Is Destiny 2 fun? Not really, not for a new player. Destiny 2 scores 4/10 for fun. The gunplay is the best in its genre, but newcomers start mid-story, buried in menus, and need guides to find their way.
Where this score comes from: Steam player reviews, last checked against the 200 most recent English reviews in October 2026. Destiny 2 on Steam
Destiny 2 is free to start, with a download of about 100 GB. The original campaign and several early expansions were pulled years ago. Bungie said in September 2026 it will bring them back, but players are still waiting, so a new account begins somewhere in the middle.
Destiny 2 scores 4/10 on immediate fun. Steam reviews look glowing right now, but many come from console veterans moving to PC and fans cheering that September news. Players who say they are new are far more mixed, and even the happy ones describe being lost. One watched a couple of hours of how-to videos to learn where to go. Another lived on Google and played the campaigns in the wrong order. When the fun sits behind homework, great shooting can’t carry the score.
The shooting. Angry or not, reviewers say the guns feel incredible, and plenty call it the best gunplay anywhere. Movement and abilities add to it, and subclasses give you room to build. Even a player who quit after 60 hours praised the guns and the jumping.
Once it clicks, the loot loop is hard to put down. Players joke about grinding until 3 AM for a helmet with a slightly faster grenade, and newcomers who pushed through say it became a favorite.
The first hours. New players say the game hands you strong gear, skips any normal opening and leaves you to work out what to do. Characters talk to you like old friends while you have no idea who they are. Menus are packed with icons, and dungeon puzzles are never explained.
Then the paywall. Most content lives in paid expansions, and one new player saw a full-screen ad for one twice in their first session. PvP is rough on newcomers, with cheaters and veterans who drop you in one hit, and one exotic quest sends you there anyway. The game is also out of active development.
Solo: Doable. Campaigns and patrols work alone, and the in-game group finder covers team activities. But nobody explains anything, so you carry the whole learning curve yourself.
With friends: Much better. Raids are what people remember most, and veterans are often happy to guide newcomers. Some of those runs last all night.
Only with a veteran friend to show you around, or once the old campaigns return. The road to the shooting is too confusing for most new players. Warframe is the friendlier free looter shooter at 7/10.
For comparison, we rated Helldivers 2 8/10 and ARC Raiders 3/10 on the same fun-only scale.
See where it lands in our list of overrated games.
Destiny 2 scores 4/10 on immediate fun. The best gunplay in its genre. New players start mid-story, lost in menus, with most content sold separately.
No starting point. Paid expansions.
One question: did it deliver immediate fun? Graphics, story depth, difficulty and critical acclaim are ignored. Pick-up-and-play accessibility is rewarded; anything that makes you wait for the fun to start is penalized.
How we score: We don't care about graphics, story depth, or critical acclaim. One question — did it deliver immediate fun? We reward pick-up-and-play accessibility and penalize anything that makes you wait for the fun to start.