In 2014, the launch of Future promised the beginning of an epic ten-year story. It was a promise echoed by different live-service video games that rose (and fell) in its wake. With Future 2: The Ultimate Form, Bungie’s house opera is the primary to succeed in this main milestone. As such, The Ultimate Form is full of excessive expectations.
The narrative should surpass earlier expansions, and work as an prolonged conclusion, bringing narrative threads and character arcs to an in depth. The gameplay should proceed the excessive bar set by Bungie’s esteemed pedigree. Lastly, it should set the stage for what’s going to come subsequent on this sci-fi universe.
But, regardless of all of those expectations, a sequence of layoffs, and the studio’s pivot to different initiatives, Future 2: The Ultimate Form delivers. It is the very best enlargement ever launched in Bungie’s historical past, full of pleasure, larger-than-life drama, and essentially the most satisfying gunfights.
Future 2: The Ultimate Form – Into The Pale Coronary heart
After the yr of complicated storytelling in final yr’s Lightfall enlargement, the principle story of Future 2: The Ultimate Form is straightforward in plot and grand in stakes. The Witness, the godlike being of the Darkness and grand architect behind a few of Future’s most horrendous atrocities, is on the cusp of finishing their grand design. By delving into the center of The Traveler, it plans to make use of the cosmic powers of Gentle and Darkness to kind the universe into The Ultimate Form: A calcification of actuality the place every part is compelled right into a waking nightmare of everlasting stasis.
Fortunately, the Alliance forces have discovered a approach to pursue The Witness into The Pale Coronary heart, spearheaded by the participant’s Guardian.
Complicating issues is the character of The Pale Coronary heart. It’s a panorama shaped by reminiscence twisted into surreal and unnerving shapes by The Witness’ affect. To make issues worse, this funhouse mirror of nostalgia is invaded by a model new enemy faction generally known as The Dread.
Presentation-wise, Future 2: The Ultimate Form is full of the type of fast-paced, larger-than-life, operatic storytelling that made Bungie a family identify. It navigates excessive drama and bombast alongside quiet contemplation on the character of life, struggling, and the bittersweet magnificence in one thing coming to an finish.
In each sense of the phrase, the story of Future 2: The Ultimate Form feels… effectively, closing.
This propulsive storytelling blends effectively with the extent design of The Pale Coronary heart. The environments are acquainted vignettes and areas throughout Future’s historical past corrupted into unsettling new varieties. Faces contorted in anguish jutting from a rock face. Fingers with too many fingers breaking out of the bottom. Buildings and caverns which might be constructed the other way up. That is taken to its pure excessive within the new Salvation’s Edge Raid: an uncanny fortress full of alien liminal structure.
Bungie’ narrative workforce makes use of this surrealism to supply fan service with sinister overtones. From artwork path alone, the marketing campaign celebrates the sport’s historical past, an train in nostalgic horror, and a masterclass in an apocalyptic environment.
Whereas I used to be initially skeptical, Nathan Fillion’s return as Cayde-6 is dealt with expertly, forming the beating coronary heart of Future 2: The Ultimate Form. He fully nails the emotional minefield of getting back from the useless with the correct quantity of solemn contemplation and wry wit.
An in depth second for appearing MVP is Keith David as Commander Zavala. David effortlessly makes the character his personal, sustaining the taciturn stoicism of the late Lance Reddick’s efficiency whereas bringing a tangible ache and vulnerability to the function.
Breaking Down The Wall Between Gentle and Darkness
Gameplay-wise, Future 2: The Ultimate Form does not attempt to repair what is not damaged. A loop of weapons and house magic putting down aliens and getting loot. At this level, you’ve got both bounced off of this gameplay, or it’s comfortably acquainted.
The brand new wrinkle added on this enlargement is the brand new Dread enemies. Total, they’re an awesome new enemy faction. They introduce components of air superiority with the flying Grim alongside crowd-control with the Subjugator’s Strand skills. They really feel like a pure extension of The Witness’ forces and complement established enemy factions.
However the greatest draw of this enlargement is the brand new Prismatic subclass. Within the easiest of phrases, it’s the Construct-A-Bear of Future subclasses. You’ll be able to take components from completely different subclasses and mix them. This results in robust combos that are not usually doable. Moreover, it introduces a brand new empowered mode known as Transcendence, which introduces extra enhanced skills for a quick interval.
As somebody who has put a whole bunch of hours into Future 2, the Prismatic subclass is a dream come true. Overlapping damage-over-time results with Jolt, Scorch, and Devour. Combining Strand, Stasis, and Void into nightmarish crowd management. The record of prospects goes on.
Prismatic looks like a acknowledgment by Bungie to their devoted followers. After so a few years studying the ins and outs of skills and equipment, this new subclass represents your mastery of the game-breaking your limitations.
This burst of private empowerment does not fully disrupt Future 2’s total stability. Prismatic is nice, nevertheless it does not offer you each class skill. Some are solely accessible inside their devoted subclass.
The gear sport continues a gradual shift in Bungie’s weapon design. Early on, weapons have been key to wreck and crowd management with class skills enjoying help. Now, outdoors of exotics, weapons help the skills. Common perks contain lowering skill cooldowns, producing Tremendous power, and even briefly therapeutic teammates.
The result’s extra visually busy gunfights with bigger enemy hordes. However it additionally means getting god roll on weapons feels much less necessary.
The Finish of An Period
Lately, Bungie laid out their plans for Future 2 after The Ultimate Form. They are going to be shifting from lengthy overarching narratives to an episodic construction, exploring the implications of the ultimate battle towards The Witness. It is a noticeable however measured scaling again of ambition. One which comes with the acknowledgment that individuals could want to transfer on to new issues; each the gamers and Bungie themselves.
In 2014, Bungie launched Future, a sport that spawned the idea of the live-service sport with an epic ten-year story. After initially bouncing off, I’ve been an avid participant. Studying lore, enjoying by the raids, and creating long-lasting friendships with my fellow Guardians. In 2024, Future 2: The Ultimate Form concludes its story in a approach that gamers will keep in mind perpetually in an business flooded with failed makes an attempt to seize its magic.
It was a decade full of euphoric highs and salty lows, however when it mattered most, it ended superbly.
The copy of Future 2: The Ultimate Form used on this function was supplied by the writer — all screenshots have been taken by the writer.