Destiny

What do you get when you mix the makers of the HALO series with the guys responsible for making CALL OF DUTY the cash printing blockbuster it is today? You get DESTINY, a frankensteins monster of the gaming world literally. It's a mouthful describing just what genre of game this is, but is it any good?

DESTINY takes place in the very distant and post apocalyptic future which sees Earth and it's human population in quite the pickle. With the help of a mysterious planet like rock called The Traveler, mankind survives an event called the Collapse, which saw the destruction of human space-colonies across the galaxy and near human extinction! Well that strange new moon gives Earth's protectors, the Guardians, special abilities called the Light and with that power they keep Earth and it's regrowing population safe from hostile alien invaders that are looking for space domination.

Like with my movie reviews, I'm gonna use a similar rating system as I did with my September Game Preview. "MIDNIGHT RELEASER" "FOR A GOOD PRICE" "IT'S PLAYABLE" "EH, TRADE IT TO GAMESTOP" "DON'T EVEN BOTHER" are the ratings and in that order. Let me know what you guys think!

Please check out my full review for DESTINY on my Tumblr, link to that is in my InstaBio and let me know what you think. Have you guys played DESTINY? What do you think? What's your favorite genre mixing game? Drop a comment and LET'S PLAY VIDEOGAMES!

The game upon release hardly had a story for the most part, but when the first DLC (crota) it actually became really good with really good weapons, the rest of the dlc made it even better. I would only recommend if your getting into destiny (but if you want to understand the whole story you gotta get the DLC)

Initially the story and graphics of this game are very appealing. The quality of the fighting and the experience using weapons with visuals are indeed fantastic. The basis for a fantastic game is here with strong roots in great gameplay.

This being said, it will quickly fall short as a title you'll want to keep playing. The hype that came with this game was so above and beyond what actually is there in story and content that it is a smack in the face for strong regular gamers that play many hours on their games.

You see there is no real end goal except collecting guns and armor. The armor has a light (armor) rating that will have you chasing after the best stuff anywhere and everywhere you can find it. In order to do this you'll need to play some of the harder missions. Regardless of your level though you'll find the game will alter enemies to be just a bit stronger than you rendering your actual armor level nearly worthless. You can play a mission over and over again at any level you like and it is pretty much the same challenges with only slight differences in enemies.

The mission rewards...terrible. The grind of doing the same missions over and over to upgrade armor and weapons makes this game boring fast. Couple this with the weapon and armor drops being random (regardless of how many times you do it or how well you perform) and you often find you are doing these same missions many many many more times only to get not much of anything.

Each DLC released is destined to have you virtually reset to an equal level as others due to the availability of high level armor and weapons released with the new content. You could grind daily for months and when the next DLC releases you might as well be starting over.

PVP. Well it can be fun if you are into using a few select weapons that get the job done. Again rewards are virtually none existent, random, and nearly always all but worthless.

The plot of the game...not there. You just show up in the game and nowhere do you get any real in game information that amounts to anything understandable or cohesive. It is simply a bunch of aliens attacking various planets...go fight them! Matchmaking with others is not available in many important areas of the game. You have to have friends ready and willing to play the hardest challenges with you and then rely on them all to be on during the same large block of hours, have good weapons, a good connection to even hope to get a majority capable of chatting, and be of sufficient level to hopefully participate. The discussion of strategy is usually pointless because bugs and game glitches will repeatedly sink your "team" progress more than anything else. The "raid" (the hardest and supposedly most rewarding part of the game) is often a nightmare for most players in that people leave out of frustration. The "average" player is simply not likely to have fun here and you must expect all participants to be well armed, ranked up, and highly skilled to get close to having any success.

To sum it up...it's pretty, shooting is done well and smooth. The graphics are great. The races and back end thought in setup of planets is fantastic. But ultimately a little kid could just mindlessly get on and blast stuff and have fun for a few hours a week and this is the best use for the game right now. It seems to me to be a beta waiting for the story and vast interactive gaming (with true teams of friends) still needing to be developed. As I've heard said many times "style over substance".

Destiny is a game that I have been excited about since I first heard about it. I am a long time Bungie fan and I absolutely love Halo. That being said, Destiny takes several amazing aspects from several games including; Halo, Borderlands, Mass Effect, and almost every RPG in existence. The gun-play is on par with most shooters, it feels and looks very similar to Halo which is to be expected. The problem comes in when you play through the story, the voice acting is one of the most hit on subjects as far as Destiny reviews go, the problem is not the actors, in fact I feel that the actors are all great at what they do, the issue is that the story is so bland and vague that the actors are all bored with the concept entirely. With the story aside, particularly since it is only a tiny sliver of the rest of the game.

The real game begins after you finish the story, which won't take long if you take out the fact that you have to spend a large part of your time level grinding in order to maintain the pace required for the story. Once you reach level 20 you begin leveling through your equipment, stronger gear has a light stat, this allows you to level up beyond 20. This is where you begin entering into high level missions, such as Strikes, which are best done with 1-2 other players, friends or strangers can join in on these. Another major aspect of loot grinding are the Raids, which are being released as weekly updates in game. These missions are similar to strikes in that they are harder and require a few other players, the primary difference is that they must be friends and they can take MUCH longer to finish. Most of them are released as a week long quest because it very well may take that long to finish them, and unlike strikes they start off at the level that you chose and increase in difficulty as you progress.

The game is not all bad though, the missions are typically boring rinse and repeat ordeals that can take quite a while, the 3 planets and the moon that you visit during your play are reduced to tiny slivers of the vastness that is promised, yet never delivered, however, teaming up on the fly with random players and joining in on a public event to show off your skills...or lack thereof is insanely enjoyable. Personally I love the idea of grinding through waves of enemies with a friend or two in order to find a new exotic weapon, and being able to jump in or out of the fight at any time(given that you aren't on a story mission) is great, as is waving, dancing or sitting with another random player. If destiny had a proximity chat, then I could easily see this game expand anyone's friends list. Playing online in the crucible is enjoyable given that there are only 4 game types and a 5th game type that is added or taken away at the whim of Bungie. It is a good game with it's own set of flaws, though to be fair many of the issues will be fixed as Bungie has teams working to release new content daily. As for the story, hopefully that can be solved with the upcoming DLC.

Ultimately it is fun to play with friends and strangers alike, and if you enjoy looting and grinding for new gear, and if you can get passed the poorly written and extremely vague story, then you will find yourself playing for hours on end.

Destiny is an incredibly different game and perhaps a hard one to put a finger on, but it's so much fun. Labeled as an OWFPS(Open World First Person Shooter), it has elements of an FPS, MMO, and RPG. Set in a world that combines futuristic themes and fantasy aspects, such as magic throwing Warlocks, chivalrous Titans, and swift Hunters, anyone has the ability to find their place in this world. The game mechanics are incredibly solid. You can feel the weight of your weapon and the power you unleash with the super ability as you reign down on enemies. Destiny has multiple game modes including Story, Patrol, Crucible, Raids, Strikes and more. So anyone should what suits their fancy.

Warning: take caution when reading reviews about Destiny. You must understand that this is only the beginning.