Video Game Review Flashback: Enjoy your Destiny

Destiny was the most anticipated and talked about game of 2014. Not only did Activision and Bungie come together to make a game, but they spent millions of dollars doing so. Was it worth that much and does the game deliver like promised?

After hours of research, this is what I have to say: Let’s start from the beginning. First, you must create and customize your character. You are given the three class choices – Titan, Hunter, or Warlock. This gives the game an okay sense of playing-style diversity.

Once creation and customization are complete, two cut scenes follow. The first one shows three-armed astronauts landing on and then searching Mars when they find The Traveler, a main part in the game’s story. The scene then cuts over into a diagram of the solar system and starts laying down a bit of foundation for the story but not really enough for what happens next.

The next one shows a post-apocalyptic Earth and a small floating robot known as a ghost scanning the area. He stops in front of something that is not shown when your character view of the thing kicks in. After telling you that you are a guardian and have been dead for years, he says that he needs to get you off of the planet. This seems promising and interesting at first, as if everything would be explained later, but that’s not exactly how things play out.

Once you and your ghost find a usable jump ship, you leave for the last city, also known as the Tower. After learning what the Tower has to your convenience, such as merchants and bounty holders, there is a mission where you must return to Earth to get a warp drive for the ship. After doing so and returning to the Tower, there is a cut scene where you and your ghost are shown entering a room that looks out on to the traveler. A man known as the Speaker starts to say things such as “I am the voice of the Traveler” and “With the Traveler’s dying breath, it made the ghosts to seek out guardians.” There are a lot of loose points, such as why the guardians are chosen, how the Traveler accomplishes such things, what the Traveler is and more.

Even if the story for Destiny is not well explained and vague throughout, that leaves room for improvement in the sequel. (That sequel was released for Playstation and X-Box One in September 2017, and for Microsoft Windows in October 2017.)

Now that the single player is out of the way, it’s time to explain some of the high points of Destiny. Destiny is a beautiful game. It has some of the best graphics I have seen in a game for a long time. They are clear and the characters are very detailed. Everything in this game looks good, especially the cut scenes, such as the opening one, which are visually breathtaking. Also the maps for single player such as old Russia on Earth are enormous and open with a high level of detail. One of Destiny’s high points is the smooth gameplay; whether fighting against the fallen or fellow players, the game runs very well with very accurate and responsive controls.

Another thing I can appreciate about the controls is that it is similar to other first person shooters and it is easy to learn for new players. No controls mapped out by Capcom here, ladies and gents. A high point of Destiny is its audio. The game delivers clear and well-crafted sound to accompany smooth and good looking graphics that make it easy to get immersed. Speaking of sound, the game’s soundtrack is gorgeous. The mix of instruments and sound gives it such a different and unique sound that puts a cherry on top of the Destiny ice cream sundae. Whether or not you are interested in the game itself, you should still check out the soundtrack.

Overall, Destiny is a jumble, with a boring and badly explained story, but well done multiplayer aspects, and almost everything else done pretty well. I give it 7.5 out of 10 and recommend you buy it as a multiplayer experience, whether you are a hardcore or more casual gamer.