Set some decades after the events of Remnant: From the Ashes, Remnant 2 opens with us, the player, taking the reins of a nameless character who is travelling to find the mysterious and apparently heavily-regarded-as-a-myth Ward 13, a bastion of hope and protection against the dangers of a post-apocalyptic world far removed from what we’d recognise ourselves.

Remnant 2 is Destiny’s Child with The Last of Us as the Father

During the opening hour or so of Remnant 2 everything will feel oddly familiar, and you’ll pretty quickly figure out why. From the delipidated and ruined visages of society to the overgrown city sprawling with flowers of both Earth origin and otherwise, you’ll spend a lot of time just taking in the vistas, and appreciating the effort that went into designing such a destroyed world. The developers definitely make good use of Unreal Engine 5 here, with the lighting in particular being some of the best I’ve seen, especially later on during some particularly effect-heavy sequences.

After a predictably dire event occurring resulting in near-fatal injury for yourself, as well as your companion, unknown allies arrive to save you, before casually mentioning they’ll take you to Ward 13, the very place that was supposedly well-hidden and a myth… maybe not.

Related: Remnant 2 Update Lowers the Grind

A few expositional conversations later, and you’ll find yourself in front of ‘The World Stone’, a giant red-floating stone that allows traversal between universes, which, after a conversation with the long-living ‘Founder Ford’, you find out that this is the source of the Root, the very organism that has destroyed Earth and humanity with it.

More bad decisions occur and you’ll find yourself thrust into a variety of these dimensions throughout the story, and then the real fun begins.

Good Fun on your Own, GREAT with a Mate (or Two)

Remnant 2 is three-player co-op, although it can be played solo, or just with a single friend. Undoubtedly though, the game is most fun when played with others. With the multiple archetypes on offer, it certainly rewards teams who communicate and play well together, rather than a team of Medics, or Gunslingers. Variety is the spice of life after all.

After the first initial trip through The World Stone, you’ll begin your journey through the real meat of the game, and whilst the direction from the game is minimal, with no HUD markers and a small HUD map to follow, you’ll enjoy your time ambling through the maps in search of the latest quest. Whether it is to save Clementine, destroy some segments, kill an imposter World God or a multitude of other missions, the game doesn’t stop throwing variety at you. The enemies keep on coming, and with the different universes come unique enemies that’ll force you to rethink your approach with each travel.

Related: Remnant 2 Gets Big Update Finally Bringing Important Gameplay Mechanic to the Table

New weapons are in abundance, but for all the machine guns and handguns I found myself sporting a longbow, which as a Gunslinger was a sight to behold, as my co-op partner, a Medic, decided to lay waste to the masses with every LMG he could grab. We couldn’t have been further from our archetypes that we chose, but that is the sort of choice the game gives you.

As with any game like this, Remnant 2 offers a HUGE amount of gear to loot and wear, from rings, to helmets, to standard armour and more besides, but beware. The thickest armour is also the heaviest, and if you’re not paying attention you’ll end up handicapping yourself. Too much weight and you’ll lose all agility, and trying to perform a roll will result in a comical, Monty Python-esque falling on one’s face, and something that drew a childish, gleeful laugh when I saw this very thing happen to co-operative partner.

Several times during our playthrough we happened upon side quests, hidden dungeons or even the main quest without intending to, and that’s one of the main takeaways from my time with it; Remnant 2 keeps you moving forward whilst feeling directionless. It is a special approach to gaming, and one that can be found in the likes of Elden Ring, Bloodborne and so on, but it is so rewarding.

The world, the guns, the party aspect and the replayability offered by the playstyles and openness of the approach offered means Remnant 2 is one of the most fun third-person shooters out there right now. It doesn’t have the live-service aspects of Destiny 2, but the finality of a complete story does offer a different type of experience. Oh, and you can pet your canine companion!

8/10

Remnant 2 was played on PlayStation 5 and reviewed on a code supplied by Diva Agency.

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