Destiny Review: Universe Under Construction

Image courtesy of Twinfinite

Destiny, the massive new sci-fi IP from Halo masterminds Bungie, has finally been released into the wild. I have spent every waking moment available exploring its massive world, teaming up with friends, leveling up my character, and blasting every alien that gets in my way.

Destiny is a difficult game to describe, and an equally difficult one to review. This is a game that really isn't finished yet; Bungie will be continuously be adding new content (both paid and free) to build, change, and evolve Destiny's universe. At its core, Destiny is a shooter with very basic MMO and RPG elements. You go on missions, level up your character, collect loot, upgrade weapons and armor, join guilds (which are called factions here), team up with buddies (or with strangers, if you prefer), and fight various enemies. Destiny is trying to be a lot of things at once; there is no doubt it is very grand and ambitious in scale.

Destiny was billed as a truly unique next-gen experience, combining a multitude of features into one gigantic shared world, where everyone could play, explore, and fight together. The pieces are all there, but not all of them fight together well. Destiny reaches so very high, but comes up just short of hitting its target.

Image courtesy of Bungie

There is a lot to admire about Destiny, chief of which is its solid shooting mechanics. Aiming and firing is as smooth as butter, and fighting off waves of enemies is incredibly satisfying. Destiny is also drop-dead gorgeous, the combination of excellent art and level design and world-building, something you would come to expect from a Bungie game. Every planet you visit looks and feels different and has its own story to tell, and exploring them is a fantastic experience. The score, composed by long-time Bungie collaborator Marty O'Donnell (with a little help from Paul McCartney), is also stunning, and adds emotional weight and gives the game a soul.

Playing with friends or strangers is a ton of fun, and makes the overall experience of the game much more enjoyable and memorable. While playing any of the game's modes you can run into numerous other players; random events can happen at any time, and any player in the vicinity can join in and help. It is during these moments of cooperation that Destiny really shines. Working together to take down a massive boss enemy is thrilling and incredibly rewarding. Destiny is really a game about moments, and in those moments lie much of the game's charm and thrill.

The multiplayer mode (called The Crucible) is also solid, which is something you would expect from the creators of Halo. There are four modes available at present, with more that become available on weekends. Your weapons and gear carry over to multiplayer, but everything is balanced out to make sure everyone is on even ground.

Perhaps Destiny's biggest strength is that it is incredibly fun; it may just be the most enjoyable game I have played all year. I rarely spend more than one hour with a game in one sitting, but I found myself battling into the wee hours of the night with Destiny.

Image courtesy of Bungie

A much as there is to like about Destiny, it has numerous elements that are not as praise-worthy.

Those coming into the game expecting a sprawling sci-fi tale that can match the likes of Mass Effect or Halo will be sorely disappointed. Simply put, the story in this game is nonexistent. You move from planet to planet shooting massive amounts of aliens, and have no clue as to why. The setup shows a ton of promise, but nothing is delivered. I finished the final mission without even knowing it; the ending was a massive letdown, mainly because there really isn't one.

As bad as the storytelling is, perhaps Destiny's biggest problem is repetition. You are constantly exploring the same environments, killing the same enemies, and completing the same missions. The game is made up of campaign story missions, co-op Strike missions, open-world Patrol missions, PvP competitive multiplayer, and massive 6-player Raids. That may seem like a lot of variety, but all of them boil down to the same thing. If Bungie wants Destiny to have any legs, they need to shake things up with future content. Some of the best content (Heroic Strikes and Raids) do not contain matchmaking, so you are forced to play with people on your friends list. It is beyond me that a game that pushes playing with others does not contain matchmaking for every mode.

Like any MMO, you can expect a lot of grinding. Once you hit level 20, any experience you gain no longer applies to leveling up your character. Instead, you need to find and equip armor that contains the Light statistic in order to push your character beyond level 20 (normal armor contains Defense and Intelligence statistics only). This is all well and good, except that armor and loot are so rare that grinding the same levels over and over again gets old rather quickly.

Image courtesy of Bungie

In short, there is a really amazing game inside Destiny waiting to be set free, but too many design flaws mixed with the fact that the game does not feel complete yet hold it back from greatness.

But here is the incredibly strange thing: I really enjoy this game. There are so many things about it that do not work and drive me to near insanity, but for some reason, Destiny has grabbed me and will not let go. There are a number of other (and better) games available for me to play right now, but Destiny is the only one I ever think about.

The more I play it, the more I love it. All of the problems I have with it still exist, but they do not take away from my experience. After nearly 30 hours of play time, I have realized that despite its shortcomings, Destiny really is a solid game that holds a lot of promise. Most of the problems I mentioned are ones that Bungie can fix, and if they do, Destiny will really open up.

Activision and Bungie want Destiny to have a 10-year lifespan. If Bungie can deliver on its promise to provide new content on a consistent basis, as well as fix the problems I (and many other gamers) have with it, Destiny will remain something that I will be coming back to on a regular basis.

Destiny is not perfect, far from it actually. But the foundations are in place. It will hopefully continue to grow and improve over time, and perhaps a year from now I can confidently call it a great game, but as it is right now, I cannot. In its current state, Destiny is simply a very good game, but one well worth devoting your time to.