FutureFive New Zealand - Consumer technology news & reviews from the future
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Tue, 16th Sep 2014
FYI, this story is more than a year old

Destiny has got to be one of the most highly anticipated video games in recent memory. With that being said, does the final product actually live up to the immense hype surrounding it?

A lot of people were confused about what type of game Destiny was. Advertising for the game suggested it was a hybrid between a MMO and FPS video game.

This is highlighted by the fact that it’s an always-online video game as you cannot even play offline during the single player mode.

With this mindset, a lot of gamers were expecting Destiny to revolutionize gaming and offer something innovative and fresh. Sadly however, the game is just a standard FPS video game with very limited MMO elements added here and there.

Destiny can be a very fun video game, it's just disappointing if you were expecting something different other than what it truly offers.

If you're wanting to play a FPS game, then you will be happy with what is here. If you want a rich MMO experience, you're not going to really like this game as it's anything but socially active.

Before you begin playing Destiny, you will have to choose the type of class you want to play as. You can play as a Titan, Warlock or Hunter. Each class has different abilities and melee attacks as well.

I opted to play as a Titan as they were big and powerful. Titans can punch enemies and have heavy armour. As you progress, you can upgrade your character with better armour and weapons. Destiny is all about levelling up to become stronger as the enemies get tougher the higher you progress

Once you step inside and actually play the game, you will begin to appreciate the beautiful worlds that Bungie has created in Destiny.

The first time I stepped on the Moon, I was blown away with how awesome it looked. The other planets such as Earth, Mars and Venus look great too.

Destiny Screenshot

As good as the graphics are in Destiny, I was a little disappointed that the worlds in the game are not truly open. When I visited the Moon, I wanted to explore the whole area, but I couldn't as the game told me to get back to the main area.

This is the same deal on all of the other locations too. You are either blocked or the areas are inaccessible as you will fall to your death. The levels are mostly linear much like a normal FPS game, but they're not free and open like an average MMO game.

The gameplay in Destiny is challenging and rewarding the first time you play it. I reviewed the Xbox One version and had to play the game alone as most of my friends and colleagues got the PS4 version.

The story mode allows you to invite your online friends to join, but I had to play by myself. It was very hard at first, but the more I played the better I got at it. It can get additive levelling up and progressing as it motivates you to get better every time you play.

The main thing I found disappointing about the gameplay in Destiny is the lack of creativity. Pretty much every mission is just you going to a location and then defending your position killing waves and waves of enemies along the way.

It lacks the different missions from the Halo games such as driving a tank or warthog. All you are pretty much doing is shooting and defending your position.

Not to mention the game includes many bosses that take ages for you to kill. Even if you attack a weak spot, it can take several minutes for you to finally take down some of the bigger bosses of the game.

Destiny_32

There is a lack of socializing in Destiny too. Even when you visit The Tower before you go to each mission, you just see other players walking around shopping for items but that's it. You cannot talk to them or suggest to become friends.

All you can do is wave and dance, and that's all. Even when you see other players roaming around the game, you can choose to fight alongside them, but you cannot talk to them. Most of the time they're on a different part of the mission and you end up being separated anyway.

The competitive multiplayer modes are okay to play, but they're nothing special. Again, the levels look great and are always lovely to see.

The gameplay itself feels a bit unbalanced at the moment though. You will be playing against players of various skill levels which makes some fights unfair.

Beginners may find themselves facing off with players with better weapons and armour sometimes. Hopefully Bungie releases a patch that makes competitive multiplayer fairer for all players.

Overall, I felt indifferent about Destiny. At the beginning I loved it heaps and wanted to see more of what the game offered. However the more I played, the more I began to see the game's flaws. It's a very good FPS game, but that is all. If you were seeking to play a MMO, you're not going to like Destiny very much.

Verdict: 7/10