And it has its share of disappointments, primarily in failing to be the massively multiplayer offering it had aspired to be, and having a primary focus on repetitive missions. But it clearly sustains many of the stellar qualities that made Halo a universally well-regarded and lucrative gaming hit, and has even showed improvement in first-shooting game-making, showing lessons learned from the past were implemented by Bungie in its present.
Destiny has a lot going for it: fast, fluid first-person shooting, great graphics and solid, lag-free online connectivity and gameplay. While a few too many facets – specifically the storyline and visual presentation – at times may make Destiny appear to be a sequel in the Halo line-up, but it has strong enough gameplay to shake the Halo-esque “homage” to stand alone as a great new FPS franchise.
Supposed to be a healthy mix of massively multiplayer online/role-playing game character building and team efforts in shared missions with the fast-paced, action-packed elements of a first-person shooter, Bungie really only totally satisfies part of that equation: the shooting part.
Bungie knows how to make a great first-person shooter, with fast and furious gameplay, and Destiny has that. What it doesn't quite have is the MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game) structure it had wanted to present. Gamers do indeed build their characters in the available classes, and acquire better armor and weaponry along the way, but the MMO part doesn't come close to being massive. While playing missions that allow for others to join, you never know when those online gamers join the foray, and sometimes finding them is just as hard to do. Worse, they vanish almost as quickly as they appear, seemingly randomly. It gives the MMO element a MSO – massively single-player online – feel.
Fortunately, the actual player-versus player online gameplay is much better. Connecting is easy and efficient, and there are never any lag or disconnection issues. Just like Halo, the action is fast, entertaining and always drawing you back for more, with a variety of modes set on well-structured levels. In its online gameplay, Destiny is fulfilling wholly.
It fares much better than the single-player Destiny adventure, which while having a variety of different worlds to battle across, features a generally generic and weak storyline – having a similar theme as Halo, but nowhere near the depth – with repetitive missions, although the enemies you face become quite challenging to defeat on the latter levels.
Set in the 28th century, it’s the standard post-apocalyptic universe filled with pesky, problematic alien races. Here, humans have embarked throughout the solar system, colonizing new worlds. That is, until a cataclysmic event known as “The Collapse” overcomes the colonies and nearly eradicates mankind, only saved by the god-like Traveler, a celestial being who had given humans the technology to reach the far reaches of the universe. He now stands as the last city on Earth’s protector, giving protective powers – the Light – to a select handful of men and women known as Guardians. When trying to resurrect the collapsed civilizations, the Guardians discover the alien threats: The Fallen (insect-like pirate creatures) on Earth, the moon and Venus and the human-like Hive, roaming in underground settlements on both Earth and the moon. Then there’s the android race Vex, trying to wrestle away control of the planets (Earth, Mars and Venus) as they had Mercury. There’s also an alien military race, the formidable Cabal, which are fortified with heavy everything – armor and weapons. Gamers assume the role of a Guardian in one of three races – humans, Awoken or Exo, each slightly varied with upgrades, abilities and perks specific to each with certain subclasses (Hunter, Warlock and Titan) – on a convoluted mission to save mankind. Each Guardian has a companion – a ghost, which everybody will see for what it is: Cortana – Halo’s famous on-board Master Chief assistant – replacement, the ally A.I. that supports the Guardian on their mission.
In the single-player game, the Guardian fights each and every alien race, sometimes multiple ones at the same time. Guns and armor are a Guardian’s best resource – they are acquired during missions and also at the Tower, the refuge point of the Guardians that has shops and bounties to buy and undertake.
Without visiting the Tower frequently, gamers won’t have a chance to survive missions in either single-player or online without the power, armor and weaponry upgrades to be found there. From beginning to end, it will take around 12-15 hours to complete the entire single-player storyline, although by the end gamers still will not fully understand exactly what they accomplished because of the detail-lacking and unsubstantial plot. However, a very visually impressive Destiny universe with huge levels will distract away from the story as gamers enjoy the scenery, although it really does look like an extension of the worlds and locations seen in Halo in both graphical style and feel.
Smooth and fast shooting gameplay, exceptional (albeit instantly familiar to experienced Halo players) visuals and a good online offering align in the Halo-inspired stars to deliver a great first step away from Halo for Bungie with Destiny. Although the uneven MMO aspect is bound to leave some gamers that were expecting more balance between the shooter with the MMORPG a bit disappointed.
– Lee Cieniawa
The Good:
– Smooth, fast shooting gameplay in both the single-player and online modes
– Impressive visually, with detailed outdoor and indoor environments
– Online matchmaking works very well, and glitch-free online gameplay is excellent
The Bad:
– Fails to deliver the lofty promise on a shared massively multiplayer online first-person shooter
– While it certainly is an entirely new world created by Bungie, visually and gameplay-wise it is easily identifiable as a game that the Halo developers created
– Gets confusing navigating the missions that have and haven’t been already undertaken
– Can take a long time to upgrade your online persona to acquire the holy grail of weapons and armor, a disadvantage to casual Destiny gamers
