While Destiny has done well to support its cooperative-focused community with a bounty of new content and experiences (story missions, raids, strikes, etc.), the competitive community has mostly been left wanting. Sure, Bungie has added new maps and modes to Destiny's competitive multiplayer, dubbed the Crucible, but the additions have hardly been substantial. The one truly "new" thing to be added to multiplayer is the Iron Banner multiplayer event, which removes all equalizing elements in the Crucible and makes it so level, gear, and weapons matter.

With the release of the House of Wolves DLC, however, Bungie has introduced yet another new wrinkle for their competitive community. This event, called the Trials of Osiris, is a lot more unique than Iron Banner, and as a result is arguably more successful. In fact, after having spent a considerable amount of time with Trials of Osiris, we might call it the best part of Destiny's second DLC add-on.

What makes Trials of Osiris feel so fresh is the heightened stakes for multiplayer matches. While all other Destiny experiences have a certain amount of tension, they never have a genuine sense of potential failure. If a fireteam fails the Nightfall Strike, for example, they can just load it up and try again. If Crota glitches during the Crota's End raid, then the team can simply "wipe," or purposefully kill themselves, and try again from that checkpoint.

Trials of Osiris, on the other hand, has no such safety net. Every time a player loses a game they feel a looming sense of dread, as their Trials Passage nears that much closer to becoming invalid. Because of that, every match feels like an intense chess match, where strategy is key and calm nerves are essential. And any who can succeed will be rewarded with some truly useful and unique loot.

As someone who has experienced their fair share of everything Destiny has to offer, there was always the desire for something new. Prison of Elders, the new combat arena added with House of Wolves, has its own appeals but mainly as a horde mode equivalent. Like with the raids, there isn't much of a sense of tension after a while, just going through the motions in the quest for more loot.

Trials of Osiris does have that sense of tension, however. Because the event is structured with a scorecard, there is a mounting sense of dread with each loss, and an equally powerful sense of elation with each win. Pushing a game to Match Point for both teams is the closest Destiny's multiplayer has come to a true challenge. There's finality to a loss that's not present in any other multiplayer match.

To be fair, there are elements to Trials of Osiris that are less than ideal, and will likely be a turn off to some Crucible non-fans. There's an overabundance of specific weapons – namely Thorn, Hawkmoon, and Vex Mythoclast – present, to the point it feels like if a player doesn't have those weapons they are unlikely to succeed. Trials also has no matchmaking, so if a player has to resort to using DestinyLFG for teammates, they may lose out on some of that teamwork and communication. Nitpicks aside, Trials of Osiris is a great challenge for top tier Destiny players.

So, for those Crucible fans that have felt neglected or overlooked, we have good news: Trials of Osiris is the best multiplayer experience Destiny has offered yet. It's dynamic, challenging, and there's a genuine sense of accomplishment following every victory. In fact, we might argue that even those who often skip the Crucible might give Trials of Osiris a try; they may just find their favorite weekly experience.

Destiny's Trials of Osiris event runs every Friday at 10am PT to Tuesday at 2am PT.