Destiny: All Ends are Beginnings.

I never spent much time with the Halo series. It’s not that I had anything against it per se, just that by the time I had an Xbox the series was already well under way and I didn’t really feel inclined to go back and play through all of them. Still I was well aware of how much of a following Bungie had and so was somewhat intrigued by what their first post-Halo title would be like. To be honest though I was going to wait for it to come out on PC (controllers and FPS don’t mix) however an endless barrage of requests from a mate of mine saw me begrudgingly pick it up. Now that I’ve lost almost a full day’s worth of my life to this game I’m glad he berated me into buying it as Destiny stands out as an exceptional title.

Centuries ago mankind was beholden to an event unparalleled in its entire history. Out of no where it arrived, a white sphere larger than any city, and with it came a time of endless prosperity. Human life spans tripled and they reached out across their solar system, colonizing all the planets. However The Traveller, as the white sphere had became known, had a dark enemy that sought nothing more than its demise. This led to the collapse of human society as it was known, pushing humanity back to a single safe haven under the Traveller’s protection. The darkness still encroaches, slowly killing The Traveller and threatening to wipe out all of humanity for good, It is up to you, one of many empowered by The Traveller to wield it’s light, to save it and humanity from the darkness that threatens to consume everything.

As this was my first PlayStation4 title it was great to see Destiny making use of the extra grunt under the hood. The gritty styling that was common across previous generation titles has finally passed and has been replaced with a much more visually diverse environment. Indeed there were numerous times I had to stop and stare out at the vast environments Bungie created as the breadth of scale they gave the game was just phenomenal. This extends out to all the other elements in the game, like the system map and various UI pieces, which just have this level of polish to them that you don’t see often, even in other AA titles. It’s not exactly Crysis levels of eye candy however, but the fact that it can run smoothly (albeit at 30fps) at 1080p says a lot of the capabilities of the system and the titles developers can create for it.

Destiny is most readily compared to games like Borderlands, comprising the same key elements whilst including some MMORPG style mechanics to keep you glued to your controller. You have your choice of 3 different races (which have no impact apart from cosmetic) and 3 different classes, each of which have their own unique abilities and play styles. Whilst you’ll have a traditional levelling system the gear you find will also level up with you, providing an additional path for progressing your character. There’s also the bevy of skills you’ll unlock as you play through the game (which occurs independently of your main levels) and should you max all of that out you have another sub-class you can level up which will completely change you play the game again. This is not to mention the dungeons, raids and PVP that you can also engage in. Suffice to say there’s a ton to do in Destiny and even with the inordinate amount of time I’ve spent on it I still feel like I’m only part way through it.

The combat in Destiny is mostly your typical fast paced, run and gun style shooter however there are elements of strategy that you’ll need to understand should you want to complete certain objectives. You still have unlimited life in the form of of the tried and true “take cover and regenerate” mechanic, which does allow you to blast your way to victory in the early stages of the game, however it doesn’t regenerate to full immediately. So whilst you might get yourself out of trouble initially you might find yourself in trouble once again should you take a stray bullet before the second round of regeneration kicks in. Since the typical encounter is wave after wave of enemies this can sometimes lead to your untimely demise when enemies spawn behind you however the death and respawn mechanic is generous enough that you don’t feel overly punished for when that happens.

If that was all Destiny was it would probably be in the same class as Call of Duty however the addition of class skills and abilities helps to make the combat  more fun and varied. I played as a Titan which roughly translates to your front line, heavy hitter style of class who also has several delightful augments to your melee attack. Whilst it’s not advisable to punch everything in sight I have to admit it’s a lot of fun to try. Combine this with your super ability (you charge up over time and eventually become “supercharged) which allows you to decimate large hordes of enemies in a single blow and you have a recipe for combat that’s fun, varied and ultimately thrilling when you pull off a large combo.

However the combat gets a little bit repetitive when it comes to the boss fights as they’re typically just larger versions of smaller enemies you’ve faced before and with a bucket load more health (and endless swarms of minions around them). You can usually figure out how to avoid most of the damage from them but you’ll usually be there for a good 10 to 15 minutes unloading clip after clip into them, hoping you’re chipping away at that ginormous bar of health they have. Sure I can understand why it’s in there however it can be down right frustrating when you’ve spent a good chunk of time whittling a boss down only to get unlucky with a bunch of spawns that wipes your party, forcing you to redo the whole thing again. It’s for this reason I usually couldn’t do more than a couple dungeons a night as they start to wear you down after a while.

The levelling system, both in terms of your character’s levels and unlocking upgrades for your gear, both seem to happen often enough that you never feel like you’ve gone ages without progressing something. This is most certainly what kept me coming back through the first few hours of the game as you rapidly go from being a complete and utter noob to someone who feels at least partly effective when doing things with your team. The progression does start to taper off as you approach level 20 and you’ll quickly find yourself lusting after an upgrade for a piece of armour or that weapon you’ve been hanging on to for far too long.

Indeed this is where Destiny most closely resembles MMORPGs as whilst you can find decent loot from drops you’ll need to engage in the good old dungeon and reputation grind in order to get the premium tier of gear. Even the beloved Murder Cave (which Bungie has now shut down) wouldn’t yield much in the way of upgrades over the course of hours of farming. No if you want to progress you’re going to have to pay your dues and grind out that faction rep. I can’t exactly fault Bungie for this, time invested in MMORPGs is what separates the hardcore from the filthy casuals, however if that’s not the kind of thing you like to do then I’d recommend enjoying the story and then pretending the rest of the game doesn’t exist.

The world that Bungie has created in Destiny is definitely one of grand scale and one I’m sure that they’ll be looking to expand upon in the future. Whilst I’m not complaining about the length of the storyline it definitely felt like a lot of the supporting elements weren’t given enough time to shine. The various races that you encounter are usually given a rough background as to where they’re from and why they’d want to kill you but apart from that you’ve got no idea what their greater motivations are. The Vex are probably the most fleshed out however they still feel like a faceless enemy. I’m sure this is something Bungie will look to expand upon in further instalments in this series but for now much of the world feels underdone.

The story itself is pretty enjoyable, not straying too far from the hero’s journey paradigm, however it’s marred by the surprisingly lacklustre performance by the main driver of the story: your ghost (voiced by Peter Dinklage). So many of the lines are delivered lacking emotion or an understanding of the context in which they’re said, making the character feel disconnected from pretty much everything that’s going on. This is in stark contrast to nearly every other big name actor that has a voice acting role (apart from the Crucible announcer) who do a fantastic job in portraying their characters. Since it’s his first major game voice over I’ll give him some slack but I hope he improves for future releases.

Destiny is an amazing title, combining elements from FPS, RPG and MMO genres into a single experience that is well above many of its peers. As an introduction to what the now current generation of consoles are now capable of producing Destiny is very impressive, showcasing just how capable they are. The combat is challenging and fulfilling, pushing you hard enough to make you feel like the ultimate soldier when you manage to dispatch massive hordes of enemies in a single swoop. The loot, levelling and dungeons are sure to keep you coming back long after the story has run its course. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Destiny and for fans of Bungie, or just good games in general, I’d be very surprised if you were disappointed with the experience it provides.

Rating: 9.25/10

Destiny is available on PlayStation3, PlayStation4, XboxOne and Xbox360 for $79, $79, $79 and $79 respectively. Game was played on the PlayStation4 with 22 hours of total play time, reaching level 22.