Destiny 2 Countdown Impressions – Classic Crucible with Counter-Strike Flair

Destiny 2 is full of all the great PvP multiplayer action that millions have become addicted to. It also adds some stuff to the game though. While we don’t know everything new that’s coming to Destiny 2, we do know about a brand new attack/defend style gamemode that will be featured in the Crucible. Titled Countdown its reminiscent of Counter-Strike in a lot of ways. At the Destiny 2 reveal I got to go hands-on with the new mode. Here are my thoughts.

Countdown has two teams of four squaring off in a fairly standard Destiny arena. Two objectives are on the screen, no matter which team you’re on. As the attackers you need to get to either of these two and plant a bomb by activating a large glowing tower. Defenders can defuse though, so once it’s planted the teams kind of swap their goals.

Unlike most Crucible matches in Destiny, players don’t respawn here. Keeping with the Counter-Strik style gameplay, once you’re dead you are dead. Except, other Guardians can still revive you, adding a lot of interesting strategy to this, and giving it a definite Destiny 2 flair.

Destiny 2 Countdown Gamemplay Hands-on

Also deviating from its predecessors, Destiny 2’s Countdown is extremely fast paced. The map was small, the objectives were close together. It was possible to guard one and make it to the other in an emergency without missing much of the action. Rounds went by quickly, and teams were already starting to form strategies and patterns.

We went down quickly, with the other team getting only one win away from total victory. However, it seemed like I and my teammates had started to gel, figuring out how the game and our characters worked. A comeback was definitely in the cards. I won’t spoil the ending, so check out the video below, which will be added as soon as it’s uploaded.

The Destiny 2 Crucible match brought back a lot of the fun that I felt back when the first game launched. This new mode changed things up a lot, but it still had that tried and true gunplay action that made the first game so beloved. Bungie has toyed with the formula a bit, even beyond this game mode, but it’s still fun and fast action.