I realize there have already been more Destiny reviews than there can be counted, but if you feel like you need one more, then I've got my two cents. I've now been playing the game since about the eleventh, (to be honest I can't remember much from that day since all I'd focused on was the UPS tracking website that was supposed to tell me when the PS4 bundle I'd ordered was at my house), and since I've gotten past the stop point from the beta, to the level 28 Warlock class that I'm currently running I've felt myself waiting for... Bungie! Don't get me wrong, I adore (parts of) this game, and at this current moment I've logged 3 days and 4 hours worth of time into my character (which when you work a full time job for minimum wage, only have one TV with internet access in the house, and three roommates who really like watching TV is as much time as I can afford). But I feel like at this point, the only reason I continue to run this slow grind, doing the same thing over and again, is because I'm still waiting. And don't get me wrong. When I say I'm waiting for something, I don't mean that I'm waiting for the story line to pick up, or for something new to happen. I really do understand that it's all going to be run its course with DLC and buy in events and add ons. That part, as unfortunate of a reality as it is, has been set in stone already by the release of this first installment and for any of us who haven't already traded the game back in, we all know we are going to buy every big release for this title form here on out until it's been run into the ground like Halo eventually was. But Halo is actually the focal point to this review in all honesty. I remember being a little kid and getting a Playstation 2 and playing all of these fun and bubbly games. Titles like "Ratchet and Clank," "Jak and Daxter," and "Sly Cooper" kept me fixated on the television for hours a day (or whenever Mom dictated that my brother and I "get off that f***ing game box"). But then my friend Johnny's older brother got an Xbox, and good lord was my life over. We would sneak into his brother's room whenever his brother was gone, and we would play "Halo: Combat evolved" for hours on end, and quite honestly got caught many times doing so! But how inviting of a story for an eight year old boy who had just begun to hit his "army man" phase. You, the 500$ soldier, against all odds in the world, countless enemies, an encroaching infectious plague set to kill all sentient life, and all you have is bullets to burn and a resolve like no other! Okay, so I didn't understand all of that when I was that young, but I got the gist and I'll tell you I was hooked. The game play physics, and the active war zone I found myself participating in had me hooked! Screw the ESRB rating, I was playing Halo through to the end if it killed me! And what could have happened to make my life better except for the fact that Halo 2 came out delivering promised graphics and a story that only sought to further empower the franchise and the public following from an already very successful first game. I still remember sitting on my brand new Xbox 360 a some few years later and running that warthog into the Pillar of Autumn, finishing the fight, and literally crying over the beautiful scene that I had just lead myself into through my controller. From there, I found myself reading all of the lore and novelizations, and jumping on the computer at least once a weeks to see if there was as of yet a movie in the works for good old MC and Cortana. Because that's what had me invested in this game. The beautify graphics, the well built suspense in story telling and combat, and the well guided beginning, middle, and end to a story shown from each installment of the Halo series had me praising Bungie as all but gods. These guys and their game were a strong highlight to the gaming aspects of my childhood and molded the strong need for a well built story around a video game in my play experience. Its why to this day I still have a copy of "Halo Wars." I rave about this game not because of its repetitive play style and slightly overused Rock/Paper/Scissors base of play, but because the story behind that game could almost stand as a short movie in itself! I can't even tell you how many times I've told someone to quit interrupting a cutscene in a video game because they "wish they could skip it." That actually happened to me with Destiny! Until I played it again and realized that all of what the speaker had just told me was empty context speech, I was downtrodden, and even mores afterwards! Again though, I realize that this game is doomed to DLC, so I'll have to let that nagging feeling run. What I will focus on is the fact that this is a Bungie game. The reputation, genius, and following behind this company leaves no room for such lackluster and such ignorance to fan service and cinematic thrill. Sure, the art department and the animators hit the nail right on the head about 7 times over in this game, of that there is no question. The multiplayer (if I really cared for multiplayer) is brilliantly designed but for a couple of broken weapons here and there but I've seen that there will be patches for that soon which was to be expected. But this lazy sponge AI, and this torn to shreds game that you have all made out to have put your hearts and souls into for many years now seems to have been a game that you allowed to be ruined by Activision for a paycheck and a jump at the lead spot in FPS design. And I have to say that if that is the case, which it really does seem to be, then as a strong Bungie fanboy, I'm sad for you. This is a corporation, and as such is a "person," which I'd have to say that your PR department has always made me nod my head in sympathy seeing you all truly as people. But this time you seem to have had your compassion for gaming replaced by some soulless drive for money. By all right, you made your money, but if I can speak for myself, I'm now worried for the future of Bungie and would have to say that if the next installment isn't considerably higher up to par with the reputation that you all carry, your already shaken fan base will begin to jump onto life ships and find a new home. I wait anxiously for December to find the expansion as an actually compelling video game, and until then, I'll be grinding the same missions over and over again hoping to find one or two ascendant shards here and there until the weekly rollover when I start all over again. You're better than this, and this isn't COD. Flying the Seventh Column flag at half mast, Visceral_Fear (previously known to Microsoft as XForerunnerX)