As everyone knows all reviews are opinion pieces, so we have decided to do a few reviews for Destiny to get a more of a general understanding of the game and more fair overview for you the gamer.
Destiny has finally been released, after several months of guerrilla style advertising and weekly updates on the game which revealed little to no information about what could be called the most anticipated game in several years. From the developers of Halo we can expect a lot in the way of story, gameplay and budget, one thing is for sure the budget was well covered.
Story
The world of Destiny is set around seven hundred years ahead of our time, just after another Golden Age that was started by the Arrival of The Traveller, an alien like spherical ball that travels the universe. The traveller gives Light to those it has reach of, enabling the Humans to develop both physically and mentally, allowing them to create starships, live up to 300 years old and be able to wield magical powers of destruction and protection.
The Golden age was cut short by the Darkness however, no not the Darkness that Jackie Estacado cannot control, the one true enemy of The Traveller. Only just being able to push back the Darkness, the last city of earth is all that stands tall anymore, with the majority of the world being left in ruins or overtaken by Fallen and Hive alike.
You are a Guardian, a special person who was given an extraordinary amount of light to be able to protect the Tower and push back the Darkness. Just recently being brought back to life by a searching Ghost you are thrust into the open war between Humanity and the Fallen, Hive, Vex and the Cabal, with all the infighting between each individual race. Regardless of your own race; Human, Awoken or Exo, your main objective is to defeat the hostile aliens, push back the Darkness and restore the Traveller back to its former glory.
Travelling between Earth, The Moon, Venus, The Reef and Mars you will destroy several ships worth of enemies, recover ship parts and broken fragments of the Traveller. Most of your missions will consist of you killing a few enemies, setting down your Ghost to decrypt, copy data or open a door, holding out against foes then moving on.
The main Story missions last around 10-30mins each depending on how far into the world you are, with around 4-6 missions per world. Completing the 4 destinations will net you up to 8 hours of gameplay, combined with grinding in between to get better gear and higher level. Beside the main story you also have to spend time getting reputation with factions, levelling to 20 and getting legendary gear which will make the strikes and Raids accessible and easier for you, racking up the hours exponentially.
Gameplay
Destiny is an FPS, not as if we have enough of those, but not just any FPS but one that is actually fun and not just a repeat of a previous game. You control your Guardian with the left thumbstick, aim with the right and shoot with the right trigger, normal FPS stuff, though you also have class specific abilities that change the Melee and Grenade’s you use from throwing knifes and force push like palm attacks to shocking and seeker grenades.
From the 3 classes; Hunter, Warlock and Titan you will have access to a focus and subclass, the first being the starting subclass for your class that has your skills and abilities from the grenades and melees to your Super attack and passive bonuses. Gaining XP will progress the different orbs in your subclass in a sequential fashion and will allow you to activate and swap out active skills whenever you want. Once you reach Level 15 on your Guardian you gain another subclass which can be much better or worse depending on your playstyle, with different grenades and melee types and an entirely new Super.
There are two halves to the gameplay of destiny, PVE and PVP, which are situated within the zones on the different planets available. PVE consists of your guardian going down to a planet for a mission, strike, raid or a simple patrol and haves you killing any alien you see. PVP is situated on small maps on the same planets with some extra ones added, with game modes like Deathmatch, Free-For-All and capture.
I for one am not a fan of PVP, ever since Secondary School I have hated any I tried out, but with Destiny something is different. The games feel balanced, the maps feel very different from one another and the matches are actually fun, especially with friends. I find myself splitting my time in half between the PVE and PVP sections which I think is a great achievement by the multiplayer staff.
Overall Thoughts and Feelings
The music in the game is beautiful, it fits well with the style of the game and the pace of what is happening around you, the tracks also seamlessly transition from one another and there isn’t much of a brash change in style. The music does however become very timid and dies down if you are in no danger, which tracks not being played for up to 10 minutes at a time which makes the game feel rather empty and lifeless.
The graphics on the PS3 are severely lacking as well, and it’s not as if the console can’t handle it, it just looks lazy. Some textures are so low detail they have 4 colours on them and look as if they contain no normal maps whatsoever and are completely flat. The facial designs on the characters also look horrendous at times and players look rather plastic when lined up.
Overall I give Destiny a 4/5; it is a great game especially for a genre which is over-saturated these days with re-run titles. The gameplay is fluid, the PVP is fast and balanced and the overall experience is one to remember even with the grinding required for endgame gear. Socialising with friends is great and working together is so natural. Fans of FPS games will love Destiny, for both its PVE segments and its PVP competitiveness.
Now to go back to getting legendary gear.
Disclaimer:All scores given within our reviews are based on the artist’s personal opinion; this should in no way impede your decision to purchase the game.
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