This copy of “Destiny” was reviewed on launch week on Xbox 360. Rank 21 of 30 was achieved by the end of this review.
“Destiny” is an ambitious game. Activision, its publisher, has admitted to spending $500 million to help develop and publish the game. This number doesn’t take into account the amount spent by the game’s developer, Bungie. All that money was spent on a brand-new, unproven franchise that seems to be trying to create a hybrid shooter/massive multiplayer online (MMO) game, something that has never worked on consoles. “Destiny” seems even more ambitious given that Activision and Bungie announced before the game was even on sale that they plan on “Destiny” having a lifespan of at least a decade with new downloadable content and games.
Perhaps the plan is a bit too ambitious, because at first glance “Destiny” seems like a poor MMO. It’s much smaller and more confined than the average MMO, and what little there is seems spread thin. The world looks somewhat large and spacious, but is composed only of a collection of open areas connected to each other in a fairly linear fashion by buildings that have only linear corridors. It is deeply frustrating to walk through a building to explore, only to find that every door is locked except the one into the next room. There is only one path, and you must follow it.
Confined though the game is, what little space it has is filled to bursting with events, enemies, and things to do. You can scarcely walk a hundred feet without finding a new side-quest or something shooting at you. If you want to fill your time, “Destiny” will do it as fast as you can put in the disk. You can log in, grab your starting jumpship (known in the forums as the Space Corolla because of how common the standard model is) and start out right away in Old Russia, taking on enemies to your heart’s content. Your robot companion, called a “ghost” and voiced by Peter Dinklage (leading fans to nickname it “DinkleBot”), will keep you appraised of the situation and help you find side-quests to do.
Interwoven into all the chaos and conflict, “Destiny” has the feel of an epic story centered around a hero in which great achievements are narrated in an elevated style. The characters speak in poetry and flowing speech, leaving you to discover for yourself what is meant by, for example, “Every end crawls from the same pit, rising from the schism to swallow matter, light and life. It will not be stopped, but here it can be slowed.” This type of speech may be frustrating to some, but it lends an air of weightiness to the game that strongly benefits it. The speech gives you a sense that you serve a higher purpose than just slaying the next enemy that meets you and increases the immersion in the story immensely.
Perhaps what impressed me the most was that “Destiny” keeps opening up more and more things to do as you play. It gives you more planets, locations, stories, enemies — more of everything. It isn’t until Level 15 that you start to realize how little of the game you’ve played and how many locations and missions you haven’t gone to. At Level 15, the “Crucible,” the game’s multiplayer matchmaking, becomes viable; to play before this is almost certain suicide considering the lack of adequate weapons and armor available earlier. I have completely finished the story and am a Level 21 character, but looking through all the missions and things I can do — even just the ones I know about — I only feel like I’ve only played through half the game. “Destiny” may start out appearing small and constrictive, but by the end, the pendulum swings the other way so that it almost seems to have too much content, if that can be called a problem. Now I feel that I might never get to all “Destiny” has to offer.
Ambitious as “Destiny” is, it seems to be working. Within 24 hours of its launch, it made $500 million. There is already a strong online community centered around finding the best gear in the game and speed-running through the different missions. “Destiny” may have its small flaws, but if the rest of the franchise is as full, enjoyable and creative as this first installment, I would bet on this ambitious plan being successful.
