Destiny (Beta)

DESTINY (Beta)

(To be released September 9, 2014, published by Activision, developed by Bungie)

platform played - XBOX 360

Welcome to the unofficial re-envisioning of the tremendously successful HALO series.  Yes, Bungie may have broken off from Microsoft, thus no longer having the development privileges to HALO, but they know and exploit a strong vein in the gaming industry that can be tapped again and again.  DESTINY was born.

After a few late (and I mean late) nights getting a feel for the game in campaign mode, I feel a growing excitement inside.  You are a 'Guardian' in a futuristic post-apocalyptic setting trying to save the human race.  This is all given at the beginning as cut-scenes and during player familiarization.  The character build is pretty quick and you are thrust into the action.

First, about my preferences of game-play.  I thoroughly enjoy campaigning and open world play in video games.  I have played but do not find massively multiplayer online games (MMO) or the player-vs-player (pvp) interactions as attractive to play.  I avoid well-developed MMO games because my obsessive personality would lead me to playing too many hours (taking away what little time available I have) and also tentatively play pvp so my ego isn't forever bruised by 9-year-olds or have to deal with 'those kinda players'.  DESTINY offers a first-person shooter in a near-MMO setting, changing the experience up a bit.  And it works well, a coupling of the best elements from both worlds.

I ran through the beginning stages and made my way to 7th level, nothing crazy but some good fun.  I didn't feel the pressure of player interaction when I didn't want it and the tough situations were survivable and exhilarating, to include being abandoned on the first three-man fire team mission.  It took a few (maybe more...) times to find the method to the madness but what a feeling to live through three waves of baddies.  One of the great player interactive features comes from the 'events' that occur while running around.  One example was a supreme bad-ass being dropped in, making all the 'Guardians' rush over to smash some face. 

I'm sure I missed a lot and was not the star shooter on the server but it was easy to pick up on the game's mechanics and story progression.  BETA has promised a setting that is quite large but the maps had repetitive sections, so wondering if that was a BETA choice or actual game locations.  If so, then I will be disappointed.  What was available to run through was engaging and had plenty of detail that still made the cloned map's sections interesting for firefights.  I also found sections with aliens that seemed a bit unbeatable (not talking boss fights) but show a glimmer of intelligence from Bungie by not having every enemy encountered moded to your level and skill. 

Overall, they jury may still be out but I have high hopes.  The Beta testing has ended and now we wait.