THE SECRET IS OUT DAMMIT, though it's awesome how I can finally share some of my thoughts with you guys on the Alpha and moving forward :-) [quote][b]DISCLAIMER[/b] For the last week or so, I've been chiming in playing the Destiny Alpha with the gang. Please note that these are just initial impressions, everything is subject to change and I cannot confirm/deny things that aren't present in the game. I can only tell you about what is in the Alpha Build that Bungie has granted me access to.[/quote] [b]Player Customization[/b]: Huge. This is the first thing you do upon entering the Alpha. Create your Guardian's Race, Class, make a face, hair color, eye color, makeup and much more. Once you hit submit on these options you cannot return back to this menu, choose wisely. [b]First Mission[/b]: Upon entering the world of Destiny, you'll spawn in Old Russia on a level three Story mission that walks you through the basic fundamentals of how to use the game to your advantage. Things like spawning your Ghost and using waypoints to find your way. Knowing when your Super is ready, picking up loot and equipping new things, finding other players and battling bosses. As someone that's Halo driven mindeset, Destiny is DIFFERENT game. You cannot "halo" it up and use a "one gun" mentality. You're forced to think of on your feet and use different combinations for different scenarios with your fireteam. The beauty of Destiny is that you're challenged to find the right combination of attack/defense. You have to analyze the right time when you attack, and when to run. It's not always to your benefit to pursue an enemy, maybe you're not high enough level or don't have the best weapons match, or maybe just ran out of ammo! [b]The Gameplay[/b]: It's fast. In the open world scenario's you're tasked with either walking around endlessly shooting enemies and finding loot and enjoying the view or you can start up a beacon mission and enjoy it with your fireteam. Missions get more difficult as you progress in rank, and depending on the playspace that you're in. It's easy to jump in with new players. You can be off on your own adventure and find other players to party up with. The best part is that you don't HAVE to join up in a fireteam, though if you do, you're guaranteed to stay with that player until you decide to part ways. You have your sparrow to navigate across large gaps/areas. Just found out recently you can use emotes when you're on the sparrow (forward/left/right), super cool. Public events are rare as it believe the game determines if it has the right amount of players in a specific area, within a time period and it will kick one in. My first public events was to clear 3 waves of enemies within a playspace. I nearly got my ass handed to me. The AI in this game is definitely much more response than what you're use to in Halo. [b]The Tower[/b]: The tower is AWESOME! One of my favorite places to visit. It's quiet but can get hype active. Meet up with others, Pick up bounties for rewards, sit and watch the view and I love the day/night cycle of this playspace. At first I was confused because there were TOO MANY things you can do. Bungie does a nice job of displaying "Hey you should go here" by placing a green notification over a vendor's head if you have something new that you can do. This is a good place for organizing a party of friends before you head back to orbit and go on a new mission. There are weapon, engram, and class specific vendors as well as ones for individual factions, spaceships, Crucible (PvP), notes, Vanguard, player emblems and more. As you find things in the wild, you can turn them in to get glimmer as a reward, then purchase that sweet armor you've seen that other guy wearing. Destiny is best enjoyed with friends. While you can go off on your own adventure, it's unbelievably fun when you enjoy it with your buddies. You will die as a group and back up to the last checkpoint, but when you're just trying to run through and accomplish that mission, while communicating each other in relationship to your abilities (Anyone have a Super?) it's a satisfying experience. Dear reader let me warn you, it's extremely easy to get addicted to the player progression system in Destiny. In the Alpha you're capped at level 8, you cannot proceed. However you can see armor/weapons for those beyond level 8. Bungie is good at teasing you for more. You'll also be thinking you're hot shit, and all of a sudden a new player jumps into the tower with his fireteam and has MUCH cooler gear than you. You now want to go find it. I cannot wait for the public release of this as I'm curious on HOW MUCH more populated the areas are going to be. Right now since a specific game population, most of us haven't seen this game when it's being hammered by thousands of gamers. If you have questions about the Alpha Build and my experience, ask them! Please note these are initial impressions. I haven't even discussed PvP, I will get to that soon. -Spawn