Destiny Review

     Going into 2014, there wasn't a single game that had as many people excited as "Destiny" did. Developed by Bungie, creators of the "Halo" franchise, they promised they were going to re-write the book with this game. First teased in Bungie's 2009 game "Halo: ODST," this game has been on the tip of every gamer's tongue since its announcement a few years back. The game was a sci-fi first person shooter with role playing elements; the game also had competitive and cooperative multiplayer elements where people could drop into the campaign. The first gameplay was shown at E3 2013 and was met with instant acclaim. The art style and gameplay looked like a combination of "Halo" and "Borderlands," which was fine by me. To be honest I'm not actually a huge fan of first person shooters, games like "Call of Duty" and "Battlefield" have never really interested me; but I do often enjoy non military shooters like "Bioshock," "Half-Life," and "Borderlands." So "Destiny" seemed right up my alley since I first saw gameplay. So after years of hype, does it live up to our expectations? In some ways yes, and some ways no.

     Several hundred years in the future, an object known only as the Traveler comes to our solar system and makes its way to earth; when that happens, mankind goes through a new golden age. The Traveler reveals many new technologies that greatly improve the lives of humans. Unfortunately something has been following it. An entity known only as the darkness has spent a very long time hunting down the Traveler, and along with it are several alien species that aren't the biggest fans of humans. Human civilization collapses, and all the colonies set up throughout the solar system are exterminated. The Traveler manages only to protect a single city left on earth which is home to a group of soldiers known as the guardians, earth's last hope. As one of the guardians, you are sent out to the old colonies to learn about the enemy and defeat them. You are earth's last option, and the only thing standing between it an utter destruction.

     Never before have I had such mixed feelings about a game; for everything it does right, it manages to do something wrong. "Destiny" is really, really pretty. The graphics and art style are absolutely gorgeous, and the worlds you explore are beautiful and detailed. The story the game tells is interesting, unfortunately the game sometimes has trouble telling the story. You are never really dragged in and completely engaged in the plot, it's an afterthought most of the time. And with other recent games like "The Last of Us," "Bioshock Infinite," and "GTA5" which have really engaging stories, "Destiny" should have stepped up to the plate. At the end of the day "Destiny" is all about the combat, and that's where it shines. The gun play is solid and satisfying, and is good enough to keep you wanting more long after you finish the story. The enemy AI is also very good, the enemies are smart and difficult, but you never feel the game is unfair or cheap. One aspect that Bungie kept pushing was the multiplayer, which is something that they are very experienced at and they do a great job once again. During the campaign, there is random drop-in/drop-out multiplayer or you can play missions with your friends. There are certain missions called strike missions that are much more difficult than the regular ones and require a three person team, so if you can do it with people you know you are golden. There are also a number of competitive game modes where you face off against other players, these modes are probably the best moments of the game and will be bringing you back for a long time. But of all things that "Destiny" does right there is one stand out feature, the game is fun. That's what it does best; the game is straight up fun and very enjoyable. Like I said earlier, "Destiny" does a lot of things right but just as many wrong. Arguably the biggest problem with the game is that the campaign missions are repetitive. Almost every mission feels the same: arrive on a planet, go somewhere, kill enemies, scan something. Rinse and repeat like two dozen times. Another problem is that each planet has only one map, and every mission on that planet happens on that one map; many of the maps feel surprisingly empty despite their size and beauty. I also found that there isn't a lot of weapon variety, there are a couple weapon classes and each weapon in a particular class is just like the other. For example, the first shotgun you find in the game is just like the last one expect with weaker stats. Most guns even look the same as the others in its class, some more variety in the styles and abilities of the weapons would have been greatly appreciated. But of all the problems with the game the most common one I have heard is that the game doesn't live up to the hype. This was originally touted as a true next gen game that was going to redefine the FPS/MMO/RPG genre, but it doesn't. We mostly have ourselves to blame, the gamers put so much hype into this game that even if it was great it wouldn't have been good enough. We've seen this with recent titles like "Titanfall" and "Watch Dogs," we shouldn't get too hyped for a game. At the end of the day, I see "Destiny" as a lot of wasted potential. There are many glaring problems that Bungie should have seen and could have fixed. It laid the ground work for what could be a great follow up game, but they should have been able to deliver with this one. So while I certainly have a lot of problems with this game, don't get me wrong, I really like it. "Destiny" is straight up fun, and this is the first game in a long time that has really drawn me in to its competitive multiplayer. I'm probably going to be playing this for quite a while. "Destiny" is the biggest, and most anticipated game of 2014; chances are if you wanted it you probably already have it, if not it's something I'd recommend. It's been a while since I've had so much fun playing a game, and on that note "Destiny" delivers.

Pros: Solid and satisfying gun play, beautiful graphics and art style, gorgeous world to explore, great cooperative and competitive multiplayer, interesting story, smart enemies, difficult but not unfair, all around fun.

Cons: Many missions feel repetitive, worlds feel somewhat empty, not enough weapon variety, story is poorly told, doesn't live up to the enormous hype.

4/5 Stars