Judalene Cheetham
For Destiny’s first official reveal I was keen to see what was in store for the gaming world. Intrigued by the idea of a role-playing FPS with some MMO elements, I followed the news on this upcoming title.
It is from the acclaimed developer Bungie, who are well known for their involvement with the Halo franchise. It is currently a console exclusive game.
Destiny begins a lot like many other RPG. You choose a race and then class. There are only three races and three classes available. Hopefully with time and possible DLC this increases. I was still happy with the choices available.
The beta only showcases one main map which all missions take place in. The environment had enough diversity but the layout could have been better. The environment is quite busy with plenty visually to offer. If this is just a taste I feel the rest will definitely impress. The game looks beautiful. Both character models and graphics are of a high standard. I’m looking forward to seeing more of this game.
The story so far revolves around the Traveler, a giant white floating globe that assisted humanity to reach a very prosperous age, the Golden Age. The Darkness is the very powerful and unrelenting enemy. There did seem to be a lack of explanation for some aspects, such as why there are three races but this may yet to be explained in the full game.
The story does seem to have potential and I liked the fact it incorporated other online players. You aren’t the one, rather you are one of many guardians chosen to defend the Traveler.
You are accompanied by your very own Ghost and I don’t mean spirit, it or he is a small levitating machine that assists with hacking, opening doors and other small tasks. It feels like it mingles the characters of 343 Guilty Spark (Halo), Cortana (Halo) and Wheatly (Portal 2). The Ghost is voiced by Peter Dinklage, or for those unfamiliar with this name, he is the guy that plays as Tyrion in Game of Thrones.
Enemies seem unique enough but given this is only the Beta is hard to comment on diversity but there are a few different enemy types. Some of the more developed enemies put up a good fight.
Basic enemies don’t seem to really offer any challenge as the AI can be fairly stupid. For example they are not particularly good at finding cover and sometimes fail to shoot at you altogether. The only time they pose a serious threat is when they come at you in a large horde, then and only then do things intensify.
At these intense sections is where having a group makes life a lot easier and more enjoyable. It’s good to have others to draw enemy fire and to revive you when things take a turn for the worse. Real strategy can be implemented, when taking on a horde or a boss it’s good to have others to distract the enemy and assist in whatever method you all decide on. On your own, it’s simply shooting, running, hiding, healing and repeating, especially with bosses.
One issue was enemies respawning so darn quickly.
I understand there will be a large number of people running through wanting to kill something at different paces but it’s just a bit ridiculous how quick enemies re-appear. In one instance I went to access the start menu to allocate an upgrade and the horde I had just vanquished was firing at me in the brief time I went to assign an upgrade.
There is of course player versus player mode. This particular map was set on the moon. The pace of player vs. player does feel slower than Call of Duty or Halo PvP. This wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
The PvP lets you incorporate your special class abilities in battle. It certainly wasn’t anything special but it was still enjoyable.
Destiny touches on a few different genres but doesn’t fully incorporate any of them either. All in all the game is beautiful and does offer something different the FPS genre isn’t used to. I hope to see more of the game and also hope the full version sees a few issues fixed up or improved on.
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