To kick-off WeView in 2015 we will be the exploring the fate of Destiny. Despite releasing last September, Destiny still proves to be an extremely popular shooter, especially within the TSA community. Even after just a quick scroll through your Twitter feed you’ll no doubt notice a few TSA members looking for a raid partner almost every night.
Although it’s still a popular game, personally, I haven’t played Destiny for quite some time. The initial buzz of the game quickly faded away for me. Don’t get me wrong, I still think Destiny is a quality shooter. However, if you’re lacking a co-op partner to play with the game starts to feel a little lifeless and monotonous. With that being said I only scratched the surface of the game and I’ll eventually get round to diving deeper into Destiny.
Stefan reviewed Destiny, scoring it 7/10. It’s safe to say that Destiny’s story was quite poor, and this was partly due to the bland voice acting. “Peter Dinklage’s voice acting has had plenty of criticism” for his performance as Ghost, for example, but it was justified by “the delivery of his lines” for being “almost universally lacking” Tef explained. However, “there are plenty of other uninspiring and flat performances”. Overall, “a lack of clarity and understanding saps much of the sense of finality from the story’s climactic moments”.
It’s in Destiny’s online modes where you’ll get most from the game. Tef said “there’s a lot of fun to be had when playing in a fireteam of likeminded individuals, working together as a unit to take down the enemies”, later adding “this is especially true when it comes to some of the tougher battles when playing higher levelled Strike missions which will really put you to the test”. This is “something that really comes together in the Raid mode”. Here, “teamwork and communication are even more paramount as now you have puzzles to deal with and figure out, while also trying to stave off the waves of enemies and bosses”. Expect it to be “brutally difficult”.
Now it’s over to you. What did you think of Destiny? Are you still regular playing the game? Let us know in the comments below and give the game either a Buy It, Sale It, Plus It or Avoid It rating. Be sure to get your comments in by Sunday evening in time for the verdict article. We’ve also got the poll for next Tuesday’s game below
Foxhound_Solid
Truth is…Destiny has huge promise and as a starting point, Destiny is still bare bones as a status. The storyline is non existent and if you play alone it gets boring fast. But look beyond this, the bigger picture if you will and the substance is there, if very subtle.
Missions are a treat cooperatively. I mean epic sometimes. Tackling bosses whilst jumping in and over other people’s games. Playing the cavalry for struggling teams and earning new bits and bobs. Weapon selection and how its presented to you. The variation is level design. Whether Budgie plan to expand this outing or release Destiny two. The finished product could be perfect.
It’s a diamond in the rough and in many cases misunderstood.
Cooperatively with a good team. On a good level. When you’re at a reasonable rank. It does sometimes flicker a sign of greatness.
I’d say buy. Not perfect but really good. Think of the game as a new band, just together working towards that tightness. This game is the practice sessions and as they go. The moments of kickass appear and disappear.
Pedromr
Buy it. Level up to 20. Get bored. Do strike playlists and level up to 26. Now join a clan and raid. Never stop playing again.
I mean, raids are where the game really shines. I hope they can get this co-op mood all around in destiny 2.
The game really pays off in the long run if you find some people to play with. Downside is my backlog does nothing but grow since destiny came around.
So, buy it.
Lanselta
Loads of peeps going on about if you’re playing this game alone, avoid it. I would have to disagree with this. This games lets you play in small bits, or massive epic chuncks, and i like that. 15 mins to kill, do a patrol. 2 hours to kill, check out the bounties, dailies or weeklies. Ive spent most of my time alone in destiny and ive quite enjoyed it. Buy it!
Lanselta
And i havn’t even done a raid. (I need 6 friends for that. Kinda pushing it!)
Lanselta
err, five friends… baahhh..
Tuffcub
Just ask on Twitter there are usually Team TSA’ers about
PKMaxxx
Destiny is my game of 2014. It’s not perfect, in fact at times it can be damn cruel. However when it gets it right, oh does it get it right! The shooting is the best that I’ve ever experienced in a first person shooter and the raids (oh the raids) are some of the best gaming moments I’ve ever had. I only wish I could go back and do them again for the first time. More please! So definitely a buy from me. In fact it’s on Amazon UK at the mo with for £40 with the first two DLC releases included so go get it!
max
Destiny is so far the biggest disappointment for me in the 25+ years of gaming I have under my belt. It promised so much and I unfortunately bought into the hype. The demo was fun and decieved me; it didn’t show how extremely limited the game is.
The story is not bad due to poor voice acting, the story is bad since it is almost nonexistent. They hint of something every now and then, just to say “but you already know that” or “perhaps some other time”, skipping everything. The gameplay is the most repetitive I have ever come across in a FPS! The missions which you have to grind over and over are extremely predictable, enemies spawn exactly in the same place (which makes things like loot caves possible, btw). The competitive multiplayer is a rehash of deathmatch from the last decade. In 2014 when we have so many compelling multiplayer modes, why resort to a few poor variants of deathmatch? The decision to separate strikes from missions and free-roam is strange. Borderlands showed the seamless integration between all these. Bungie bungled this up bad. I have seen hundreds of load screens in Destiny in my short time playing it. Disguising it as a pretty starship flight still makes it a loadscreen and the load times are way too long. I want to play a game, not sit and watch it load!
The plus side is that the game looks super and the shooting mechanics feel good. But after having spent too many hours in the game I came out with an empty feeling. It wasn’t a feeling of any achievement, just wasted time. I know that the upgraded weapons and armor I have aren’t worth anything. As as I get better gear from a raid or DLC I have to start over leveling them up. The game rewards grinding and logging on every single day to get your daily fix, but it also punishes you for not doing so with timed events and limited availability.
As a full-time working adult I can’t spend one or two hours every day. If I had nothing else to do and a boatload of online buddies, sure, then it might be more fun.
Mind you, this is written by someone who never have tried a raid. The total lack of matchmaking for raids made it impossible for me to try it out. I enjoyed the strikes somewhat, but Bungies poor decision to not have voice chat with the fireteam made it less fun. Having to friend every random player you get into a fireteam with or party up outside the game is makes poor gameplay.
The game is unfinished. The core mechanics might be there, but the content is broken by design, the little content there is that is. Forcing the players to buy expensive DLC to fix this is a slap in the face, especially for a day-one purchaser like me. I should have seen this coming and traded it in immediately, but unfortunately it took me too long to get to lvl 20+ and see the ugly back side of Destiny. This is the last time Bungie fooled me. Next time they will have to prove themselves before I open my wallet and no more pre-orders for me!
Also they seem to have completely ignored the last 15 years of development in gameplay. If they had looked at games like Left 4 Dead, Half-life, the Battlefield series and Borderlands and borrowed a few critical elements Destiny would have been everything it promised and so much more. Now it is just a disappointment for me. I have gone back to my pile of shame and having so much more fun!
If, *and only if*, you have a group of like-minded friends that can play a *lot* with you, sale it. Otherwise avoid it like the plague.