Story:- Let’s face it - we all know Destiny’s story is poorly scripted and lacking heavily in almost all cases. Such a shame, considering Bungie’s brilliantly executed story-telling in the past. Having recently purchased Halo: The Master Chief Collection, I have been remind of how fun playing through a Bungie-crafted campaign can be..woot woot woot. There is definitely potential in Destiny however and certain moments really did create great gameplay moments that were memorable, exciting and satisfying to play (the Sword of Crota missions springs to mind). Nothing like waving around a massive sword in a room full of Hive. More of this please Bungie! In spite of the terrible story-telling thus far, I am still confident in Bungie. I only hope that they get their act together and utilise the rich and deep lore that is apparent in the Grimoire cards to craft an engaging and thought-out campaign before its too late and I (and everyone else) loose interest entirely. I have read a great deal of the Grimoire cards (why they weren’t included in game I will never know) and from what I can see, the depth and detail behind the Destiny universe is incredible, it’s just a shame none of it made it into the final build. I hate how vague and brief all the characters of Destiny are throughout. I would have loved to have catered missions centred around each race (opening story sequence was clearly designed for the Exo story arc; The Reef mission was clearly designed for the Awoken story arc, etc..) and the opportunity to explore each world, discover their secrets and root out the lost history of the Golden Age through loot chests, collectibles (aside from dead ghosts), data files and meaningful side-missions. Missions and bounties from the Tower had a chance to further develop this theme but I was left unappeased and wanting more almost every time I completed a mission. Develop your world and characters Bungie, give players the depth they want. Fingers crossed the next instalment or series of DLC rectifies this glaring problem. Patrol, Public Events & Resource Foraging:- In theory, patrol mode is a brilliant feature and lends itself very well to the MMO genre. In practice, it can become monotonous and stale, but perhaps this is just me. It’s a shame Bungie didn’t take the opportunity to use these open sandboxes to further develop Destiny’s universe (see Story section above) and allow for a bit more exploration and discovery, besides finally stumbling upon another resource material…because let’s be honest with ourselves here - searching high and low for that last Spinmetal or Spirit Bloom isn’t enjoyable, it’s painful. The latest update goes some way to solving this issue however, so hopefully I won’t have to waste countless hours driving around in my sparrow (that can now do barrel rolls?!) searching for glowing green orbs on Venus. Public events are, again, another brilliant feature but the lack of variety (key word here) stops them from being fresh and exciting each time. Would it hurt to have them more frequently too? Side-missions currently serve a very limited purpose and I wish more attention had been given to them in order to make them worth while and develop the story, in particular each faction and how they tie in with the bigger picture. An aspect of patrol that I do really enjoy is the way Bungie has crafted each world to suck you in to sporadic, ever-occurring firefights that happen along the way to your next destination. These serve as a brilliant and welcome distraction and doing this with friends only adds to the fun. I only wish the Fallen vs. Hive/Fallen vs. Vex/Vex vs. Cabal ‘big battles’ (for want of a better word) would happen more frequently as shooting your way through the carnage never gets dull and is a welcome survival challenge. Firefight survival mode anyone?! Strikes:- Strikes are enjoyable, up to a point. Once again, they are lacking in variety (there’s that word again…) and I would have liked to have seen a greater range of missions and enemies, as well as a stronger link to the main story. Timed and vehicle-based segments, failure options (besides Darkness zones) and randomised sections would have served to keep strikes interesting and with slightly different objectives each time. Time trials, customised mission modifiers and leaderboards for completion stats would have also been a great addition and furthered the games sense of community and competition. Raid(s):- As I said at the beginning of this review, my experience of raids is non-existent so my input on this particular topic is limited. However, and I know a lot of you agree with me on this, matchmaking should have been included. I appreciate the reasons behind the decision but feel that players should still be given the option to try their luck with strangers. By not allowing matchmaking Bungie, you are cutting off a large proportion of your customers who have less than six friends online. Surely the sheer amount of forums titled ‘Raid players needed’ say it all? Give it some thought. PvP:- Bungie excel at competitive multiplayer. Fact. The balancing of the armour and weapons (See Weapons, Armour and Stats section) lend themselves perfectly to the competitive setting of Destiny. Combined with expert level design, there is little wrong with the gameplay mechanics in the Crucible. My only problem is, you guessed it, the lack of variety. Capture the Flag, Assault and King of the Hill are all classics and should have all been included. Fingers crossed for future DLC. It’s a shame that there is no internal ranking system either and I am confused as to why they didn’t think it best to feature private/custom games. I’m looking forward to new maps and hope vehicle-based gameplay become more prevalent - three person fire-team vehicles would be so legit! The Tower & Vendors:- The Tower serves it’s purpose as a stop-off before your next mission, but not much else. Perhaps this is how Bungie planned it all along but I feel myself wishing there was more to do in this supposedly ‘social’ space. The giant purple ball and football were a step in the right direction but more social activities could have made the Tower feel like a fun place to return instead of a chance to decode engrams and jump off the balcony. Shooting ranges, races and other competitions with rewards and leaderboards would have been a welcome addition. Changes to the Tower over time (depending on where you are in the story or what season it is - Halloween being an example) would have also kept things interesting. Be a bit more creative Bungie! The NPCs in Destiny also need a lot of work. Is it just me or do they all sound really bored?! The robots that give you directions have more emotion than Banshee and Rahool - I know your sad about the Traveller and all but lighten up guys! Aside from their crippling absence in the personality department, vendors serve little function past a certain level. Receiving missions directly from each vendor would have given them more character and having them sell level-specific gear would keep them relevant throughout your characters progression. Couple this with the missions they give out having their own backstory, complete with their own set of rewards and progression, and i’ll be more than happy! Conclusion:- If you have managed to read through the entirety of this text, I commend you. Had I known how long it was going to take to write, as well as how many suggestions and comments I had about this game, I would have put aside more time and tried to make it a bit more concise! The reason I wanted to get all of this off my chest was because I feel invested in this game and it’s future. Cheesy, I know. It’s not often that games come out like Destiny, with the potential to deliver a great and long-lasting gaming experience. I hope this review reaches DeeJ (or anyone else at Bungie for that matter) and that my comments are echoed by this community so that we can all help to improve this game and make it even more enjoyable to play. The amount of hours me and my friends have put into Destiny is testament to Bungie’s game developing abilities and I have faith that they have the games best interests at heart. I can honestly say i’ve never had more fun playing a videogame with friends than I have with Destiny and i’m sure a lot of you will agree with me on that if nothing else. Thanks for taking the time to read some, if not all of this! Thumb-up if you think it’s worth other peoples time and/or if you feel the points i’ve raised are worth being heard. Here follows a list of things I left out above which I will bullet-point here:- Greater faction development - New Monarchy, Future War Cult and Dead Orbit story-lines. HUD improvements More vehicles! - Warthog-esque fireteam vehicles. MISSION VARIETY (Space stations; chases; defend/attack strongholds; protect allies/escorting; deploy/defuse bombs; overrun/escapes; more unique weapon missions; scouting/reconnaissance; missions requiring more teamwork i.e door-activation/levers/switches) PEACE OUT BITCHEZ. XX