It’s your…well you know where I’m going with this…
Destiny is the first game to come from Bungie since departing from the Halo franchise, it’s a bold step to leave behind such a series to make a multi platform MMO-type shooter, and it’s been in the works for what seems forever. But has the wait and effort been worth it? Does it live up to the hype?
The story itself isn’t all that memorable, sadly…despite the efforts of the cast like legendary actors Bill Nighy and Peter Dinklage who try their best to convey the plot across, but it comes across as cold and bland at times.
However, despite that…Destiny still has tons of potential with it’s vast worlds, ever-expanding content and competitive/co-operative multiplayer. I’ve spent the past few weeks diving into Destiny amidst all the hype and internet chatter, some saying it’s short on content while others finding loot caves for special equipment to use in battle and I’ve finally got to a place where I feel I’ve seen enough, for now to render my opinion.
I’ve played all 3 character classes, which all vary in their abilities on the battlefield. The main social hub of the game is The Tower where you gather new missions, equipment and upgrades, as well as interacting with other players and exchanging Vanguard/Crucible Marks for the top of the line weaponry and armour. These can be earned in a number of ways, mostly through competitive multiplayer…but loot is random, as in Borderlands. You don’t know when you will get a Legendary/Exotic item to equip, but it’s always a good feeling when you do..as long as it’s for the class you have. Otherwise, its worthless until you upgrade the specific class to the item’s requirements before you can equip it.
Online events are becoming more frequent as time goes on with updates to the game, it’s slowly finding it’s feet as a truly expanding universe, one with huge potential. The story missions can be played solo or co-operatively, as well as other modes like raids and strikes which pits you and 2 other players against a large number of enemies, some massive in scale.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a shooter without some kick ass weapons, and Destiny has them in spades. As you would expect from an MMO-type game, you will always find a better weapon than the one you are carrying, so make sure to keep changing them for the latest ones to keep up with the opposition. Multiplayer modes are a blast with Territory-like modes and capturing areas for a brief period of time. I’m sure they’ll add more as time goes on, but I can’t see myself ever getting bored…especially with the scale of the maps, they are huge.
Destiny looks amazing, there’s no denying it. The worlds are a spectacle to view as you walk across the Earth, the incredibly detailed Moon and others that will impress you, just in scale…without even mentioning the attention to detail. Luckily, you can ride vehicles across them to speed things up or you’d be walking for a very long time.
Music is very well done thanks to Marty O’Donnell who left the project under controversial circumstances, there’s also a very odd ending song by Beatles legend, Paul McCartney. Yes, you read that right…voice acting is a mixed bag, legendary actors seemed to get pretty bad lines so you can’t blame them 100% for not achieving a great performance, although I would have liked to see them try a little harder.
The Verdict
Destiny is one of those games that will divide opinions till the dawn of time. I personally see it at the moment as the beginning of the game and can’t wait to see what the expansion packs will provide, while others feel short-changed after waiting so long and feel the game was over hyped. I don’t think that’s the case, I don’t feel like it lived up to it’s full potential…but I think that’s because it’s still so early for it. In say, 6 months it could all be different and be looked upon as one of the best games there is. Of course, this is pure speculation…but I see a lot of potential for Destiny and will stick by it to see the journey through and recommend you do the same.
