[Notes made after the BETA and first put together on the 8th of September 2014] Since Destiny is coming out tomorrow I thought I should try to compile the notes that I took during the Beta into something of an opinion.
I loved all the Halo games by Bungie and so now that Bungie is making something new I am all ears and eyes.
It seems though with Destiny, Bungie is declaring war on a lot of other games : Crysis, Titanfall, Call of Duty, Rage - but also Borderlands, Diablo and even Halo and although in the Beta the story wasn't really that prevalent it seems that they are also hoping to bring in elements from Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect and Elder Scrolls Online....
Let's just say it ambitious.
I was under the impression that the open Beta was to showcase these elements and wow players so they would go off on the social media and hype the game even more as well as to test the server capacity so they hopefully avoid the problems that other MMORPGS had on release.
I am sure there is a lot in the main game that wasn't in the Beta but I was really hoping to be convinced and sold on the idea of Destiny because until now I haven't really been interested in it. I have played my share of RPGs and Shooters and another one just doesn't really grip me.
There was less exploration than I had hoped. Far less than Borderlands. There are 'levels' that you can enter, challenges that you can complete but then you are sent back to the main base. It's as if you go on a run with your friends in Diablo and come back straight away to the village once that mission is finished. It felt strange and restrictive.
The guns felt as tight as anything I have used in Battlefield, Halo or Call of Duty but they were a little lackluster (at least in the levels we saw in the Beta) - being just of the very military and bullet-based variety. The guns can level up but this 'forced' gun customization felt a little like awkward.
There is loads of vanity in the game - my brother bought a "slightly" different coloured scooter ship for an astronomical amount of money - but at the same time I would like to see what Torchlight had: equipment you have because of stats and then vanity equipment that you wear just because it looks cool - I don't know why more games aren't adopting that.
The combos were a little bland as well, you have certain "powers" but they didn't seem to have a huge effect or even have skill tree customization. Again, this is based on our 3 days with the Beta.
There were a few memorable moments but we spent the most of our time just hammering away at a "boss enemy" from afar. It took soooo long. If someone died it wasn't that big of a deal, either they could be revived or the game just loaded them further back - it seemed to really hold your hand and the punishment of death wasn't really apparent.
It's a pretty good looking game - but didn't blow me away like the Halo games from Bungie did when they were first released (still some of the best looking games on the 360). The music is stellar and really recalls Halo - sometimes it feels like it belongs to a better game.... (urg, I am so negative)
I wasn't actually the one with the Beta key. that belonged to my brother, TaoBrightblade, who invited me to play with him during the Beta. He's already preordered the game and is completely sold on it. He's a Halo & Battlefield veteran, a 22 year-old student with Xbox-blood and our opinion on games differs recently - so I wrote him some questions, a little interview, to find out how he feels about Destiny :
Destiny Interview - TaoBrightblade - 08th September 2014
What did you pay for your preorder of destiny?
I paid (or will have paid $69.25(CAD) for Destiny.
Is this the first game you preordered?
Destiny is the first game I preordered.
What are you hoping to get out of the game? what gaming niche does it fulfill for you? What did you think of the beta? What games is it most like? Do you think you will play those games again after having Destiny?
I am hoping to get hours of alien slaying and character building out of the game. The game as is fills a wide variety of niches from single player/co-op story to MMO. from PvE to PvP.
The Beta ran surprisingly smoothly compared to other online games (looking at you Battlefield 4) and the only issues I encountered were my internet and the level cap. Destiny is most like Halo (from gameplay, artwork, and PvP) Borderlands (multiplayer story mode) Rage as the world (earth/old Russia is a barren waste land.
I will most definitely play those games even after I have Destiny as each game has a unique aspect which the others lack.
What did you least like about the game?
My least favorite aspect of the game were the load times. Not because of the load times but because of how I understood the first information release. I was expecting to be able to fly to the moon and such things. A little disappointing
Do you think that it should have been an Xbox Exclusive`?
I do not think that destiny should have been Xbox exclusive. For one Xbox is not doing so well, and second why? Halo carried Xbox so why not branch out and have the full market available? I do think though that the benefits that the PlayStation has received should have been for the Xbox, however that may simply be my bias.
What do you think about readied expansions? What would you think if there was first day DLC?
Expansions are a good thing as long as they are not what makes the base game playable.
First day DLC is not of concern to me I have rarely bought DLC's and when I have it was most definitely not on the first day.
What are your expectations as far as longevity and success of Destiny?
Based upon the success of the BETA, I would say that destiny will be a massively successful game and that it's longevity may even rival those of games like Halo.
What is the best feature of the game?
The best feature of the game is the speed at which you can invite fellow players (guardians) to join you on your quests.
How much time a week to do plan to invest in Destiny?
Probably around 5-10 hours a week will be invested.
So that's the voice of someone convinced by Destiny and who already preordered. I have some reservations (having been burned too many times) to preorder a game like this add the (again in my opinion) lackluster competitive multiplayer mode and the disappointing exploration and lack of coherent interesting storyline - the amount of time needed to invest properly in a MMO-like game (which I just am not willing to and cannot do as a 31 year-old self-employed father of two) and the fact that I don't trust Activision at all - I believe it will be hampered by IAP's and incomplete due to planned first-day DLC's and I do not want to support that type of business model. I don't think that the game is breaking much new ground, from what I gathered from the Beta - I guess only time will tell.
