Destiny Review: Darkness Falls
Destiny Review: Darkness Falls
From the NerdBite archive. This article was first published on and is kept online for reference. It has not been updated, so details may be out of date.
It’s been four enduring years since the last game from Bungie, with the developer leaving behind the Halo series to 343 Industries to handle and instead focus on new ambitious projects. Destiny is the first major title from Bungie since Halo: Reach, and the promise of a new aspiring franchise said to span a decade. Does Destiny contain the same old spark Bungie had with Halo, or have they fallen under their own creation?
Destiny puts players in the role of a Guardian, one of many whom are tasked with protecting the last safe city on Earth. Forged in the Traveler’s light, Guardians are the ultimate hope in the universe. You begin the game by selecting one of three different classes: the Titan, Warlock and Hunter class. All three look distinctive from each other but genuinely play about the same. Each class comes with a set of individual abilities you can use, all which play a bit differently from one another. You have a choice of picking two subclasses within a class, which enables you to use a special ability in the game. It’s not until you hit level fifteen that you’re able to unlock the last subclass. Everything follows a skill tree; all that enhances your character to move faster, shoot better, and generally perform better in the game. The differences between the three classes aren’t drastic enough to warrant multiple playthroughs – that is unless you enjoy grinding. Ultimately picking a class doesn’t change the outcome of the game; it’s only for those who want a little more variety in their Guardian’s upgrades and abilities that would be interested in starting over with a new class.
Players begin their voyage in Destiny in the ruins of Old Russia; you find yourself awoken by Ghost, an A.I. that was created by the Traveler in its dying breath. Ghosts help guide players through the game and inform you of your objectives. Voiced by Peter Dinklage, Ghost’s personality comes off as stiff and forced rather than Dinklage’s usual suave performance in the hit television series, Game of Thrones. You’ll find yourself cringing at some of the dialogue in the game, particularly with Dinklage’s copious lines. By far the weakest part of Destiny is the game’s practically non-existing story and dry writing. The backstory introduced in the beginning of the game tells players of a golden age, with the arrival of the Traveler giving human’s technology and powers beyond anything they have ever seen before. Now almost forgotten and destroyed by the ominous Darkness, Guardians are able to wield the Traveler’s mysterious powers and use them against the Darkness. The Traveler, which towers above Earth isn’t explained beyond the initial introduction and doesn’t incite players to really care.
Storytelling is sparse and saved for the game’s Grimoire cards, that give players a little more background to Destiny’s universe and lore. Grimoire cards are obtained by completing various missions and objectives in the game and can be viewed on Bungie’s website. This takes away any sort of immersion and stops players from ever learning more about the story, which honestly is fascinating on paper; unfortunately doesn’t ever amount to Halo’s memorable narrative. Destiny’s ending leaves you unsatisfied and doesn’t explain more than you already knew from the beginning. It’s evident that Bungie is saving the bigger portion of the story for Destiny’s imminent expansion packs and sequels. I just hoped that we would see more of it in Destiny.
When you’re not focusing on the story, you’re too busy playing the game, and that’s when Destiny really shines. Having played both the Borderlands and Halo series, the gameplay in Destiny felt like a combination of the two. Gunplay is smooth and responsive with aiming feeling tight. Character movement is fluid and traversing around the world is fun, thanks to the Sparrow – your own personal hoverbike to race around in. Destiny takes players across different planets to explore and play in; from Earth to Mars, you’ll have plenty of enemies to shoot and loot. Variety is important in any shooter, and having a diverse cast of enemies to shoot and kill is vital. Destiny suffers from repetitive enemy spawns that don’t offer much diversity other than to shoot at them. You have your easy to kill minions; your tougher brutes and your boss fights. You will mostly be fighting variants of the Fallen, who originate from the Darkness. Many times enemies will feel like bullet sponges, taking a few precious reloads to kill. You’ll find yourself taking cover often to recharge your health and pressing on to finish the fight before you move onto the next area. Satisfaction comes when you work together with your friends to take down a challenging boss, and that’s when Destiny becomes a thrill to play.
Having the finest firearms equipped is key in succeeding in Destiny. You’ll find yourself constantly trading away your old weaponry for something with superior stats and better suited for your shooting needs. Guns come in different categories and types, from your common ones to the rare legendary ones. You will be able to equip yourself with various weapon types all suited for your play-style. From your primary selection, which consists of rifles and hand cannons. Your special type, which includes snipers and shotguns, and finally your heavy type that features rocket launchers and machine guns. You can pick and choose whatever weapon types you wish to use in combat; sometimes you’ll need to plan ahead in order to defeat certain enemy types. Leveling your Guardian grants you to use better weapons and superior armory for your class. Upgrades are available for your looted weapons and increases reload speeds, damage, gun performance, and everything else to help you shoot well. There are plenty of ways for you to increase your arsenal, whether it’s by defeating bosses, missions, or simply buying them. Destiny has you constantly collecting and upgrading. Finding loot in the game is a fun way to keep you distracted; however loot drops aren’t all prominent and often leave you wanting something better. If you want improved gear than you will need to put in the work to grind.
Unlocking armor throughout the game plays an important part in improving your Guardian’s proficiency with additional stat boosts and bonuses. All of this armor comes in different classifications for you to accumulate and unlock. You have your helmet, chest armor, leg armor, and gauntlets to equip on your Guardian. Like with weapons, armor comes in different types for you to acquire. Whichever class you picked has a unique armor slot for you to separate yourself from other players. There are a total of five armor slots to equip your Guardian with. Upgrading your armor increase your attributes, all which improve your Guardian’s performance. Picking and choosing what ability you want improved can help you decrease grenade cool down times and other improvements vital to your character. Untimely most players will choose whatever has the most defenses, because in the end how much bullets you can take makes the difference in a gunfight. But if you like the more technical aspects of attributes, then you can pick and choose whatever suits you best.
Destiny uses a leveling system for its weapons, armor, abilities, and characters. The more you level up the more you can unlock. You gain XP from completing missions, bounties, killing enemies, and more. If you want to become the best Guardian, you will need to continue leveling up to upgrade your character. Playing the story missions is the fastest way to do that. Starting from Earth, you fight your way through hordes of baddies until you make it to the City; from there the game really begins. After talking to a few people, you’re told of the Darkness and its imminent threat, ultimately it’s your job to eliminate any danger that plagues the galaxy. Taking harbor in Earth’s last safe city, this safe haven acts as the main hub in Destiny, from there you are able to encrypt loot, take on bounties, purchase weapons, and everything else you might need to assist your Guardian. Progressing in Destiny requires you to complete missions, all which are laid out simple enough, your Ghost tells you of an imposing danger and you have to eliminate hordes of enemies before you access found information by deploying your Ghost. This is all pretty standard in Destiny and mission variety isn’t lavish or much interesting for that matter. What keeps you coming back is the promise of illuming loot and new areas to discover.
Earth isn’t the only stop in Destiny’s tour of playable levels. The game starts to open up and offer more exploration for players, you are able to visit other plants in the solar system and continue fighting the Darkness. Planets become present in the map once you unlock them and are all free to play in. The Tower made exploration and further life possible in the galaxy and Destiny lets you discover its locations. Planets transform into vast playgrounds and look like you expect them to, with the exception of Venus – which features an abundance of plant life and overgrown buildings. My favorite planet to roam around in was Mars; the red desolate planet lies heavy with spiraling landscapes and breath taking skyboxes. There are moments where I find myself taking a break from combat just to enjoy the scenery; Bungie’s signature art style is heavily present in Destiny and is one of the highlights of the game. I enjoyed the none-linear level design that encourages you to keep discovering further, although not all that you see in the horizon is playable. Destiny feels constrained by last-gen technology and it shows. Bungie’s vision for a ten-year game is clear, but counting on future content to make Destiny feel like a more complete experience doesn’t go over well with sound players. Planets like Mercury, Jupiter, and Saturn are absent from the game and visibly saved for future expansions. Grimoire cards reveal the lost planets and indicate that Bungie couldn’t put in more playable areas in the game. It’s unfortunate that we will have to wait for upcoming content that was promised to us. We can only hope that any sequels that follow Destiny are ample and don’t shy away from rich in-game content for players to indulge in.
You won’t have to take the fight alone in Destiny; at heart Destiny is a social experience in the right setting. For those who don’t like the solo offerings, you and two other players can join together in a fireteam and overcome tougher enemies, missions, and everything else thrown at you. One annoyance is the lack of any sort of communication between players who aren’t in a party already. Coordinating is difficult without being able to speak freely, for a shooter being hailed as an MMO it feels vacant in comparison. Sure other players make an appearance whenever you’re off doing a mission or roaming around, but teaming up with random people to take on Destiny’s plentiful encounters is not worth the hassle. Matchmaking is offered in Strike missions, which puts players together to battle the toughest enemies while facing a final boss to take down. These Strike missions are a lot of fun to do and even award those who complete the numerous challenges found in them.
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If you enjoy challenging other players in combat then the Crucible is the place for your very needs. Unlocked at level five, the Crucible offers your standard game-types you can expect to find in other multiplayer related games, in Destiny your collected gear comes over into the Crucible. Everything is scaled to ensure you’re not being overpowered by players with better weapons and gear, allowing everyone a fair playing field and overall a pleasant experience. The Crucible offers in-game awards and XP for those who want to take on the multiplayer mode. These awards you accumulate get carried over into Destiny’s other game modes; such as Strikes and story missions. A selection of maps inspired from Destiny’s playable missions make their way over to the Crucible, some are memorable and some forgettable. Largely the maps play well and offer up a fun range of vehicles to use and vantage points to take down players. While the Crucible is a fun distraction, it isn’t the bread and butter of Destiny. The highpoint of playing Destiny for me was equipping my Guardian with the best gear and taking down numerous enemies alongside my friends. Whether it’s through the main missions found in Destiny or the strenuous Strike missions, Destiny presents an array of challenges to face and loot to college.
Destiny is a vast world of activities and content to explore in, no it’s not more than a game but it is an entertaining venture in the proper context. Destiny is best played with friends who want to share the same experience as you. For those who love collecting the finest gear and facing enemies above their level, Destiny seems like the easy choice. Facing these challenges alone is an undertaking that leaves you frustrated more times than satisfied. It’s easy to get sucked into the massive hype-surrounding Destiny and sometimes you forget to appreciate and enjoy what’s in front of you. Disregarding the hype and promises made, Destiny is an enjoyable shooter easily filled with endless hours of content. Whether or not people keep returning to engage in Destiny’s growing world is yet to be seen, but the future of Destiny appears to be promising.
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