Countdown
Countdown was the very first glimpse of PvP gameplay that we saw of Destiny 2 back when the game was first revealed. We got to go hands on with it in the recent beta as well on a map built specifically for competitive play, Midtown.
It’s an interesting twist on classic ‘Search and Destroy’ style gameplay, adding in the classes and abilities iconic to Destiny while keeping the traditional round based format where attacking and defending teams swap after every round.
In this case, the attacking team pushes forward to plant an explosive device at one of two bases while the defenders try and hold them off. The round ends in victory for the attackers if they manage to wipe out all of the defending team or if they successfully plant the charge. Meanwhile, the defenders win by wiping out the enemy team or neutralizing the charge if it’s been planted.
Countdown definitely promotes teamwork and communicating with your allies. Figuring out which detonation point to push on, who should flank, where the enemy team is gathering; all of these things and more must be taken into consideration to achieve victory.
Having only one life per round and relying on being revived forces you to carefully consider every engagement. And with the slower TTKs and greater emphasis on team shooting in Destiny 2, players will have no choice but to be strategic in how they approach every encounter.
Survival
The new Survival gametype was just revealed a few days ago in an IGN first feature, and it’s another round based, elimination type mode. Each team begins every round with a pool of 8 lives shared between all members of the team, and once that pool is depleted, the game becomes sudden death.
The mode was introduced on a brand new map, the Altar of Flame. This medium sized map takes us back to Mercury in Destiny 2 and looks to perfectly support the new 4v4 format.
Survival seems like a perfect fit in a playlist geared towards more competitive play levels. One of the best ways to improve in the Crucible is to shift your focus towards dying less as you play. Survival, along with Countdown, forces players to take that approach in order to win games.