Pfffft review haha, thats laughable at best. This is just a short piece with a few subjective points of view and a bit of history behind Bungie and Activision themselves. Gaming is a very subjective medium, feel free to comment below with your thoughts, opinions and ideas; Your input helps us form ours and keeps us informed on what you are thinking. For those of you that have not watched my poorly made Destiny: Pros Vs Cons video, stop reading this and go watch it, this review is a slightly less drunk extension to that video.
A History Lesson
Bungie had humble beginnings in 1991, the founder released a free version of Pong for the Apple Mac called Gnop, Pong spelt backwards. Fast forward 8 years with Bungie having released games such as Pathway into Darkness, Marathon, Myth and Oni. In 1999 Steve Jobs himself announced Bungie’s latest Mac tech demo “HALO” at the Mac World Expo of that year. Soon after that announcement Bungie received a call from Microsoft. 5 HALO titles later and acclaimed to be the worlds most played game on the Xbox the rest, as they say, is history.
Activision, however, started 12 years prior to Bungie, having split from ATARI in 1979, the biggest video game creator at the time. ATARI sued the upstart Activision in 1980. Unphased Activision launched games for the ATARI 2600: Pitfall, Kaboom, and River Raid, just to name a few. ATARI and Activision settled their differences in December 1981 and Activision became the first 3rd party developer for the ATARI games system.Today Activision are better known for their Tony Hawk skater games and the Call Of Duty (CoD) franchise. Due to Activision and their keen marketing strategies CoD has become the giant we all know today.
The Review
So, the world’s best game creator and the world’s best game publisher launching Destiny seems like a match made in heaven. I would say yes, with Bungie’s creative might and the advertising juggernaut that is Activision, Destiny is doomed for success.
Destiny is Video Game Nirvana and one of the first games to live up to the media hype generated by Activision, at least in part. Bungie have created a game that is easy to pick up and play, very accessible and with its immersive game play it is hard to put down.
The “HALO” play mechanics is what makes Destiny so approachable and familiar to us all, but, it does show that Bungie are unwilling experiment and would rather fall back on known mechanics from games developed in early 2000s.
This is a letdown for me as the weapons used in Destiny feel like they have a brick hanging off the end of the muzzle. This is an annoyance, however the slow paced PvP playstyle does lend itself to the old “HALO” mechanics which still feel wooden and could do with some revision.
Player versus Player (PvP) and Player versus Environment (PvE)
The Auto Rilfes of choice can vary, some opting for a high rate of fire, low impact and a heavy, unforgiving recoil while others swear by the slower pew-pew speeds, higher impact and a more predictable recoil pattern. I find it’s a balance between these 2 trains of thought that works well for me.
Titans, Warlocks, and Hunters all have their place in this PvP arena, with the Hunter being favoured by many as their alternate character in PvP for its spectacular Arch Blade super, but a well timed Nova Bomb or Fist of Havoc will send that Hunter flying and there is no better satisfaction in PvP. Top tip there guys, keep your supers for those blade runners. Advertising it as an FPSMMO is a bit cheeky, as the afore mention ATARI had a 16v16 and that was in 1986, this is 2014. Sort it out guys!
The Player versus Environment (PvE) is vastly different to the Player versus Player (PvP) mode; what works in PvE will not work in PvP. Bungie have done a brilliant job in this area, where those old HALO mechanics fit into this mix rather well, all strategies work and team work is king.
This is the highly social end of the game and you need your fire team to cover you, revive you and to help you finish the high level strikes that are demanding on your skills and time.
Bungie have opted for a fairly idle AI construct and the difficulty setting is based on the accuracy of the enemies rounds and damage dealt by them, which makes for dull engagements at lower levels particularly in patrols where the level is set low. These quickly become boring and with nothing to explore on the planet’s surface, there is no reason to go down there.
The high end strikes and raids is where the fun is. The AI is still dopey but the accuracy and damage can 1 shot kill you and this is where it all comes together. It is FUN and communication between you and your fire team is vital for success as these enemies don’t go down easily. I recommend the Nexus, the Archon Priest and that Donald Trump/Lord Alan Sugar love-child down in the summoning pits for a real good time.
In Game Progression in Destiny
There seems to be a few stumbling blocks in the road of progression.There is a definite hurdle getting past levels 20 and 25, and the quickest way past this is grinding in the crucible for your rare and legendary items. Equipping rare armor with Light will raise your “Light Level” and this pushes you past level 20. An all-rare outfit will take you to a “Light Level” of 25 and an all-legendary outfit will take you to a “Light Level” of 30. Getting to these higher “Light Levels” is just a matter of grinding or purchasing legendary items from the 3 factions and nothing else. This constant grind for better gear is relentless and the chance drop of legendary engrams is a much needed reward after long hours hammering away at the PvP matches. Destiny’s “glory hole” was a nice break from the grind in the PvP arenas and with very little effort on the gamer’s part you could walk away with legendary gear.
Story Line
This is the only part that lives up to the hype created by Activision’s media teams. The combination of PvP, PvE and Story make for a totally unique social gaming experience. Bungie has nailed this perfectly.
You start off having been dead for well over a hundred years, when your “Ghost” finds you and reanimates you. Your journey starts there, unsure of what to do and who to trust, your Ghost leads through several firefights and eventually to a ship and gets you to safety. Peter Dinklage voices the part well and his backhanded compliments help break the tension and definitely adds to the humor.
The Stranger, The Speaker, The Queen and her Brother all fall victim to the “Little Light’s” witty 1-liners.
Not wanting to risk spoiling anymore of this tale, I will stop there and let you guys experience the story for yourselves, for now. I will say this however the voice acting coupled with great a story and good design makes this a permanent addition to my gaming library.
Ok. So I lied about this being a short piece. DESTINY, is doing remarkably well and I can see why it won 180 awards from a bunch of random blueberries. DESTINY has been selling very well since its release and will continue to do so. But, is DESTINY a good game ? And should you buy it ? Destiny is a great game and I am having a lot of fun with my fellow cohorts online, constantly trying to find the better gear and beat Bungie’s latest challenge, it’s an intuitive game and has familiar controls which make it easy to pick up and play but hard to master and therein lies another layer of depth to challenge you. Should you buy it ? That is a choice you are going to have to make for yourselves, I can not make it for you. Hopefully this “short” review informs you enough to go and research the game, its creators and the publishers behind it. If you are looking for an engaging FPS with kickass PvE and PvP elements then this is for you: Look no further.
really ? do you really want to know…