Destiny - Review Thread

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a916 said:
When you've crafted Halo 1, 2 and 3... Destiny being the worst doesn't really tell me anything. Could be great and not amazing, could be amazing and not perfect... could be the single worst MP in the history of gaming...
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It's not like the gameplay is bad. It's actually pretty great. But Halo MP is filled with content, Destiny has not even half of a Halo MP in terms of content.
 
Mr. Sterling's review over at the Escapist is probably the most balanced on-point review I've read so far given for the game as it is at this point in its life-- which to be fair, is barely a newborn still. There's a long way to go but still a lot of promise there.

I'm enjoying the hell out of it myself, but then again I really liked the Alpha and Beta as well and wasn't expecting a different or more refined experience at launch. I've got loads of other games to play (and do play) but Destiny still continues to scratch a particular itch. My work schedule means I'm gaming at funky times when most of my friends are unavailable but last night a pal jumped into my fireteam at random and we just circled throughout Old Russia in Patrol mode killing the shit out of all the things while just chatting and catching up. We both lamented the lack of "crazy" gun variety-- we both loved Borderlands (particularly 2) for the sheer oddness of some weapons' hidden effects-- but still enjoy what Destiny is and look forward to showing off our respective Hunter and Warlock to each other as we acquire better gear. It's good times on my end.
 
Oh, the Escapist reviewed it. I've actually heard of them!

I guess it's good to see that a lot of folks are taking their time to do it right.
 
FLUXCapacitor said:
I have yet to play the game so I'll reserve judgment...I plan on RedBoxing it this weekend, however I am honestly not that surprised it's not something truly spectacular and ambitious like it was hyped to be and instead just a good all around shooter with some interesting mechanics pulled from other genres, and of course has its fair share of flaws.

I say not surprised based off Bungie's history. Halo was ahead of its time in the console world. It had stellar gameplay, a unique and interesting story, great graphics, and was just all around a fantastic game. Further iterations of the game followed suit for the most part but nothing groundbreaking was ever really added. It's always had a solid story and great gameplay. Forge was probably one of the most ambitious features they added. I think the Halo series suffers from the same thing the CoD series does, which is a fresh coat of paint and a few new features each new game.

Of course based off sales and popularity you can say they were amazing games and very successful, but stepping back in the grand scheme of things I think the series plateaued and was pretty flat. That's not to say it wasn't fun. I still bought and enjoyed the shit out of those games, but I think Destiny is suffering from it's own hype train and to be honest I think Bungie is a little overrated. I think they shot for the moon and came up short with Destiny. By saying that I am by no means saying they are terrible developer, I still love their games, but I think people set their expectations too high and I just don't know that Bungie can ever deliver a truly unique and groundbreaking masterpiece again.

I still reserve judgment for the most part, however I have read countless opinions of those that have played the game and have watched hours of videos and feeds. I would tend to agree that it appears to be a solid fun shooter, which is slightly above average. What I had envisioned Destiny being when it was announced is not what it turned out to be, and I don't need to play it to make that statement. I can't wait to play it however, and I know I will have fun, I just think a lot of us envisioned a more seamless and grandiose world that had a better integrations of the MMO and social aspects they tried to put in the game, and a more cohesive story.
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Halo 3/Reach had fully fleshed out stories (that provided a definitive beginning and end to the current story arc at the time), Firefight (and Firefight vs in Reach), Theater Mode, Forge, Vehicular combat in all modes, and the skull difficulty multipliers that made replaying stages much, much more challenging for more 'points'. Reach also had matchmaking and proximity chat across every game mode. Both games had split screen co-op and multiplayer.

Destiny falls short of their own previous standards on several levels.
 
ProvenDeadly said:
I just still can't wrap my head around the idea that Bungie, the creator of the best console MP of all time, created a game with 3 freaking playlists, no ranking system, no custom game lobby, nothing social. It's embarrassing.
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It really is. I'll go further and say that I think that, while Reach clearly alienated some for its questionable changes to the Halo formula, it's a better product than the twenty hours I've put into Destiny thus far. I don't think Reach is the best Halo, either.
 
Note that Jim is definitely not a "50% is bad" reviewer. 3/5 for him could probably be classified as "good but flawed". Or really, just read the review and he states his opinions pretty clearly. On a site like IGN his views would probably translate to 8/10.
 
I know this is a review thread, so forgive me if this is off topic, but I can't convince myself to buy this despite the hype and the overwhelming interest my friends have in the game.

A great deal of my PSN friends list picked this game up this week. Even with some of the middling responses I've seen from the guys I trust at Giant Bomb, I was still feeling it... but the fact it lacks local co-op kind of sealed the deal for me on waiting a few weeks and seeing how the game pans out.

In a post-Bordlerands 1 & 2 world and from the creators of Halo... how can there be no couch co-op?!
 
Rivyn said:
"Characters too similar at the start (No shit, sherlock)"
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Diablo III doesn't suffer from this problem. Phantasy Star Online didn't suffer from this problem.

Removing regenerating health and the addition of a healing class would have helped.

Most of my problems with Destiny stem that it is too much FPS and not enough RPG, and there are already plenty of other better FPS games.
 
Does Sony have a multigame deal with Bungie? I hope they have a way out of it if they do. The second game could be an enormous flop of they don't learn from this.
 
antitrop said:
Diablo III doesn't suffer from this problem. Phantasy Star Online didn't suffer from this problem.

Removing regenerating health and the addition of a healing class would have helped.

Most of my problems with Destiny stem that it is too much FPS and not enough RPG, and there are already plenty of other better FPS games.
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hmm, this makes me wonder how The division is going to be handled class wise.
 
KalBalboa said:
I know this is a review thread, so forgive me if this is off topic, but I can't convince myself to buy this despite the hype and the overwhelming interest my friends have in the game.
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I'm having a lot of fun with it, and I feel if your friends that are playing it make it an active, regular thing to get together and play for a bit, then it might be worth it to pick it up. Otherwise, I'd probably hold off for a while if you're at all on the fence.
 
Lol @ how zero of the mainstream gaming media dare submit a score.

The game imo is like some super stripped down fps version of a traditional mmorpg, except with
-none of the expansiveness,
-none of the scale,
-none of the crafting,
-none of the variety,
-none of the trading,
-none of the lore,
-none of the sense of community

It has fps shooting, coop, loot, "dungeons" and a mash of other things, but imo it doesn't do any of it particularly well and the game just seems like an empty shell that was never filled in.
 
MightyHedgehog said:
When you're so confident that you're throwing half a billion at the game's marketing and production budget, I imagine that you'll be wanting every single sale you can force.
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But didn't couch co-op help make Halo & Bordlerands the revered franchises they've become? Campaign co-op in the Halo games is such a major part of that series.
 
KalBalboa said:
I know this is a review thread, so forgive me if this is off topic, but I can't convince myself to buy this despite the hype and the overwhelming interest my friends have in the game.

A great deal of my PSN friends list picked this game up this week. Even with some of the middling responses I've seen from the guys I trust at Giant Bomb, I was still feeling it... but the fact it lacks local co-op kind of sealed the deal for me on waiting a few weeks and seeing how the game pans out.

In a post-Bordlerands 1 & 2 world and from the creators of Halo... how can there be no couch co-op?!
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Most games these days throw out the concept of local play, which is funny in consideration that this game's social features are lacking. But I don't think that expectation was that reasonable between the Alpha/Beta and all the marketing out there over it being an online game.
 
Surprised by the Escapist and NZ Gamer comments. This is much more than a 7/10 game to me. To say there's nothing to set itself apart from its peers is just wrong. It's far more epic than a pedestrian product.
 
That Escapist review single-handedly dropped the MC score by 4 percentage points.

edit: not that there's anything wrong with that. Just an interesting tidbit.
 
KalBalboa said:
But didn't couch co-op help make Halo & Bordlerands the revered franchises they've become? Campaign co-op in the Halo games is such a major part of that series.
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Can't speak to Halo, but BL was built more on it's loot system and how easy it was to drop-in/out of co-op, imo. If Destiny had a drop-in/out system like BL I think that would be fantastic. It wouldn't solve the legitimate criticisms people have about the story, etc.. but at least it'll solve the gripe re: matchmaking.
 
KalBalboa said:
But didn't couch co-op help make Halo & Bordlerands the revered franchises they've become? Campaign co-op in the Halo games is such a major part of that series.
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I've only ever finished Halo 1 and 2's campaigns in couch co-op. It was a great experience with my brother as a teenager. Otherwise, I've never been a fan of Halo.

Couldn't even finish 3's campaign by myself.
 
ArkkAngel007 said:
Most games these days throw out the concept of local play, which is funny in consideration that this game's social features are lacking. But I don't think that expectation was that reasonable between the Alpha/Beta and all the marketing out there over it being an online game.
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I suppose the difference between my perspective on this game and the messaging behind it then is that I see it as a co-op game first. Most discussions about Destiny involve a point being made about how it's really best with friends, so I guess that combined with the Borderlands comparisons and Halo pedigree had me thinking split-screen play would be there.

I honestly think that if it had split-screen I would've bought it already. Not that Activision needs my $60 right now, though.
 
GrizzleBoy said:
Lol @ how zero of the mainstream gaming media dare submit a score.

The game imo is like some super stripped down fps version of a traditional mmorpg, except with
-none of the expansiveness,
-none of the scale,
-none of the crafting,
-none of the variety,
-none of the trading,
-none of the lore,
-none of the sense of community

It has fps shooting, coop, loot, "dungeons" and a mash of other things, but imo it doesn't do any of it particularly well and the game just seems like an empty shell that was never filled in.
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What? They only got the game a few hours prior to the rest of us. They still have to write out the actual reviews AND do the video content that often accompanies them. They are starting to come out, like the Escapists with Jim Sterling, but most we won't see until tomorrow at the earliest, and probably the rest Monday.

For all the complaints on embargoes and reviews being rushed out for mp games, these types of posts baffle me.
 
gamechanger87 said:
You should try this one on for size.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2013-08-23-bungie-destiny-can-surpass-halo-sit-alongside-star-wars
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"We like to tell big stories and we want people to put the Destiny universe on the same shelf they put Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter or Star Wars; we've already seen they do that with Halo. We were extremely proud of what we achieved with Halo... I'm pretty convinced we are going to do it again with Destiny in a way that maybe even Halo never achieved before,"


Fuck, that's just sad to read knowing what we know now.
 
Alienous said:
Put into context, it really isn't much larger than most AAA showings. Levels, instead of having 12 or so of them, have been amalgamated into 4 big zones, so depending on if you use the Ground Zeroes definition of new content or not, it isn't really any bigger a game than the standard fare.
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Yep, and I don't think the size and scale of the game has been marketed correctly.

I'm absolutely positive that from Bungie and Activision's point of view this thing is an utterly huge undertaking - but that perspective also includes a ten year plan, expansions and transmedia (gah) potential.

What the rest of us have to work with is this first game - without expansions, and what is offered out of the box. And from that perspective its not nearly as epic as the buildup would lead one to believe. And review scores, beyond critiquing technical and artistic merits also have a side to them that's more about how well the hype meets reality. That's where the game will get dinged even if it stands decently on its own merits.

Its still a pretty fun time to blow shit up with friends though.
 
MormaPope said:
What makes Destiny epic?
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The music, the scale, the wonder and intrigue. The amazing art design / graphics. I love it. The gameplay is fun and those long strike missions are extremely rewarding (I've only re-done the one from the beta). Your avatar is awesome by the way lol.
 
antitrop said:
"We like to tell big stories and we want people to put the Destiny universe on the same shelf they put Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter or Star Wars; we've already seen they do that with Halo. We were extremely proud of what we achieved with Halo... I'm pretty convinced we are going to do it again with Destiny in a way that maybe even Halo never achieved before,"


Fuck, that's just sad to read knowing what we know now.
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I really do wonder if a lot of folks at Bungie/Activision believed that and it wasn't just PR speak. Echo chamber and what not. Surely there's someone who wasn't drinking the kool aid over there and just shaking their head all the while, but clearly not in a position to do anything about it.
 
Sho_Nuff82 said:
Halo 3/Reach had fully fleshed out stories (that provided a definitive beginning and end to the current story arc at the time), Firefight (and Firefight vs in Reach), Theater Mode, Forge, Vehicular combat in all modes, and the skull difficulty multipliers that made replaying stages much, much more challenging for more 'points'. Reach also had matchmaking and proximity chat across every game mode. Both games had split screen co-op and multiplayer.

Destiny falls short of their own previous standards on several levels.
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But Destiny offers a crap tonne more than Halo ever could in other areas. Much more variety of items, weapons, armors, abilities, skill trees, progression systems, upgrades, reward factor, much larger environments and better visuals and art, more community aspects, more sociable mission design, overall more ambitious scope, greater range of enemy diversity and types, challenges and bounties, more to collect and do, see etc.

You mention vehicular combat in all levels as a positive, that to me is a negative. I prefer the variable and more diverse nature in Destiny's balance. You talk about difficulty multipliers that make Halo more repayable, but Destiny to me is considerably more repayable, because not only do you have the different difficulties that grant you better loot, experience, drops etc, but in some missions you also get re worked gameplay with more enemies, new enemies, much higher rate of aggression and special enemies etc. If you're playing in a fireteam, the experience is usually even more variable due to the diversity in others people's weapons, tactics, classes etc.
 
I've played maybe 10 hours so far, still on Earth. I had no idea people were disappointed with the game until my brother called me yesterday and told me he didn't like it, and that some of GAF seems to be hoping it reviews poorly.

Me, I think it's fantastic in just about every way.
 
antitrop said:
"We like to tell big stories and we want people to put the Destiny universe on the same shelf they put Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter or Star Wars; we've already seen they do that with Halo. We were extremely proud of what we achieved with Halo... I'm pretty convinced we are going to do it again with Destiny in a way that maybe even Halo never achieved before,"


Fuck, that's just sad to read knowing what we know now.
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Its weird how Halo 4 and Destiny have similar issues when it comes to narrative and storytelling. Halo 4's plot felt aimless and non important due to the important lore not being fleshed out in the game but elsewhere, Destiny's plot feels aimless due to important lore not being fleshed out in the game but elsewhere.

People might find this to be to be untrue, but, Halo 4 is probably a better game than Destiny.
 
R&R said:
I mean, where is the innovation? In my view Destiny brings nothing new to the table.
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I'm normally strongly against the notion that games must have some kind of innovation to push them over from "okay" to "great". But....

... 500milliondollars.jpg
 
antitrop said:
"We like to tell big stories and we want people to put the Destiny universe on the same shelf they put Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter or Star Wars; we've already seen they do that with Halo. We were extremely proud of what we achieved with Halo... I'm pretty convinced we are going to do it again with Destiny in a way that maybe even Halo never achieved before,"


Fuck, that's just sad to read knowing what we know now.
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Completely agree. I've said before that we were aggressively Molyneux'd. People expect it from him, but no one thought Bungie would do it.
 
The social aspect being lacking is a huge deal-breaker for me. As someone expecting PSO-style community and lobbies, the fact that there's barely a way to communicate with randoms in this day and age is disappointing to say the least.
 
nib95 said:
But Destiny offers a crap tonne more than Halo ever could in other areas. Much more variety of items, weapons, armors, abilities, skill trees, progression system, upgrades, reward factor, much larger environments and better visuals and art, more community aspects, more sociable mission design, overall more ambitious design, greater range of enemy diversity and types, challenges and bounties, more to collect and do, see etc.

You mention vehicular combat in all levels as a positive, that to me is a negative. I prefer the variable and more diverse nature in Destiny's balance. You talk about difficulty multipliers that make Halo more repayable, but Destiny to me is considerably more repayable, because not only do you have the different difficulties that grant you better loot, experience, drops etc, but in some missions you also get re worked gameplay with more enemies, new enemies, much higher rate of aggression and special enemies etc. If you're playing in a fireteam, the experience is usually even more variable due to the diversity in others people's weapons, tactics, classes etc.
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Apples and oranges. He's talking about the core mechanics aka multiplayer pvp content and story. You're comparing the mmo rpg elements to a fps game that doesn't have that.
 
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