What is our Destiny?

What is our Destiny? Just a few thoughts...

The Hype machine has been rev'd up and Bungie's name has spilled forth. From the makers of the hit franchise "Halo", which is the flagship of Xbox/Microsoft, has once again called upon their creative design and forces to create a Sci-fi MMO/Shared shooter called "Destiny". The PR in this product is amazing. I think I even saw an advertisement on my cereal box and at a church sermon. Its hard to escape the reality of  you, me, our Destiny. Now the real question is, does this game live up to the hype? Does it deliver the goods and burn bright? or does it flicker out like a dying star, light years away only to be forgotten. Lets see what makes this game tick throughout my experience of the game and see what it takes to become a Legend...

"Space...the final frontier in a galaxy far, far away..."

My first hands on impression on this game was far too familiar. Now this is not a bad thing since I am a great Halo fan and I have been through hell and back with "Master Chief" himself and this games mechanics shares a lot of the DNA from Bungie's well renowned series. Its like a parent (Bungie) had kids with a wife/spouse (Microsoft), kids become very successful but the parent (Bungie) says "i'm not happy with this relationship/marriage. You are too demanding, controlling, and jealous"  then divorces Microsoft because Bungie found a more "Sexier and profitable" partner to sow their seeds with (Activation), thus giving birth to this bundle of joy that we now have.  Even how the enemies dodge and how the fallen's guided lasers seems like the needlers from the grunts on Halo. Plus i'm having a blast with the PvP multi-player and the classic level designs from the labyrinth to open wide areas which have a true Bungie feeling to them. If only someone can mod Blood Gulch in Destiny I would die a happy man! The graphics are also quite breathtaking. From the sky box to the lovely desolate horizons, Bungie gives the impression that there is more out there than the level you are in. I wish that where true because the levels are huge, but not open-world/MMO material. Its like being a fish in a in a well equipped aquarium. You can see the beautiful outside world, but you are restricted by an impenetrable force (which would be the glass for the fish).

                                                 "Draw Me Like One of Your French Girls"

This game is binary crack and I cannot let the pipe, I mean controller down... I have to warn you that the story is not what hooks you into this game. Actually the story is VERY lame and practically non existent. Have you every played an MMO where you are doing numerous fetch quests? Gets to the point that you don't even read what the character says and you just ignore the nature or reason of your task? All you need to know is that I go from A to B and kill him/it or mail/drop off this and then give me my damn experience points!!!! Its a pretty simple formula, really. Now the real addiction here are the level ups and the loot. Many people have labeled this as a mix of Borderlands gun porn and the RPG elements/dungeon crawling of Diablo. There are three classes to choose from (Titan/Warlock/Hunter) with a different skill tree and tons of random level weapons and armor to choose from. You can only use certain equipment depending on your level, but no classes have restrictions on gun types and you are always looking for that special blaster with the boots to match.

"I'm sexy and I know it"

Reaching from Level 1 to 20 is actually very simple, but after that its a whole new ball game. You need to equip special and rare armor that have +points of light which goes towards your level progress meter. There are various ways such as rare drops, doing bounties for you team, or even strike missions. But I have heard horror stories about reaching Level 25-26 which you are at a stand still. People are dumping over 110 hours and still not reaching their goals. Me, personally, i'm level 22 so i'm just starting to feel the grind. I kinda like this idea because it makes you change on how you develop your character and change your activities. For example, instead of playing the story I am now focused on doing bounties and joining factions which is a totally different area in the game. I would have actually ignored this whole area if it weren't for this change. Now I hate it because its time consuming. I don't have the time anymore to sit in front of my T.V. without my wife attacking on one side and the Destiny infested enemies attacking on the other. Its a war-zone here and i'm all out of ammunition!!

VERDICT:

Overall, this is a great game if you are into getting what you put in it. The world seems to suck you in even though the story is non coherent. Its better played when you actually have your own fire-team to rely on and strategize your attacks on strike missions. This game is missing a few important elements in chat and communication with other unknown players and a lobby to create PvP matches which will be added in the near future.  There are also some awesome dance parties!!! Check on the video below to see how to start one!! And if I missed anything, which a pretty much did, I  only had time to write this during work hours (I have no time, remember!?) so its whatever came to mind! Thanks for reading and until next time.  -Charly M.

Like out FB page:
https://www.facebook.com/updowngamereviews

Or follow us on twitter:
https://twitter.com/Reb00t_R0b0t