Unfortunately the Destiny Beta came to a close Sunday, and we won’t be able to re-join the fight until the game’s full release in September. So for this week’s WeView instead of recommending an already released game, we want to hear about your experience with the Destiny beta, and whether or not you will be purchasing the game come 9th September.
It’s safe to say that over the past ten days we’ve thoroughly enjoyed what we’ve played of Destiny so far. You can read the staff’s early thoughts on it here, or you can even watch some archived footage of Peter and Stefan’s adventures in the beta here.
Personally I’m very excited for Destiny to hit the shelves, and I’m not far away from pre-ordering the game. Even considering it was only a beta there was so much on offer; from the co-op campaign missions to the competitive Crucible matches you could never find yourself bored.
Even during solo the exploration I remained on edge thanks to the continuous enemy respawns and random public events (my personal highlight of the beta). On the PlayStation 4 the beta also boasted some lovely visuals. I found myself frequently stopping to share screenshots.
However, the beta wasn’t without a few issues. A point raised by a few members of the staff was that “for a game designed so heavily for co-operative play, it could be quite easy to find yourself playing on your own”. Whether or not it’s with strangers of friends the game is more enjoyable playing with someone else.
Repetition also became a problem. A couple of the missions felt a little too similar, and many of the side missions activated in exploration mode we’re exactly the same as the last. Some gamers may also find themselves completing the same missions for a third time in September if they’ve partaken in both the alpha and beta stages.
Now it’s over to you. Were you as equally impressed by the beta, or did you find it underwhelming and have since canceled your pre-order? Let us know in the comments below, and give Destiny either a Will Buy It, Might Buy It, or Will Avoid It rating. Be sure to get your thought in by Sunday in time for next Monday’s verdict article.
Dominic Leighton
Will definitely buy it. I hugely enjoyed my time with the Alpha and the Beta just built on that. I also tried it out on PS3 as well as PS4 and apart from the obvious visual downgrade it plays exceptionally well on the older console (especially with a Dualshock 4!).
As a few others mention, I do wonder how long it will take for repetition to become a problem, but hopefully the loot drops and event encounters will lessen such issues.
double-o-dave
I’ll keep mine simple as I’m eating a sandwich…
Will Avoid It.
My thoughts on the PS4 beta…
Very repetitive.
Every mission feels like side-missions.
Poor graphics / visuals compared to killzone online, BF4 online. Less depth etc.
I may sound harsh but it just seems average to me & highly over hyped.
Kennykazey
Seeing how I had to pre-order to access the beta, I will buy it. But it did feel a bit lost halfway between a story-based shooter, a lobby simulation and an mmo. I thought it would be more focused on story and offer an epic campaign, but the way missions are split up has left me feeling a litte unimpressed.
If I hadn’t already pre-ordered, I’d hold off a little bit and absorb some reviews of the final game before deciding. So I’ll give it a might buy it.
tactical20
Distinctly average. Far from a bad game, but nothing particularly special. I instantly compared it to Mass Effect and Borderlands, and have to say in terms of gameplay, Destiny falls short of both of these. It quickly became repetitive and although I never got to play on the moon, I did watch a quick vid and was disappointed to see a very similar environment (albeit a different shade) and more of the same enemies. For a next gen game, I wasn’t blown away by the graphics and although I could see a difference between the PS3/PS4 screen shots, I couldn’t really say which was ‘better’. I’m sure I’ll end up buying and playing it one day, and I’ll more than likely enjoy it, but I’m in no desperate hurry. Unfortunately I can’t see this going in a bargain bin any time soon, but that would be my verdict.
Steelhead
I enjoyed the beta overall, although it did have a few issues they were relatively minor. I played on PS3 and the game seemed very stable, I only lost connection once the whole time. I don’t play online often but that seems quite good as I remember being kicked from Mass Effect 3’s MP repeatedly in comparison.
On the FPS side of things I have only good things to say. The genre was my favourite back in the PS2 days but tends to leave a sour taste in my mouth these days. However I can’t remember enjoying an FPS this much since Timesplitters Future Perfect so Destiny must be doing something right.
The graphics were attractive for the PS3 but I found the voice work to be dull and the backing music was nice but often too quiet to be easily heard.
The game was certainly more fun played with others but I had difficulty finding players, hopefully something that will be solved by the increased player numbers of the full launch.
I had the game pre ordered before the beta and still consider it to be a definite ‘will buy it’.
blarty
I was impressed enough to be prepared to drop £80 on the Limited Edition, mainly because there seems like plenty to do if you’re willing to take the time to explore, plus it’s good fun to go through the missions with mates. I think one issue with Destiny is that the Alpha was relatively polished and some people see little to no difference between Alpha and Beta. PvP is unbalanced if weapons are over powered, so I think it needs some form of ceiling playlist otherwise it’s all good, bar the vehicles being perfect for spam killing.
NotSmartEnough
Might buy it.
My verdict has changed from the alpha, it was a day 1 purchase after the alpha, but post-beta I’ve got a few reservations:
Character and weapon upgrades don’t seem to have much depth: it seems like you just keep plugging away until another upgrade unlocks which you then buy. Compared to Warframe it’s one-dimensional.
The idea of having to return to ‘orbit’ to switch from mission to free-roam in the same area makes no sense to me at all; why do you get a countdown timer at the end of a mission, why can’t you just jump on the sparrow and head to the next story mission without a menu and loading screen?
Still loving co-op and ad hoc public events but there are rough edges I assumed would be polished by now, so I’m a bit disappointed.
Tony Cawley
It’ll give me something to play on my ps4 other than the indie garbage so it’s a buy it from me.
MadBoJangles
Loved the Alpha and the Beta.
Pre-ordered.
Borderlands meets Halo? Go on then, whats not to love???
BUY IT.
MadBoJangles
Oh and I forgot to say – It has been the only game to make me switch on my PS4 in ages. I tend to play my PC primarily, but this (limited as it was beta) kept me off my PC for the best part of a week.
Nocure-fd
I found myself in a similar situation. Not much has been able to divert me from my Crusader on Diablo 3
Nocure-fd
Will buy.
It may not be as ground breaking as Bungie would have had us believe. It does have its issues. Such as the very limited communications options in what is supposed to be a primarily social game.
But then, I put 36 hours into what is supposedly roughly 10% of the finished product. I looked at some of the lvl 20 armour and gun options. Considering you need to get the reputation with the faction, and the vanguard/crucible marks to buy them. Then you need the exp to upgrade them, and specific materials at certain stages. For every slot. Not including expotics.
So yeah, I can see myself putting in a lot of time just on gear upgrades alone.
Then there are the still not fully disclosed raids. And strikes.
Can’t wait till September.