Review: Destiny

There is something to be said about the first time you load up a new game. Those feelings are ramped up a notch when with brand new IP. It’s hard to truly describe that level of anticipation; that feeling that anything could be possible as you embark on a completely new adventure. Unless you’ve been living under a rock on a deserted island in the last four or so years, you’ve heard about this little game called Destiny, developed by Bungie. It promised to be equal parts MMO and FPS rolled into, as Bungie likes to call it, a “Shared-World Shooter”. Therein lays the central issue that prevents Destiny from, to quote their marketing tagline, ‘Become a legend”.

Simply put, Destiny has an identity issue; it never seems to know what it wants to do, but tries to do everything.

Prior to release, Bungie promised gamers an epic, engaging, world-changing story with a deep narrative that would engage the player even after the story had come to a close. Sadly, the story – if you can even call it that—is anything but. After finishing the campaign with two friends, one of them asked, “So, what did you think of the story?”

“I still don’t understand what the story was about,” the other replied.

That’s because there is little in the way of explanation of anything apart from the half-dozen storyesque cutscenes totaling roughly 10 to 15 minutes. The last remaining human city called the Tower; there is a mysterious Traveler who is trying to fight off the Darkness and… well that’s it. The entire story is merely a series of hooks to get the player to an area to shoot things. There is no substance behind it.

Everything about Destiny promises to be something new, unique and epic. Activision and Bungie heralded the game as a grand vision. Yet, there is a distinctive ‘been there done that’ feel to it. Starting with the class system, you can choose to be a Titan, Hunter, or Warlock. They are the traditional Warrior, Rogue and Mage styles of gameplay, albeit with guns. Character races also present you with three options: Human, Awoken, or Exo. Races offer no statistical benefits or bonuses at all; they are merely aesthetics… which in itself is very puzzling. In a game that is supposed to be deep and engaging, your character’s race offers nothing aside from looking cool. There is no incentive to try other race or class combinations aside from Achievement or Trophy hunting.

Missions are largely the same: spawn on a planet, have your little companion robot Ghost tell you where to go, head there and either have the Ghost scan something or obliterate any enemy presence. Rinse and repeat. There’s no variety, no change of pace; it’s just mob after mob of enemy that you roll through again and again. Even the enemy types are new or mysterious. Each planet has their flavour of choice with uninspired names: The Fallen, the Hive, Vex or the Cabal. Each of those factions has three to five variants and the requisite large more powerful versions. It seems that Bungie didn’t really push the envelope here; they decided to play it safe and stick to things that have worked before. For a game that claims to be epic and innovative, this really isn’t the route to take.

With all that said though, here’s the thing: I’m having fun playing Destiny. Setting aside the non-existent story, the clichéd classes and route missions, the game is fun to play at its core. Bungie is known for its crisp gun handling and combat and it’s no surprise that Destiny does these things very well. Tearing through mob after mob is rewarding, especially when playing with a complete fireteam of two other friends. Working together as a unit to complete missions and challenges is when I enjoyed the game the most.

Despite all the negatives I mentioned above, they don’t matter as much when you’re rolling with a fireteam. There are two other modes built around co-op style play. Strike missions are ultra-specific missions for fireteams, usually taking around 40 minutes to an hour to complete. Each planet has one or two, and they usually consist of a couple smaller-type bosses along the way to a super boss. Oddly enough, these Strike mission bosses were more entertaining than the campaign missions. Like other MMO-style games there are also Raids, which are designed for groups of 6 players. Curiously though, Raids are not yet available as of the writing of this review despite being a prominent selling point leading up to Destiny’s release.

There is also the Crucible, which provides gamers with traditional FPS multiplayer modes. Fans of Bungie’s previous games will, for the most part, feel right at home. The variety of modes are pretty standard fare, with nothing innovative — this just contributes to the ‘been there done that before’ feeling that seems to permeate the game. The thing is, even though Bungie has created some of the most critically acclaimed maps… well, the maps in Destiny seem bland. Remembering maps like “Blood Gulch”, “Lockout”, “Zanzibar” and “Backwash” in Halo, none of the maps in Destiny come even close to being memorable.

One concern I had about the Crucible was the variety of different level characters playing against each other and how balancing would work. Bungie claimed the normal Crucible playlist would remove bonuses for characters and have an even balance for everyone regardless of their level. That was not my experience at all. I found myself being annihilated by higher level characters no matter what strategy I used, nor the weapons I had equipped. I’d like to think that I am a fairly decent FPS multiplayer gamer, yet I didn’t enjoy the Crucible at all. The learning curve seems extremely steep and I it’s one I don’t really feel like having to work at to try to overcome. Some may really enjoy it, but I feel like most will probably dip their feet in and decide it’s a good fit, before moving on. It did feel to me like those who had better gear were the ones that continually came out on top each and every time.

On gear, MMO players are familiar with grinding out levels to get better equipment. Destiny is no different, in that every gun or piece of equipment you have can always be trumped by something you loot down the track. I will admit there’s a certain enjoyment of finding better gear, be it a weapon or piece of armor – but after a while, you’ll realise that your quest for loot just becomes about the numbers. In my case, I prefer to use a scout rifle: it fits my play style and I feel I am most effective with it. During my playtime, I found dozens of different scout rifles, and while they had slightly different stats as I ranked up, they all fired the same way. There was nothing that really made me feel like I was using a new gun.

For a game as massive as Destiny claims to be, there is a surprising shortage of weapon options. Under the primary weapon slot you have the choice of an Auto Rifle, Scout Rifle, Pulse Rifle or Hand Cannon. Under the Special Weapon slot you can use a Fusion Rifle, Sniper Rifle or shotgun. The Heavy Weapon slot is even more sparse, offering you only a Machine Gun or Rocket Launcher. The lack of options is evident extremely quickly in the game.

There’s no questioning Destiny is a beautiful title. Its backdrops are gorgeous; on more than one occasion, I found myself stopping to look up at the sky and panning around to see the full view. It’s not until you truly get into it that you realise that, for as good as the game looks, it’s really just a lifeless world. There is very little substance behind the four areas, regardless of the planet you are on – Earth, the Moon, Venus or Mars; everything feels the same. One area bleeds into another, and aside from a building or two, everything feels hallow and completely uninspired. It’s the same as the classes I mentioned above in that it seems that Bungie played it safe and didn’t want to go outside of the preconceived box.

Destiny borrows many elements from other successful games and attempts to roll them all into one highly polished game. When all is said and done, it’s a fun game to play with friends. But, there are better co-op games available, there are better RPGs available, and there are better FPS games out there. Destiny has ambitions of being a game that does everything, yet at best it’s average in any one area. There are claims that the game has endless content, but how endless can it be when you are repeating the same thing over and over again?

Destiny is like going to the grocery store and finding a big juicy watermelon. It has a perfect rind, good color, and upon picking it up, there is a decent amount of weight to it. The fruit on the inside is plentiful and looks amazing… yet knocking on the watermelon creates a distinct hollow sound; all show, but lacking substance. Moreover, it’s fun to eat, but won’t fill you up. Sadly, this is Destiny. If you are able to look past its faults, it’s fun to play with friends for what it is: a mindless slog in the quest to find that piece of loot that is one or two points higher than the one you currently have.

 

Destiny

The good Great to play with friends. Tight and rewarding combat mechanics.

The bad Lacklustre story. Repetitive missions. Lack of options for characters & gear.

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