Destiny Game Review

Destiny has some of the most amazingly ethereal backdrops for a game

When it comes to creating something memorable and enticing, something to blow people out of the water, like a new game, there’s certain standards and protocols that have been set in our media-saturated world and now must be reached by every new release. The standard ranges from the level of graphics, the gameplay and of course the multiplayer platform. A game like Destiny seems to nearly tick every one of those boxes and more.

Destiny may be a brand new game, yet the concept is very similar – an ancient science-fiction mythology-based post-apocalyptic storyline that’s accompanied by heroes and villains… where the villains happen to be these creepy sentient alien-like creatures. Nothing like the Halo, Fallout and Resistance game franchises or films like War of the Worlds, Edge of Tomorrow, Pacific Rim, Oblivion or even I Am Legend. No, haven’t seen *anything* like this before…

 

Set 700 years in a post-apocalyptic future following an age of exploration, peace and technological advancement, the human race has colonised planets within the solar system and the far reaches of space. An event known as “the Collapse” saw the mysterious dissolution of all these colonies and leaving mankind precariously balanced on the brink of extinction. The only known survivors of the human race are those living on earth in The Last City, which was saved by “The Traveler”, a giant, white, spherical celestial body whose appearance centuries before had enabled mankind to reach the stars and new technological feats.

A Guardian that watches over The Last City. Literally.

The Traveler now hovers above The Last City and its presence allows the Guardians – no, not Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy – who are the defenders of the city, to wield an unknown power of skill to fight off the hostile alien races who are encroaching the city. The player, who controls a Guardian of their choosing, has to work on reviving the Traveler, destroying the alien invaders and saving the human race.

Despite the idea of the game being remarkably similar to a lot of other media releases that we’ve seen in the last decade, Destiny has its own distinct take on the genre in terms of gaming. The entirety of the first-person shooter, story missions included, takes place in a constantly evolving online world, dubbed as one of the first “shared-world shooters”. As well as the standard need for online multiplayer that many gamers now look for, the game provides a much more consistent matchmaking entity that differs from other massively multiplayer online (MMO) games and creates a more natural experience in either cooperative or competitive multiplayer modes.

The fact that the entire story takes place in this online world is one of Destiny’s most intriguing aspects. As you play the core story missions, you are accompanied by your very own companion known as The Ghost, a robot AI that is voiced by the celebrated Game of Thrones star and fan favourite Tyrion Lannister, A.K.A Peter Dinklage.

The graphics may not be as up-to-scratch as other recent games – on a Playstation 3 at least – and, while definitely nowhere near as spellbindingly beautiful as The Last of Us or Grand Theft Auto V, it is the vast backdrops that really catch your eye. The futuristic setting of the solar system has allowed the developers to experiment and explore a world of desolated planets in an advanced post-apocalyptic future, leaving you in a sense of awe and wonder about the cosmos.

Guardians in action against some of the enemies of the Darkness

This is accompanied by an ethereal-like soundtrack which, to some, might not be all that enticing yet it fits almost perfectly throughout the game. From travelling between planets to fighting off an army that rose from the deepest depths of the darkness, the soundtrack intertwines nicely between scenarios.

But what about the actual gameplay? You start off with having the choice of three different advanced races, all Guardians: Titans, Warlocks and Hunters; each with their own set of advantages. From there on, you are born from “the light” where you spend the entirety fighting off the armies of The Darkness. Yes. It is that literal. The game acts like any other online shooter; the higher level you are the more weapons armour and perks will become available to you, rewarding the countless hours you will no doubt be clocking over the next few months.

The three different types of Guardians you can play as

With some nice added play features and an upgrade system, the game runs smoothly in an online world. Along with the standard PvP matches and story missions, there are Strike missions which team you up with other players of a similar ability (or level) to take down a specific target… and the countless respawning of their minions. These side-missions, along with a number of bounties – yes, so you can finally take the mantle of Boba Fett, hunting enemies across the galaxy for prizes (…Star Wars? No?) – are just another of extremely handy ways to level up quickly.

These will be a welcomed aspect to take on as you progress mainly because of the repetitive nature of the story missions. While they are still enjoyable, they become rather predictable very early on with the only difference being a new location and a different enemy.

Despite the price of Destiny being in excess of £50 and the obvious flaws you will find throughout the game there is no stopping it from being enjoyable and somewhat beautiful to play. The Shared-World Shooter provides endless hours of entertainment and a constant online-mode that will relight that competitive spark within you if the lethargic missions start to take their toll, that is.

So is it worth getting? If you love games like Halo and live for online modes then you should really have this game by now but it really isn’t as much of a defining game as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare or The Last of Us. While it shouldn’t really be categorised in that “best games ever” league, Destiny has starting something incredible and should be recognised for that along with its endless entertaining hours of gameplay. It’s a great game… but far from perfect.

 

8/10.