The Taken King takes Destiny from a joke to an achievement

New subclasses

Each of the three classes in the original Destiny could access two different subclasses, which granted them different abilities, specifically for grenades, melee attacks, and special attacks. For instance, as a Hunter, I could be a Gunslinger that could occasionally take out a special pistol that dealt massive damage or a Bladedancer that specialized in melee attacks.

All of the classes can access a new subclass in The Taken King. This opens up a new way to play each specialization, and it helps to further differentiate the classes while adding more flexibility. As a Hunter, I could now become a Nightstalker, which focuses on area-of-effect abilities like smoke bombs, grenades that create a wall of fire, and a bow that shoots an elemental arrow that tethers all enemies in the area.

Discovering your new subclass and leveling it up adds an extra level of satisfaction to playing through The Taken King’s new content.

Rift multiplayer

Destiny’s multiplayer gets a new mode in The Taken King, and it’s now my new favorite. It’s called Rift, and it’s a variation on capture-the-flag. In this, however, the flag is the Spark, and it spawns in the middle of the map. Both teams have to fight to claim it, and whoever does has to run the Spark to the other team’s base, which causes it to detonate. This mode is fast and frantic, and it still leaves plenty of room for strategy.

I also enjoy how the scoring works. While detonating a Spark nets your team the most points, you also earn some just by getting close. You earn more points the nearer you get to the enemy base before dying. So, even if neither team actually manages to detonate the Spark, capturing it and making progress still matters.

The Taken King also adds a bunch of new maps (eight, to be precise) playable in Rift and all the old modes. I enjoyed all of them (and with no noticeable lag), and they feature a nice variety of locations across the Solar System, from a ruined England to Mercury.

More content

Really, it’s impressive just how much content The Taken King has. Even once you beat the main story, you earn new quests that feature their own narratives and voice-overs. The new Strikes are also a big improvement over the originals, focusing less on locking you in a room and subjecting you to wave after wave of enemies. The bosses are also less bullet-spongy and feature interesting mechanics, including a fight that takes place mostly in the dark. Destiny’s new zone, the Dreadnaught, also has a lot of secrets that players can discover just by roaming around.

What you won’t like

Lots of repeated content

Even with all that new material, playing Destiny regularly means that you’ll eventually have to repeat missions and Strikes a lot to earn more gear. I’m not overly upset about this. That’s how most massively multiplayer online games work, like World of Warcraft.

But if Bungie keeps up with its current model or releasing a few expansions a year, I do worry that I’ll get a little tired of everything before the next wave of content hits. Then again, taking a break between expansions is fine and healthy. However, if you’re looking for something that you can play regularly, just be warned that you might feel the drag of repeated content after a month or so.

Conclusion

After a year of bitching about and mocking Destiny, I now genuinely like it. Heck, I’ve played it at least a bit every day since The Taken King launched. And while I’m unsure if I can keep this pace up for long, even if I stop soon, I’ll definitely feel like The Taken King offered plenty of content. Most important, it was quality content.

Destiny finally feels like the big deal that Bungie wanted us to think it was last year.

Score: 90/100

Destiny: The Taken King is out now for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 the publisher provided us with a copy of the Xbox One version for this review.