- Drew Beausoleil

BECOME LEGEND, is what we’ve been told. With all the buzz and all the hype Activision and Bungie have created for Destiny, the only question… is Destiny everything they promised?

You play the role of yourself, a Guardian, you have been dead for many years and thanks to your new found friend, a Ghost you’re alive once again. Your Ghost has found you among the ruins and brought you back to life. Questions of where you have been, or how you died are left unanswered. The story starts off very weak which is hard when you want to invest time within your Guardian and learn the back story of the Traveler and your venture. You’re back to help the Traveler to save earth from the Darkness, the only predator to the Traveler.  The Darkness is very strong and is slowly building its army and if we, the Guardians, don’t help then all will be lost to the Darkness.

The opening sequence is fantastic. A Ghost wanders about Old Russia in hopes to find your whereabouts.  Once you have been found you are off to fight your way through Old Russia. Beautiful interiors with incredible lighting effects and sound design will have you understanding the amount of work that has gone into the opening sequence and set high expectations of more to come throughout the rest of the game. However, this is by far one of the best moments within Destiny, having you feel as though the story has been forgotten and why should you care to continue on your journey as you begin to play through the rest of the game.

The gameplay mechanic’s feel great, with excellent shooting and control. Bungie knows their shooters. However, the game itself is a slow burn that will gradually become better and more enjoyable as you progress throughout the story and increase your level by achieving Bounty’s, Strikes and Raid’s once you are of the requested level. The more I played the more I began to enjoy Destiny. However, it took several hours before I began to enjoy myself. Level 15 the game begins and level 20 is where Destiny starts. By the time I reached level 15 I was finally beginning to enjoy my time with my character as I was able to upgrade her with new weapons, weapon upgrades and outfits. I started to enjoy the story and really understand the mechanics of the game as I spent hours of play time trying to understand the systems. Level 20, is where things become really exciting and Destiny opens up to those who have invested the time into the game. Again, this is one of Destiny’s biggest problems, it takes hours before you feel as though you are making progress and the game itself becomes enjoyable.

Destiny can become very repetitive at times as you face wave after wave of the same enemy type with relatively the same mission structure...go here, get this item and fight off more of the same enemies. If the story was more meaningful and had us engaging with characters we cared about, just maybe all of the repetitiveness wouldn't feel so meaningless. The wide open landscapes are incredible and vastly captivating. The amount of detail in these open area's are breathtaking but can sometimes feel empty with the amount of openness there is within each of the planets.

If you want to venture into the Crucible, be warned. If you have not played enough and put the time in to level your character around the level 20 mark you could find yourself in some hot water. Match making in my experience has not been the best. At lower levels I was faced against higher level players with far better gear and equipment that dominated our team. There were good matches from time-to-time, but facing high level player that wipe you clean is not fun.

With more time you will be up to their standards and be able to cast the amount of damage they create but going in this early, I was clearly over matched. Feeling overwhelmed by the competitiveness of Crucible I found myself playing Strike matches to get a co-op experience with team mates. Teaming up with friends or random players within Strike matches to fight off wave after wave of enemies is a great way to create a community and comradery with the game that is missing amongst most games. You wander through planets fighting off the darkness with suddenly other players randomly fighting off the darkness as well. Now they have the option of joining you to fight off the darkness together or they could go on their way and travel elsewhere on the planet.

Destiny's story is weak and lacks a lot of what we come to expect from Bungie. A story is what grabs me and what I look forward to when playing most games. With a great story it helps draw you back into the game and gives you that desire to learn more about the back story of characters, the world and wonderment of what's going to happen next. Destiny's excellent gameplay is nothing but perfect with fitting weapons that have weight, scope and upgradable purpose the will keep you wanting to get to the next level. This ever growing world and community will be one of the best features of the game and the future of Destiny.