Destiny Reviews
So far Bungie has failed to exert their dominance but the foundation has been laid. In a year, will we still be talking about Destiny, or will we be looking out for what's next? That's the real question at hand.
'Destiny' is a beautiful and addictive shooter despite its punishing loot system, dated MMO inspirations and incomplete story.
Bungie and Activision has opted to partner with Sony to release exclusive in-game content that you'll only find in the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 versions of the game. An additional 3-person Strike mission that takes place on Mars is missing in the Xbox versions of the game, as well as an additional competitive Crucible map taking place on the Moon. Along with the maps, two exotic weapons and a unique armor set for each class round out the exclusive content. There are also three unique ships, but those are cosmetic only and don't have any bearing on the game
Destiny is far from a perfect game, with flaws quite clearly apparent in the storytelling and the repetitive formula, but it's also a game that can quite easily keep you coming back for more time and again, especially if you play with friends. It's a shame that some of the ideas in the Vault of Glass Raid couldn't trickle down into the earlier stages, for more variety and intellectual challenge, but it does at least point to an exciting future for the game.
In our opinion, Destiny is at its absolute best when the odds stacked against you require teamwork to overcome, and there's no shortage of those moments.
Destiny's faux-MMO approach to shooters is a shallow, dull experience that even hardcore fans may find difficult to stick with except to gaze at its worlds or engage in the entertaining competitive multiplayer.
Destiny feels like it wasn't ready, but it was shipped anyway. It tantalizes with glimpses of brilliance, but then confounds with clunky design decisions and baffling oversights. Hopefully future updates will fix these, and Destiny will realize its full potential.
Vast, beautiful, and endlessly satisfying, Destiny is like a gradually-opening puzzle box of ever-more involving FPS depth. What's already there can be explored for tens of hours. What's to come is an incredibly exciting prospect.
I had high hopes for Destiny, and if they decide to add matchmaking for every part of the game, it can be a better experience for everyone. And if they manage to pump out updates every week, Destiny stands a chance on becoming this year's best FPS, but at the moment, it is a very mediocre game which we have seen so many times before.
Based on my time with the game so far, I would certainly recommend making a date with Destiny.
As a technological achievement, it's probably about as cutting-edge as console gaming gets right now, but as a straight ahead gaming experience, Destiny's component parts have been better done elsewhere, not least by Bungie themselves.
Destiny has many great elements at its core, with solid action mechanics and especially if you were already a fan of Bungie's previous work. But there are many design concerns which bog down the experience, from the boring story to the underdeveloped MMO concepts and dull mission design. Destiny rarely feels engaging or feature-complete. We can only hope the franchise finds its footing in the future installments.
To go to another Planet you have to go back into orbit select the Planet you want and sit through what, at times, can be pretty long load times to get there.
Despite the glaring issues that, understandably, some might not be able to overcome, Destiny does manage to create a sturdy foundation from which Bungie can build its new franchise. If you can get past its foibles you'll discover an addictive online shooter that is just good old-fashioned fun on a delicious tasting bun.
Destiny is an engaging and immersive experience, albeit one that requires some serious legwork on the players half to get the most out of it. While I love it personally, I can't ignore the lack of direction given to players which robs them of all the game has to offer. At the same time, I fully recognize that this is something that is going to grow and evolve exponentially over its lifetime.
After a few dozen hours under its spell, the title of Destiny sounds like cruel irony. The game's marketing materials would have you believe that the title means your ultimate heroism is somehow inevitable, like a mythical hero of legend. But the term might as well refer to the state of grinding through the same tasks and seeing the same pretty but sterile scenery over and over again, like a space-age version of Groundhog Day, in the fallow hopes of pimping out your Guardian to the max.
Destiny is the sort of game that will need to breathe before it's appreciated. The team has launched the first free raid upgrade yesterday, and they promise far more universe-expanding content in the immediate future. As it stands now, it feels like a strong foundation coupled with a thin story and some baffling missteps on the MMO aspects of the formula. When Destiny is a shooter, it's amazing, but when it aims to make that a social activity it falls on its face. Like Bungie's previous efforts, history will prove it to be the classic it aims to be.
We just wish Destiny could captivate those same emotions a little better because if they were, we'd be hooked and ready for more. Instead, we're left hoping post-launch support will make the experience more enjoyable for all of those who believed in their favorite developer while we wait again to see what the future holds.