I was tremendously disappointed by 'Destiny,' but I'm really enjoying 'Destiny 2'

Three years ago, the beta for the first "Destiny" launched. It was a big deal — the first chance for the public to play the brand-new blockbuster franchise from the folks who created the massive "Halo" series. Hype levels were sky high, as were fans' hopes.

When the beta arrived on July 17, 2014, it was... underwhelming. When the game came out a few months later, it was clear that the beta content was much of the full game. "Where's the rest of the game?" some players wondered (myself included).

In the case of "Destiny 2," the story is much different.

Destiny 2

The beta for "Destiny 2," which went live on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One earlier this week for those who pre-ordered, has been met with near-universal praise; and now, it's available today for everyone on both consoles, for free.

I've been playing the beta since Wednesday, and am glad to say that it's convinced even me — a spurned "Halo" fan who was tremendously disappointed by the first "Destiny" — that "Destiny 2" could be something special.

Allow me to explain.

The promise of an actual story, with setpieces and characters and dialog, is at the forefront.

One of the biggest complaints about the first "Destiny" was that the story was a mess. It's barely there, the dialog was full of clichés, the voice acting was done poorly, and it was hard to follow. To further confuse things, much of the game's story was offloaded to a website, where you could presumably read about it if you even knew it existed.

The very first thing in the "Destiny 2" beta is the game's opening campaign mission, and it feels like an honest-to-goodness story mission. Major characters are introduced, the plot of the game is laid out, and environmental storytelling is everywhere — the foundational stuff for any good video game campaign mode.

We're still talking about a blockbuster video game here, so the dialog isn't exactly comparable with David Simon screenplays — think second-tier Marvel movie.

The game is prettier than ever before, and it's even better-looking in action.

There are a few different things you can do in the "Destiny 2" beta.

- The game's first campaign mission, which is the very first thing you'll do when you start it up. It automatically booted for me before I could choose anything else.

- A "strike" from "Destiny 2," which is a co-operative mission that you take on with other actual humans over the internet.

- The game's "Crucible" mode, which is online multiplayer. There are two different options here, each of which offers its own map and game type.

Of the trio, the beta's strike mission is by far the most impressive. It's a lengthy mission that you play co-operatively with other actual human players (the game matches you up easily and quickly). It's got vast areas where you'll need to navigate insane jumps while avoiding enemies. It's got huge boss fights that demand team cooperation.

Most importantly, the strike mission delivers on the promise of "Destiny" from the start: It feels as though you're actually venturing out into the wild with a crew of friends, in a massive world with hostile alien creatures.

In the first "Destiny," there was a lot of replaying missions. In order to get better gear, you had to replay missions to "grind" your character's level up. As your level increased, the better the gear you'd find while playing those missions. It's a loop.

That concept is likely to return in "Destiny 2," but the strike in the beta was the first "Destiny" anything I've played that I wanted to immediately play again. There were areas I hadn't explored! Maybe we could beat the boss faster next time! What if I want to play it with friends instead of random internet people?

If the strike in the beta is anything like what the full "Destiny 2" has, that's great news. It's a lengthy and thrilling strike, and a dozen or so of those would make a pretty killer game.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider