Destiny review

Destiny is an always-online first-person shooter from Bungie, the studio that created Halo. The game is set in our solar system, but in the future. You play the role of an anonymous Guardian, one of the thousands of action heroes, which have been recently unfrozen. Each player controls a Guardian, and in course of the game, you will be seeing lots of other identical Guardians performing similar tasks. And thanks to the popularity of the game, there are always people around and the game is not found stagnant at any time. There will always be shooting in the distance.

The Lore

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Destiny has a rather lousy storyline. The game takes place centuries into the future, where "The darkness" has eradicated most of the Earth, along with the now- colonized local planets of our solar system. There's one remaining city on Earth which is protected by a massive, floating sphere-shaped alien being known as the "Traveler". This mysterious being is what has about the rapid evolution and expansion of humanity, and who also protects what remains on Earth. It’s also the Traveler that serves as the plot device behind the “Light”-powered abilities of the Guardians – the warriors players play as in Destiny that are divided into three familiar classes (Titans, Hunters and Warlocks).

There’s sadly not much of a story to speak of in Destiny, which make the rare bits of dialogue between the game’s few characters feel even more odd and out of place. A little robot 'ghost' sidekick (voiced by Peter Dinklage) is introduced to all players at the beginning, who offers plot information from mission to mission, but most of it is uninteresting and forgettable because of the bad quality of it’s presentation. Outside of the few scripted Ghost and Speaker (faceless man who represents the Traveler) scenes, and merchants in The Tower (the game’s social hub), there are no other characters to interact with. The story missions are relegated to running solo (or with up to two friends) and simply eradicating everything that moves.

Gameplay

Each player's duty is to go shoot a bunch of aliens, in order to help save the world. That's basically what Destiny's core is and what you'll be doing. Whatever you find yourself doing, wherever you go, however long you invest; this will be the core experience underpinning it all. However, it's not bad at all. In fact, it's quite excellent. Destiny's handling has a weighty-yet-fluid feel and is easily adaptable. The emergent use of cover, the importance of shifting spatial control and the gratifying feedback of it’s weapons make the game constantly enjoyable.

Although Destiny has been criticized to quite an extent as being more of a recreation of Halo, there are elements in the game that create a unique identity. For instance, all that shooting is glued onto a character-levelling structure that is similar to World of Warcraft. The game provides regular trickles of experience points, which allows you to level up, granting you new powers ( such as a black-hole grenade or double-jump), and also gives the ability to access more powerful weapons.

Also, the interplay between gun and grenade is an initial sign of Destiny’s RPG identity. Operating as inherent character-abilities rather than collectable weapons, each class’ grenade has a cooldown timer. At first, this might feel odd and slightly restrictive, but as you level up and new skill properties become available, it evolves into something similar to a tactical magic attack, which is to be used strategically to create desirable situations in the battlefield. It can be used to lock down entry points, soften up mobs before engaging. It can be a splitting, enemy-seeking cluster-bomb for rapidly shattering tight, problematic groups. It can be a flash bang for buying time during a Player vs Player confrontation. It can be a trip mine, or a sticky, lightning-emitting booby trap, used to limit enemy movement.

However, the game's best combat feature might be it’s melee attack, regardless of which of the game's three all-too-similar classes you choose. Destiny nails that special, difficult-to-define something comprised of fluid controls, excellent collision detection, and awesome technology that makes every action silky and responsive. You can leap and glide through the air, a mechanic that gives Destiny a sense of freedom that matches it’s open spaces, and helps you escape danger when encounters get tough.

Destiny's mechanical basics are, for the most part, superb. The confident shooting model, the intuitive menus, and the unblemished frame rate, all make for a fantastic foundation to build a worthy dynamic multiplayer shooter upon. As your character develops, so too does Destiny’s core gameplay. Levelling up becomes about much more than just increased attack and defence. It also basically changes interaction. New methods of moving, jumping, controlling and defending evolve not only your character, but the game you’re playing with your character. However often you replay a scenario, or new, more challenging variants of it, you’ll always find that something has always changed, even if it’s just your own perspective, or those of the people you’re playing with.

Destiny is the type of game where there’s a lot to enjoy if you make the most of it. Putting in an effort to coordinate with others to tackle certain bounties or challenges is just plain fun, and the story and other stuff isn’t required for that sort of cooperative experience. That’s where Destiny is at its best and where it can build from in expansions and sequels. As the launching pad for a new franchise however, Destiny ultimately feels incomplete, yet it’s still a game we can easily recommend for shooter fans. It has potential. Destiny is a 10 year plan which has started so strongly, and set to begin evolving over just the next few weeks. There is a lot of breathing space and time will tell how good it can be