Bungie continues to impress with new Destiny 2 expansion, Paidia is a new online community run by women, a new Angry Birds game comes to mobile.

The Witch Queen is an intense and impactful expansion of the Destiny 2 experience

The latest chapter in the epic Destiny story released yesterday (February 22). The Witch Queen is an expansion of Destiny 2, a first-person shooter that is playable on PS4, PS5, Stadia, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

Bungie, the studio that conceived of and has so artfully managed the Destiny franchise, has kept Destiny 2 feeling like a new game for five years. They’ve done this by introducing new weapons and systems to manage and upgrade those weapons and the armour that protects your guardian.

In the Witch Queen, the Glaive is a first-person melee weapon, a first for the series. It can be wielded like a long handled axe, and can project a shield-like barrier, and it can fire Special ammunition.

We can also create and customize weapons with a new crafting system that allows us to craft new weapons and also make changes to weapons we acquire in other ways. Playing more increases your chances of finding new blueprints and customizations.

For me, the thing that makes Destiny 2 so interesting is that it’s a living, breathing world. Bungie narrative designers and the rest of the development team are constantly evolving the mythology that has been created, delivering on plot points that were seeded months ago, transforming characters that got a mere mention in early updates into dangerous, seething enemies.

The Witch Queen in question is Savathun, from the Hive, an alien species that are for me the creepiest of the bunch because they convey such a sense of undead. Through subterfuge and trickery, Savathun has managed to gain control over the Light, which is what gives guardians their power, including the ability to come back to life after death.

This, obviously, poses a problem for players, because when you defeat these enemies, they have a tendancy to come back. And it all takes place in a completely new environment, Savathun’s Throne World, a dark, swampy place.

With this new story, a new destination to explore, and a new raid (difficult challenges for groups of six players that promise valuable rewards at the end), The Witch Queen is further evidence of the commitment Bungie has to the world they created.

Paidia is a new online community run by women and committed to equality

Gaming relies on the communities that are created by gamers. But not all of these communities are comfortable or even safe spaces for all gamers, especially gamers who aren’t male.

Paidia aims to change that.

Here’s co-founder and chief executive officer, Jill Kenney.

“Paidia is a women-led company at the nexus of media, tech, and gaming. And what we’re building is an inclusive, online space to empower like-minded gamers to connect, learn, and play.”

In a phone conversation, Jill explained that the name comes from Greek mythology; Paidia, one of Aphrodite’s attendants, is the goddess of play and amusement. Paidia’s leadership are all women.

Membership in the Paidia community is $10 USD per month. Members get opportunities to play games together, to view videos and podcasts created by community members, and to participate in tournaments that are specifically designed with Paidia’s principles of being “supportive, inclusive, and kind”.

“This is a community that wants a brighter future in gaming and to be supportive, inclusive and kind,” said Jill. “Any sort of sexism, racism, queer phobia, ableism, or any other prejudices are not allowed. And every single person that comes in has to take that Paidia pledge that says they agree to that.”

New Angry Birds game hits mobile devices

There’s a new Angry Birds game to play on your smartphone.

Angry Birds Journey, available for Android and iOS, is a free-to-play casual game that has you using a slingshot to fling birds across the screen in an attempt to take out pigs and free other birds from captivity.

Games in the Angry Birds franchise have drifted since the first one from Rovio was released in 2009. There are racing games, role playing games, side-scrolling shooters, and even augmented and virtual reality games, all created in an attempt to keep the series fresh and appealing to mobile gamers.

Angry Birds Journey is a return to the roots of the series. You’ve got different birds with different super powers, and different pigs with different defences, and you’re trying to clear the levels with a limited number of birds.

There’s also a remake of the original Angry Birds game in the works.