Destiny Beta: What The Heck Is This Game?

Welcome back Ladies and  Gentlemen.  So, this week I have been playing the Destiny Beta.  I wanted to collect my thoughts and write a bit about the game in case you haven't had the chance to play it yourself.

So, let me start by telling you a bit about the game.  Destiny is set in a Sci-Fi future post-apocalyptic solar system, starting on Earth.  Currently, there is a mysterious giant white sphere, called The Traveler, which sits above the last city on Earth.  It is using the last of its power to protect what is left of humanity.  When The Traveler first came a “Golden Age,” started where humanity built space ships to travel and colonize the far reaches of our solar system.  Soon, a mysterious entity, referred to as The Darkness, came and ended all of this.  Alien races started to invade all the planets humans had settled.  Humanity was chased back to Earth and forced to seek shelter in the last city on Earth.  This is a general synopsis, if you want more information I am sure google can help you out.

So, what kind of game is this?  Well, it’s from the guys who made Halo so naturally it’s a FPS.  There is a strong narrative, so it’s a narrative based FPS.  The gameplay goes much deeper than this though.  There are co-op raids, loot seeking, exploration, PvP, and more.  Imagine it this way.  Halo and Borderlands got together and had a child.  Destiny is that child (no pop girl group puns intended).  However, when Halo and Borderlands are out of town, Diablo and World of Warcraft are the Aunt and Uncle that take care of the kid.

Oh yeah, we look so cool, and totally not like Halo

The scope of the game is quite ambitious in a couple different ways.  First, Bungie is combining aspects of a few different game genres into Destiny.  The game seeks to take the dungeon / raid and exploration of WoW put it with the loot system of Diablo and have the option for Halo style PvP all set in a Borderlands style of game.  That’s a lot.  Second, the game has so many different locations.  From just the Alpha and the Beta I have played on Earth, Venus, and the Moon.  It’s been confirmed that you will travel to many other planets in our system in the full game.  That is quite a large scope of locations to play on.

Now, with all of this said, it seems like quite the undertaking to try to jam all of this into one game.  Well, Bungie and Activision have said that this is going to be a decade long franchise.  There will be squeals, new expansion packs, a constant stream of new content and who knows what else they are cooking up.  Together Bungie and Activision have sunk approximately 500 million dollars (stroke my beard evilly) into this franchise.  This thing better last a decade for them to make that money back!

So, what do I think of the game?  Does it fall flat or deliver on their promises and the premise?  From what I have played, it seems like they have nailed it.  This title has been in development for over 5 years and it shows.  The game delivers on it's promises.  The FPS action is top notch.  The loot system will have you playing for that next piece of armor or weapon.  The enemies actually work together and can be quite challenging, especially on “Strike” missions, what they have named their dungeons / raids.  There is only one Strike mission in the Beta and I loved it.  You can upgrade your armor / weapons.  They don’t make you do fetch quest after fetch quest.  They are there, but you have to actively seek them out.  You will level up by playing the story missions.  You can do the side missions but they are totally optional.  It appears that you won’t even need to grind side missions to get levels or great weapons / armor / vanity items.  From the small bit of the game I have played I am very impressed.  This has the chance to be the next big thing.  Like Halo before it, this game could shape the way we see video games for years to come.

When I grow up, I want to be a Titan!

I could go deeper however I am going to stop there, mainly so I can keep playing while the Beta is still active.  If you have any questions or comments please post below.  I would love to answer any questions you may have about the game or anything really.

Next week, I plan on writing part two of my two part series Trollblood Tactica: The Basics.  

Anyways, until we meet again.

Currently Playing: Destiny Beta (PS4)

Currently Painting: Borka Kegslayer (still…)

Currently Listening To: Edward the Great by Iron Maiden