Destiny 2 beta details: story missions, multiplayer, new subclasses

Destiny 2 fans are eagerly counting down the days until the game's September 6th release on consoles, as well as looking forward to the upcoming beta, which kicks off in a little over a week. Now, developer Bungie has finally revealed what players can expect to experience during the beta period, and for those who've been following the game's coverage, it should all be somewhat familiar. The beta will offer a small taste of everything Destiny 2 has to offer: story missions, multiplayer modes, and a trio of brand new subclasses.

Essentially, the Destiny 2 beta will be showcasing the content that was on display at the game's reveal event in May and at E3 last month. This includes the introductory cinematic, followed by "Homecoming," the opening story mission that has Guardians briefly fighting alongside Commander Zavala. Along with this will be the new cooperative strike mission "The Inverted Spire," where three players will be fighting their way through the Vex enemy race.

On the competitive multiplayer side of things, the Destiny 2 beta will offer two Crucible game modes: Countdown, the new asymmetric attack-and-defend mode, and Control, the returning mode where players try to keep control of territory while scoring kills. It's not clear how many multiplayer maps will in the beta, but each character class will get to try out their new subclass: Arcstrider for Hunters, Sentinel for Titans, and Dawnblade for the Warlocks.

Lastly, the final day of the beta will give players a chance to check out Destiny 2's social space, The Farm. It appears this part of the beta is intended as a stress test, as the social space will only be open for one hour starting at 10 AM Pacific on Sunday, July 23rd, with Bungie noting that they want "to see how many of you it can accommodate at once."

Those who've pre-ordered the PS4 version of the game will get access to the beta starting on July 18th, while Xbox One pre-orders can join in on July 19th. The beta will then be open (and free) to all players on both platforms from July 21st to the 23rd. PC players, unfortunately, will have to wait for their own beta coming sometime in August.

SOURCE Bungie