9 Games Like Destiny to Scratch Your Loot-Shooter Itch
While Destiny 2 is still getting regular updates, many players are still looking for more: Despite huge initial momentum, Bungie's popular space shooter ultimately burned out with a lack of exciting loot and replayable content.
While there are other games with exciting co-op or competitive elements, like Fortnite and Overwatch, the games on this list represent a huge cross section of what players love about Destiny: loot collecting, fun cooperative activities, and rewarding and engaging combat. Here are nine great Destiny alternatives to get your loot-shooter fix.
Credit: Digital Extremes
Borderlands 2
Borderlands 2 is the epitome of the term "looter shooter." This four-player co-op game is a classic feel-good romp with bombastic weapons and an over-the-top story and characters. It's available on a ton of platforms, including PC, PS4 and Xbox One, and it's almost always on sale. The game's Twitch community is still alive and kicking, waiting on every detail from developer Gearbox about Borderlands 3.
Credit: 2K Games
The Division
While Ubisoft's The Division didn't completely grab me, it grabbed most of the Destiny fanbase at a time when Destiny's content was in a drought. It has the same looter-shooter grind that Destiny fans crave, with an exciting re-creation of New York City, solid third-person-shooter mechanics and a ton loot to find. The game launched with a ton of issues, but after two years of consistent effort, The Division has been a safe haven for disenfranchised Destiny 2 players.
Credit: Ubisoft
Diablo III
Blizzard is known for making high-quality titles, and Diablo III is no exception. This dungeon-crawling action-RPG is known for its franchise history with randomized loot. Every piece of gear you get has a chance to be better — or worse — than what you have. Add in drop-in/drop-out multiplayer, and you're sucked in for at least a few hours a night.
Credit: Blizzard
Warframe
Warframe is a free-to-play third-person shooter that is similar to Destiny in many ways. It has a rewarding combat system, online co-op, a customizable ship, and a very generous and well-executed microtransaction system that doesn't take advantage of players who don't want to pay.
Credit: Digital Extremes
Monster Hunter World
This surprise co-op hack-and-slash hit comes on the heels of a franchise mostly popular outside North America. Monster Hunter World's repetitive but often deep and engaging grinding gameplay loop has captured even the most hard-core Destiny veterans. And with at least a year of free DLC planned, it's still a great time to hop in.
Credit: Capcom
Sea of Thieves
While Sea of Thieves may seem shallow and repetitive, it provides the same cooperative multiplayer experience that Destiny's superpopular Strikes do. You and a few buds hop into the game world and barrel your way through the mission however you see fit. Sea of Thieves adds to this with engaging and rewarding ship sailing that makes you actually think you could captain a ship (but you still probably can't).
Credit: Microsoft
State of Decay 2 (May 22, 2018)
This sequel looks to bring back the community-building focus of Microsoft's popular zombie-horde game. In State of Decay 2, if your character dies, someone else takes your place. And it's all wrapped up in tight four-player cooperative action-oriented combat.
Credit: Microsoft
Skull and Bones (2018)
There's definitely something about pirates in 2018, and this game had another fantastic reveal at last year's E3. Skull and Bones is an action RPG with an emphasis on exploration, and it includes both player-versus-environment and player-versus-player game modes that grant you loot to upgrade your pirate vessel.
Credit: Ubisoft
Anthem (2019)
Revealed last year at E3, Anthem is developed by BioWare, and its gameplay trailer looks incredibly promising. It's very much BioWare's version of Destiny, promising to provide action-RPG combat in a games-as-service wrapper. And boy, does this game have stunning visuals.
Credit: EA
