Destiny: A Review

Can a bad game be good? Could you appreciate a game that was less than what it should have been? These are the questions that are asked about the game “Destiny.” Bungie, well known for “Marathon” and “Halo”, is a game company that has pushed the limits and taken risks making some of the best games ever made. They have taken games, relegated to the category of children’s toys or hardcore PC gamers, to the level of major films and a multiplayer environment that revolutionized gaming. While I will always praise id Software overall, there is no denying by anyone of Bungie’s contributions to gaming as a whole. When it was revealed that after Bungie left Microsoft and put “Halo” behind them that they had a new project in the works, hopes and expectations were high, but as recent hipped have shown us, do not always hold to hope.

The problem with so many of the recent MMOs is that they promise a lot, but give you little; “Destiny” is only one in a long line of these games. But is it really as bad is people say it is? The glaring problems with the game are it’s lack of a compelling and “non-confusing” story line, issues with it’s lack features, such as player trading, “sparrow” racing (a vehicle that lets you travel around the map) among other missing features. However, what it lacks in features and story, it more than makes up for in gameplay; in a firefight, the mechanics feel like a blend of “Call of Duty”, “Halo”, and “Metroid Prime.” Mostly playing as a hunter class, mind you, I found mechanics fluid with the ability to attack multiple targets very quickly. This certainly is not a clunky and slow game, and with each upgrade you get, the more fluid your game play is. This is what will keep you invested in the game play more than the story,  because, to be honest it's fun, and that's whats important. The combat system allows you to change between melee and gun, and gives you plenty of options when your in a "flight or flight" situation, unlike many other shooters. With the hunter class for example, you have a combat knife, throwing knives,  grenade (depending upon type you are equipped with), and your "super ability" allowing you to blast your way out of a enemy mass, or course, when your combat meter fills up.

The game is not an easy one, this is definitely a game that provides a challenge, and it does it well. Each new area that you open provides a world that allows you roam around as you wish, fight as many enemies as you like, and do small missions to earn points. Each area scales up providing greater challenge for those who unlock them. I know that's probably a feature in most games, but I still think it's nifty. The raids and strikes also add an added challenge, again common to most MMOs', but the increased difficulty, and forcing you to use teamwork to accomplish goals  is defiantly not a bad feature.

The issue with the game has most do with the DLC, story, and rating. The game went into development after Bungie left Microsoft and stopped developing the "Halo" franchise, but in all honesty, they should have stayed with them, and gave "Halo" to the new studio 343 Industries. Bungie unfortunately signed a deal to publish the game with major game developer Activision. The one thing to realize about some of the large game developers is that, they like to play to safe, put out something they know will sell, they don't like big risks. So with the deal in hand, "Destiny's" story was scaled back and modified to get a "T" rating, and the game would be released in parts as the initial release and DLC (in 3 parts). DLC has it's good and bad points, and has been around for longer than you may think (I'll go more in depth later); but in this case, it was a poor choice. Obviously for Activision, this good idea because it means extra revenue, but for the gamers, it means having to wait a year or two to play the full game. If you want to DLC properly, look at how Bethesda does it, that would have been a better way.

But the controversy surrounded the DLC was that supposedly the full game was already on the disk. Gamers would have to spend $60 on the game alone, and $20 or more on the additional content, which is already on the disk. That is unfair to gamers when in the past, you would get the full game with the full price. It's a very maniacal and dishonest tactic of making more money. This, I think most believe, was the actions of Activision creeping it's way into Bungie, telling them what to do. Bungie should developed the game under Microsoft, which, considering  the history between the two, the later would have let Bungie develop the game how they choose.

There is also controversy surrounding the game's soundtrack composer, Martin O'Donnell; also known for the "Halo" soundtrack. The Controversy recently come to light (link below) , his departure from Bungie was not only with a falling out with the senior people of the company, but also seems to be Activision's creeping in once again. To put it in short, the linked article does better justice to explaining the issue, Activision stomped over the hard work of this artist, while the people whom he had worked for and helped build the company with seemingly abandoned him, eventually leading to his departure. A rather sad ending to a creative and successful career with Bungie.

However, once again looking at the brighter side of "Destiny", recently the DLC "The Taken King" was released, and it has much improved the game play. For one, the game now feels like it has an actual story and characters, not occasional light cut scenes and characters that seem non existent and undeveloped. Mechanically nothing had really changed in the combat system, but level systems have changed for the better. Light now measures your defense and attack, combing the scores of your armor and equipped weapons, meaning it can vary upon what your using and the upgrades on them. Players now also have a regular level system like on RPGs and MMOs, probably helping to level the learning curve for the game. Overall, the game is much better than it's release version, except I still Peter Dinklage as the voice of my robot, just saying.

I'll finish with this, "Destiny" is a good game, but take into consideration everything before you purchase it. Bungie hasn't treated it's fans nor the people who they work with the respect they deserve, and their continued partnership isn't going to allow them to make the games you would expect for such a highly regard game company. I enjoy playing "Destiny", especially with friends, but it's doubtful that I will buy a potential sequel, or at least not at full price. Again, it's one of those bad games that can good.

Quick Update

For the new,  here is the new look for blog. Trying to give it a bit more of a modern look. Yeah, it is just using one of the templates from the "Blogger" editor, but I'm still learning how it works. But, there you are, more articles to follow in the near future.

Occupied

Getting almost no coverage by the mainstream media, rancers in protest have occupied a Federal building (unoccupied by the way) because the arrest of father and son ranchers who did a controlled burn on their land. They were charged with act of terrorism. It should be noted that government has been trying to take the land from these people.

Regardless of what their protest stood for, they have been labled terrorists ans white supremacists. I'm sure how ethnicity factors in to this (our race is human by the eay). We almost had to accpet people burning downtown Baltimore and occupying busy highways with Black Lives Matter; but these people are immediately vilified without question.

This is a double standard, only certain people are allowed to protest apparently. As a society, we need to look more deeply in why people protest, what are their motivations. The Constitution allows all of us to protest the government, not a select few, regardless of ethnicity. Something to think about.