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Destiny

Discuss all things Destiny.
7/28/2014 9:12:47 AM
1

Official Destiny Beta Review

My thoughts, opinions and ideas after playing the Destiny beta, hence the feedback section. Obviously, it is impossible to know how the actual game will be different. I maxed out all three classes at level 8. I normally wouldn’t play this much, but in the limited time, I wanted to give the best review as possible. [b]Characters:[/b] Creation has entertaining features such as unique eye/ skin colors and face paint, yet the actual choice of face/ hair designs is sparse. Not able to rotate character, creating surprises after creation. For this reason, I would appreciate being able to change how my character looks, even if I have to buy that ability. The female character runs like a girl. I know it sounds ironic but it's like she has high heels on. I also wish we could ascribe a name to our character, rather than just 'wearing out' our gamertag. [b]Character Abilities:[/b] Toggle crouch, without having to hold it. Auto flashlight is nice, but if I explore a dark cave then what? I am understanding that each character has their own special abilities, yet I wished I knew what was different, such as double jump height, or grenade types. So if you get something you don’t like, you have to start over with someone else. That’s not really a problem for the people who want to play this game 3 times over, but that’s not usually me. [b]Game Intro:[/b] Ability to cut the cut scenes, especially if I’ve seen it once already. Even better would be to just start our new guardians at the Tower. [b]Weapons: [/b] I will use the term ‘fun factor’ repeatedly when reviewing a game, meaning important elements that make a game entertaining and give it longevity. The quantity of weapons is nice, but without a little flare they all get kind of boring. It’s more about the number on the gun now. I always feel it’s disappointing to find a gun and not be able to use it because of a level cap, but I understand from a marketing perspective that it’s what keeps the kids wanting to play longer. The image I uploaded is proof of this. When you introduce levels and ‘legendary’ weapons, you get a bunch of kids playing all day long, farming and collecting every requirement. This reduces game quality from the casual gamer’s perspective. I would rather be able to shoot a gun because I own it, and not have to meet unrealistic requirements. I like that if I don’t have any grenades, in a quick minute I will. However, at the same time I miss physically having them (and throwing multiple). I also feel like the grenade bounce was very inconsistent. I like that you can find ammo and guns, but I would also like if you could pick up enemy weapons. It is unrealistic when they are shooting you with a weapon, you kill them and it’s gone. [b]Tower:[/b] Sometimes it took forever to load information when engaging characters. Even the gun on my back would lag when going between rooms. I agree that the Tower needs to be more entertaining as it’s advertized as such a social place. Aside from waving at each other, it is very hard to communicate if you don’t already have friends playing. Then you become the weird person running around sending fire team invites to everyone. My idea would be a quick button letting people know you are looking to party up or in orbit have an option to join a random game with someone (open/closed fire teams). It would be better if you just heard people through their mics (muting optional) at the tower. We need things to do besides errands such as a gun range to test weapons before you buy, a social place where you can play mini games like the slots, darts, pool, etc., as well as a place to change your appearance, or even a room the guardians call home; Just more things to do around the tower besides the redundancy of computer-player interaction. [b]Missions/Explore:[/b] My biggest complaint with this: redundancy. Enemies respawn way too fast and in the same places. I killed a bunch, went in a room to grab loot, and when I came back out they were back. I understand there are other people there who need the enemies too, but maybe respawn them at random durations/locations, or a different amount of each rather than kowing there will be 2 of this and 3 of that. There is nothing that turns me off more (or turns the Xbox off rather) than 1. Getting sick of the redundant computer players and 2. Having to kill them all again. I would also prefer the [i]option[/i] of going back to orbit after missions instead of 30 seconds. After I collected loot, I saw a chest, but time ran out before I could get to it. I can go back and get it, but it’s redundant. When you’re playing by yourself it’s nice to have other people around. I’m sure it’s something with the bosses and missions, but when you go in a room and there’s someone there with you, if they’re not in your fireteam they will disappear at a certain point. It would just be nice to be able to infiltrate a building together, even if you are both there for different purposes. If I’m on a side mission and I’ve accomplished scanning the computer and I see the person ahead of me just started fighting the boss in their mission, I would still want to help them out. [b]Crucible/Matchmaking PvP:[/b] I could write an entire article about my disappointment in the Crucible. In fact, I did. To me, it's simply boring and feels like this aspect was put on the backburner to the rest of the game. I understand there will be more game types and maps, but this is obviously going to be the overall style, for why else would we be asked to give feedback on the beta? I noticed in the descriptions it said ranks would not matter, yet when I played as a level 3 or 4 I had such underpowered shields, weapons and abilities it was impossible to succeed. I think one gametype should have the option that everyone starts with the same shield strength and weapon values. Yes some vehicles are overpowering while on foot, yes some weapons were overpowering, but I know Bungie is already working on those. My problem again is it’s just missing the ‘fun factors.’ I enjoy the fun alternate methods to destroy a vehicle rather than just emptying all your ammo on it such as hijacking it and planting a grenade in it, or launching a heat-seeking missile at it. Where are custom games? I wanted to experiment with my weapons so I could get better and know what I was doing wrong but I never had the opportunity. I felt like it wasn’t portrayed very well either when you kill someone. In Halo, if someone is sniped they do backflips. I would melee someone and shotgun them and waste another couple bullets because I didn’t know who killed who until the white text came on my screen saying I killed them. Game chat? [b]Thank You’s:[/b] Thank you for making loot chests independent for everyone so no one fights over weapons or finding chests first Thank you for making my guardian be able to bust a move, point something out and slide into home plate Thank you for giving us 3 available weapons on hand Thank you for letting the vehicles find me (aside from PvP)! Thank you for at least making PvP Thank you for bringing back Pod Racers Thank you for letting us test the game out and for listening to our thoughts [b]Fun Ideas:[/b] -Ability to purchase alternate d-pad actions such as: cartwheel, iron man pose, taunt, laugh, etc. -Jumping over the edge on one of those ships on tower takes you to orbit instead of just dying -Assassinations when you kill someone from behind? An alternate way of killing? -Further customize armor such as helmet, visor or armor colors. -Health bars make all enemies the same and boring. Utilize visual displays of enemies instead. When you drop their shields have their armor fall off. When you cripple them show them hurting. [b]In Summary:[/b] A well-developed, organized game that will entertain many, though it might be a little disappointing for my generation of original Halo fans. I was excited when I heard that Bungie (creators of Halo) was teaming up with Activision (publisher of Call of Duty) because I thought it would be the best of both worlds; Creating one game from the top two franchises of all time. Instead, this game feels like a mix of Borderlands (gameplay, loot, values, classes, open world) with a hint of COD (weapons, realistic environment, PvP) and GTA V (live events). Borderlands has a big fan base so obviously people will enjoy Destiny, however I feel like us Halo buffs have been abandoned by Bungie twice now. I will probably buy the game, but it will only entertain me for maybe a month until I get bored. Yes, it’s a win for Bungie to have people buy the game, but if they don’t stay to buy all the additional content, it will be a struggle through the next 10 years (the duration of their contract with Activision). At least Borderlands warned us with the name BOREDerlands. It was also more of a new concept at that time many years ago. You would think over the last 3-4 years Bungie would have acknowledged that. However, it will entertain some gamers for the next 10 years because some get excited about new stuff, but for those of us who see through that and realize it’s all the same missions in a different area, the same weapon with a different number and the same enemy with a little stronger health bar, it gets old quick. This game is good and already popular, but don’t say it’s going to revolutionize the industry unless it really does. Sure it has unique things like public events, but the foundation is already common. There are so many features from old games that just have new names in Destiny. I still play Halo Reach to this day (as do about 20,000 other people at once on a daily basis) because I have yet to find a replacement. Unfortunately, Destiny is not it. It’s a good game, just not for some people who share the same gaming desires as myself. Thanks for staying in the business Bungie, but hopefully one day down the road you will reunite and reignite the fan base you already built.

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