Destiny: A Game for the Ages
At long last, the game that has won so many awards and has displayed ads almost everywhere, Destiny, has finally been released to the public. On September 9, gamers were able to get their greedy little hands on a copy of this work of epic proportions. I was able to play in the beta and the full versions, and have completed both. I experienced Destiny on the PlayStation 4, and it has more content and somewhat better graphics when compared to the Xbox One version.
I have already completed the main story and reached level 20, which is the maximum experience level attainable from doing the main missions. To reach higher levels, the player must equip advanced armors with high Light points. The highest Light level possible is 30, but that’s really rare. I’ve played all three classes, and all of them run very smoothly. Whether it be the magic-bombing Warlock, the one-hit killing Hunter, or the electric-fisted Titan, each class handles very well, and they all exceeded my expectations.
The game play itself is very fluid, and even with a Titan, the slowest class, it’s easy to slide, head-sh0ot an enemy, stick a grenade on another opponent, and then jump onto a third and punch him in the face within the span of five seconds. The controls are easy to get used to, a blend of traditional First-Person-Shooter controls and a few modifications to accommodate a different setting. System lag is almost non-existent. Out of the 50+ matches I played, I only experienced lag twice, and those were both in player-versus-player matches. Each weapon is unique, and they all feel and sound very realistic, even though two of the weapons don’t even exist it the real world. At least not yet.
A notable characteristic of Destiny is the graphics. The game looks incredible, with animation better than many movies. There are a few spots where the graphics are a bit rough, but they are often in places where you should be paying attention to enemies barraging you with lasers. Bungie, the company who developed Destiny, fixed a notable graphical bug that was in the beta, where part of the screen was blurred when you equipped the sniper rifle. Everything else is very well done. Sometimes in the game I stop just to admire the hard work they put into making the beautifully detailed world of Destiny.
Every time I ride into battle on my Sparrow, the ground vehicle used by guardians, I love hearing the sudden change in music as I slam into robots and blow them up. The game soundtrack fits perfectly, and I feel like it encourages me to go and destroy anyone and everyone who isn’t on my side.
If you plan to play this game and you are new to first-person-shooters (FPS), then you might need a bit of help. The game enemy AI (artificial intelligence) is not that difficult but can decimate you if you aren’t careful. One time, I was in a squad with two other people, and we entered an area that we had to defend. We were fairly good at or above the recommended level for the place, but we all still died multiple times and had to redo that area. A word of advice: always watch where the bullets come from, and watch for sudden movements when fighting Fallen (the first enemies you see).
Destiny is such a great game, and I love nearly every bit of it. And there is still more unreleased content, which I am very excited for. With over 5 million copies sold, I am sure that Bungie’s new franchise will be an enormous success. Overall, I was extremely satisfied. Even with its tiny flaws, I highly recommend this game to anyone interested in science fiction or FPS games.
