With the cost of newer video games being nearly $70 , the great inventions Gamefly and RedBox help the cautious gamer like myself to review a game before really investing in it. It’s a great way to rent a game, test it out, and make sure you really want to own it for later consumption. For some, these great companies allow more serious gamers the ability to play a game all the way through at about 15% of the cost or less.
Recently I was at Wal-Mart (this is usually the beginning sentence to a horror script), and low and behold there was a Red Box kiosk at the front door staring me in the face. Begging me to come and look at it’s inventory for rent. They can be so much like those cigarette commercials where they bully you into doing something you may not want to do.
RedBox-“Come RENT SOMETHING NOW!”
Me- “Okay, just don’t hurt my kids.”
This kiosk was differnt as it had an add for the brand new game Destiny plastered all over, more so then when Captain America: Winter Solider came out. I had seen the awesome commercial that reminded me of guardians of the galaxy, and honestly it got me. I wanted to check it out because it looked awesome. If you haven’t seen this commercial check it out below. Now… on to my review.
What is it?
Destiny is a mythic science fiction, open world, online shared first person shooter that was developed by the makers of Halo, Bungie. Is that not a tongue twister or what? It was released on September 9th, 2014, and is available on PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. Here is the setting of the game for the Destiny Wiki page.
Destiny is set seven hundred years into the future in a post-apocalyptic world. The setting follows a prosperous period of exploration, peace, and technological advancement known as the Golden Age.[17] In a universe where humans have spread out and colonized planets in the Solar System, an event known as “the Collapse” saw the mysterious dissolution of these colonies, the end of the Golden Age, and mankind teetering on the brink of extinction. The only known survivors of the Collapse are those living on Earth, who were saved by “the Traveler,” a white, spherical celestial body whose appearance centuries before had enabled humans to reach the stars.[18] The Traveler now hovers above the last safe city on Earth, and its presence allows the Guardians — the defenders of the City — the ability to wield an unknown power, only referred to as “The Light.”
Upon mankind’s first attempt to repopulate and reconstruct after the Collapse, it is discovered that hostile alien races have occupied mankind’s former colonies and civilizations and are now encroaching upon the City. The player takes on the role of one such Guardian, and is tasked with reviving the Traveler while investigating and destroying the alien threats before humanity is completely wiped out.
Loading and waiting…..
First let me say that I still have the PS3, like most of the population over the age of 25 that has kids like I do. The installation and download time for this game took about 45 minutes before I could jump into it, partly because I didn’t have enough space on my hard drive so I had to clear some stuff out. I want to also clear the air that I am a casual gamer at best, so I don’t have the most ridiculous internet speed for online gaming(this is important to Destiny). Once I had cleared enough space to install the game, it still took about 30-40 minutes to get it up and running. So if you have something to do while you wait(like dishes, taking a jog, answering some emails, or calling your Nana) I suggest you do it and save yourself the migraine.
Graphics
In the opening scenes for the game, the graphics are on par for any opening title scene. I will say, that it’s obvious this game is designed for the latest console as it’s nothing special to any other opening scene. Big worlds, new creatures, explosions, it all looks the same simply because the hardware is limited. I’m sure this game is freaking ridiculous on the PS4, but I wasn’t overly impressed once the game play started. It still seemed very pixelated, and the PS3 doesn’t have the power to handle the detail this game deserves. So, if you’re renting it for a visual orgasm, don’t expect your eyes to melt out of your head (because that’s impossible unless you’re that guy from Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark). If you are on one of the newer systems, Destiny uses a new game engine that really you won’t see the true beauty of unless you’re on a PS4. The take away here is that the graphics are great, but even greater on the new consoles
Game Play
I’m not sure any other game (outside of WoW and other PC games) has done this, but the game play in Destiny is constantly online. Even if you are following your own story line, other people are simultaneously weaved within yours following their own. Confused? You shouldn’t be. The main focus of Destiny is to meet other online players and join forces to go and achieve tasks together. You could be facing a hoard of aliens (that’s what you’re fighting the whole game pretty much) and about to die, and another online player could jump in to help you conquer the beasts (The developer, Bungie, likes to call this a “Shared World Shooter” verses the traditional tag “MMO” or Massively Multiplayer Online). I’m the equivalent of a hermit when it comes to online gaming, simply because I just want to play and be left alone. For those of you that enjoy “meeting” online strangers and playing games together, Destiny is full of that. For the most part, Destiny is a first person shooter game with a constant online presence. It is open world, like GTAV, so there is a lot of exploring you can do and missions you can accomplish. If you have the dedication, after level 20 the game takes on a different feel and changes. I didn’t make that far… let me explain in the overall review
Overall
Overall… if you’re not huge into online tag team games, the story telling of this game does not make for much of a adventure if you’re playing alone. Simply, each mission feels repetitive. You travel to a world, defeat some aliens, collect some things, and move on to the next one. If you want, you can make it interesting by going around and shooting other online players, but I’m not a complete dick so I stayed true to the course of playing the missions. On a rating scale of “Boo” to “AWESOME!” I give Destiny an even keel “Meh.” Personally, this is a renter. I don’t think this is worth the $65 dollars. I thought this game might be more set up like a mix between Drake’s Uncharted and Batman Arkham Asylum, but alas It was more like Halo. If you enjoy Halo and WoW you’ll probably love this game. As for me, I wasn’t that impressed.
What other games should I review? Let me know in the comments below.