it’s as close as many games will get. IGN rated the game an 8.5 on their scale. At the end of the day, Walters says that Bungie executed based on the community feedback. One of the issues with the first installment were item drops. The item drops were met with criticism because they were highly inaccurate and sometimes useless to where your Guardian is at that point in the game.

“For example, if you need a weapon that does 200 points of damage, you might get one for 100 in an item drop, rendering it pretty useless for the enemies you’ll be facing,” Walters said. “Now the item drop will actually give you something that is more catered to your level.”

Meanwhile one of the problems that has carried over from the predecessor is that Raid mode is wildly complicated. Walters explained that in order to do a raid the player must set up a time with six friends, not random players in a lobby, then go through instructions in an app that everyone has to have on their personal smartphone. “It would be a lot better if they made into a lobby with just random players in the Destiny community.”

The online community hasn’t changed much from the last. One noticeable difference is that the limited-time events are no longer random and they are scheduled now where every five minutes there is a community event. Walters describes the 6-vs-6 lobby as the “common lobby” where you’ll see most of the community. The more competitive players tend to be found in the tighter lobbies of 3-vs-3 or 4-vs-4.

“For online play, clash, which is like team deathmatch from Call of Duty, is my favorite,” Walters said.

Finally, one could assume that the game has generally positive reviews when one searches the web. For a game with such an expansive story with immersive storytelling, a beautiful soundtrack and artwork that can transport you, it’s no secret the game is a major hit among returning and new, casual fans. In addition, the multiplayer is as lively as ever and if the success continues to grow when DLC comes out, it may even set up a third installment down the road. Destiny 2 is far and away above it’s predecessor and is a must-play.

“What makes this one so good is that Destiny 2 is exactly what Destiny wanted to be initially but didn’t do correctly,”Walters said. “The content in the story, graphics, as well as the mechanics were major improvements making it sort of like a balanced mix of Call of Duty and Halo.”