Is Destiny worth buying?

[DudeistBelieve]

So heres the deal, I'm getting an Xbox One in November and the deal they have that a digital copy will transfer over to the Xbone is appealing to me.

I played the beta and was kinda meh on it, but I'd like to have something else to play through october and though this is silly to admit, occasionally I feel like socializing and that's primarily when I'll play shooter games just to be able to interact with other humans. How's the player base? As chatty as Black Ops?

 

[EternallyBored]

ehh, if you're looking for a chatty playerbase, you might be better off looking elsewhere, the way the game is set up currently, you only get mic communications with people in the same fireteam as you, and fireteams really only get formed for PvP and strike missions, where it's usually only 3-6 people. The raid and weekly strikes (dungeons), don't have any sort of matchmaking services, so you are SOL if you want to find people to join you on those in game, and I've yet to run into a single mic user in all the matchmaking strikes I've played.

That said, I have run into some chatty people using the external sites like destinylfg to set up raid groups or weekly striketeam runs, that will require inviting strangers on to your friends list, but I haven't run into any issues with it so far. The singular raid released so far does require communication and teamwork as well, so if you can put together a group it will probably one of the more cooperative and teamwork oriented experiences you can get out of an FPS. That, and the devs have stated that they are looking into expanding mic communications and who you can hear, so by the time you get an Xbox one things may have changed to make more actual social interaction possible outside of the small fireteams. The zones could really use a toggleable general chat, would make grinding far more enjoyable.

 

[StriderShinryu]

I would say that it is worth buying, but only if you're okay with essentially a Halo MMO in it's early stages. Just like in most shortly post launch there's not a lot of content yet so you need to grind to get the good stuff, and the story is obviously left full of holes to be filled in later. The core gameplay, though, is extremely solid and fun. Plus, the setting and storyline that do exist are actually pretty good if not entirely original.

All that said, if what you're looking for is a particularly social game, I wouldn't necessarily say that Destiny fits the bill mainly because of the restrictions Bungie has placed on chat with those you don't know. It's pretty tough to say just how willing the players would be to communicate until those restrictions get relaxed/removed.

 

[Erttheking]

It is if you have realistic expectations. Don't believe the hype and just expect a fairly fun shooter and nothing more, because that's all it really is.

 

[Little Gray]

If you want a social game you should look somewhere else. Its a lot like halo but with the worst part about mmos tacked onto it. It can be fun but there is very little communication and a shit ton of grinding. Getting the gear is not that bad but getting the materials to upgrade it takes forever.

 

[Maximum Bert]

Thats a tough one I was asking myself that earlier or rather I was asking myself was Destiny worth buying. I payed around 35 pounds for it new and without friends it would definitely not be worth it despite this lower price.

I will say that the act of shooting is good in this game it feels right somehow and gives great feedback thats about the only positive thing I can say if you want a game you communicate in then its really not for you nobody talks to anybody here its way to awkward the only way that you will get a social experience is with friends or you go outside the game and arrange a team on some sites but odds are this will be for high level stuff only.

This game is very grind heavy and I mean Very grind heavy and unlike say most games that feature grind you cant actually work towards anything its literally down to luck that the RNG gods favour you while you repeat the same task over and over again.

It says on the back of the box that it features rich story telling (blatant lie) set in huge world to explore and that it has innovative public gameplay modes. Now this is really stretching the truth to breaking point.

there are a number of faults with this game many of which just leave me thinking really!? heres a few:-

-story is bad and I mean really really bad im not joking when I say its worse than Street Fighter 4s story which is also almost non existant but wasnt advertised as being noteworthy anyway and even better cutscenes are unskippable which feature some of the most dull scenes of badly acted voice acting I have ever seen and heard (its up there with Last Remnant for me only without the comedic badness quality) that it made me cringe in places. It really feels like they took some cliffnotes as the full story only they couldnt read some words over the coffee stains and so improvised parts of it. Its actually quite funny how the characters take time to explain they dont have time to explain anything and I use the term characters very loosely here.

- every mission is the same with little variety heres how every mission goes go walk/bike to point A get dinkle bot to scan it defend against a few waves maybe repeat at another location then a boss. Now I know that breaking something down into base components like this you will say well yeah a lot of missions in games are the same and I would agree but here you will get a sense of Deja Vu pretty quickly and dont get me started on the patrol missions which consist of go here, or kill these and occasionally kill that. There is no imagination or effort gone into any of these missions I honestly cant see how anyone spent more than a day designing them it makes the ones I experienced in MMOs look amazing by comparison.

- very little content and I mean very little and like I say what is there is repetitive anyway plus with one exception the higher level stuff is repeat mission/strike X on higher difficulty and you may think ah but surely enemy placements and what not will be different, maybe some more objectives but no enemies simply deal more damage and have more health thats it.

- the loot system is garbage and based entirely on luck and worse it is key to progression after level 20 (which you will reach very quickly) so be prepared to go over the same content over and over and over again hoping that an enemy drops something better you can use so that you can maybe get a chance to do the heroic strike which is again something you have done already just on an inflated difficulty. Apparently they are going to make it slightly less BS by making it so that if you get a purple engram (legendary) it will not turn into a rare or uncommon item but that is not fixing the fact that its fundamentally broken and ultimately unsatisfying. Worse this loot system is the sole reason to keep playing its the perpetual carrot but what happens when you get the gear? well nothing its just makes grinding the same content slightly faster.

- There is no world building sure the grimoire may be extensive its also not in game same with the ability to make clans. Want to join the group of your friend next to you? well thats a loading screen then and while we are on the subject loading screens are long and annoying although thankfully they dont appear much once you are on the planet (the weekly Nightfall will kick you back to orbit if you all die forcing a loading screen on you why it does not simply send you back to the start of the mission is beyond me since its the same result only you have the added annoyance of a loading screen again). NPCs in the tower (the tiny sterile hub) will not say a word for the most part dont expect any stories or dialogue off the weapon seller for instance he may as well be a menu list.

- lack of customisation you cant even name your character and everyone looks very similar also the races are never explained outside of humans in fact not much of anything is explained its probably in the off site grimoire. your own character never bats an eyelid about being back from the dead either in fact your character rarely says anything and dont expect any difficult choices either. Maybe theres a line I missed that gives some pretentions to the other races existance i.e robots and aliens.

- guns dont offer much difference from the stats you wont usually be excited to try out that new awesome gun you just found like you would in borderlands because odds are it will feel exactly like your old one just do more damage.

- the levels themselves are very small not tiny tiny but dont expect to see the imagination or content of almost every other MMO game or something like Skyrim it does not feel like you are exploring the world just a few corridors with largish rooms. Also you best not stray to far from the correct zone because the game will kill you if you cross its invisible walls thankfully you probably wont want to as apart from some excellent little details and great sky boxes it does not look interesting and assets are reused constantly which in itself is understandable if they were to create a lot of content but if they have that content is not in game atm.

- Multiplayer is a lot of fun if you have a good connection for me its unplayable despite being able to run other shooters satisfactorily although thats disingenuous of me to say as the only shooters I have played online in the past 10 years are about 14 hours total of MW and MW2 but they ran a lot better than Destiny. But lets put that down to my crappy internet and give them the benefit of the doubt. MP is very limited there is only a few modes and as of now expect things to be weighted in favour of an auto rifle shotgun set up. Maps are ok but similar but the worse thing is the lack of choice want a private game with your buddy nope cant do that want to vote on a map nope, build a map/tweak some rules lol yeah right, search for people locally for chance of a better connection dont think so pal. It just feels a massive step back from something like even Halo 2 even if the core experience is good (connection pending).

I suppose what I am saying is with friends Destiny can be fun but then what isnt better with friends? I have played awful games worse than Destiny with friends and had fun. If you dont have friends in the game my advice is stay away from it maybe take another look in a few years if its still going because aside from the act of shooting it does very little right or well.

there is no doubt in my mind that this game would be a total failure if not for the huge amount of money involved and Bungies legacy propping it up I think soulless and empty would be the two best ways I can describe it the whole experince is just very vapid.

EDIT: I am a level 27 (almost 28) Hunter so have played for a while at first everything was great but the more you progress the more glaring and annoying the faults become. I gave the game a chance and it failed to impress god knows how disappointed I would be if I believed their lies hype. Just wanted people reading this to know that I have put in a fair few hours on this game due to friends also playing. But we are all starting to drift away from the game already not even the fun of playing together can save this game and thats a bad sign for a game with such grand plans.

 

[Windcaler]

There tend to be two schools of thought about Destiny. The first school is people that absolutely love the game. The second is the people that think its just ok, not bad or amazing, just ok. Im in the latter position. Ive played quite a bit more of destiny having gone up to level 10 with a warlock so while Im not an end game player neither would I call myself a newbie.

That said, destiny leaves a lot to be desired. The story is almost non-existant in the game which is a huge problem for me. You cant really experience the story by playing the game you have to consult the wiki and I dont care for that. Asking us to consult a source outside the media to understand it is no different then a movie asking you to consult a book or comic to explain itself. I find that unacceptable as Im sure many other people would.

The gunplay is pretty standard aim down sights gunplay. Cover is plentiful and isnt destroyed (which I dont care for because if a guy is hiding behind a box I think a rocket should remove that obstacle but some people like) I dont think theres anything really wrong with it. Although Ive noticed that ammo can get pretty scarce which you may or may not like. I went into a mission earlier today to level up a new shotgun I found and I only used it probably 10% of the time because I wasnt getting any ammo

The mobility isnt all that great though. Jet packs dont have much thrust to make you travel further/faster but they can keep you in the air for a pretty long time. Sprinting also seems rather slow but thats countered by the fact that you can do it almost continuously. Ive always felt spring mechanics should provide high bursts of speed for a very short durations and destiny's sprint mechanic is neither of those things

Enemies, so far, dont seem to have much variety either. There are a few melee only units, a few rifleman style units, some heavier units that use grenade style weapons and thats about it (very rarely Ive seen cloaked snipers). The worst part is the AI isnt designed to work together with other units to form unique encounters where their strengths compliment each other.

Destiny isnt a bad game though, i feel like I need to stress that. However at the same time I dont think its a good game either. Its just average and I dont feel like paying money for average is worthwhile for a luxury item. Not only that but you could go get a similar or better experience with other free games like Warframe, Alien arena, or blacklight retribution

 

[SlumlordThanatos]

I Redbox'd it. Functionally, it's a wonderful FPS, just like everything else Bungie has done.

But as for the "shared world shooter" thing...it really is just another, slightly less chatty MMO.

Not bad by any means, it's actually pretty good. Just not nearly as good as every gaming news outlet would have you believe. It's basically always-online Borderlands with better combat and writing that isn't as good...not to mention the terrible (currently) loot system. Take from that what you will.

 

[Kungfusam]

As an FPS its certainly up there with the best, smooth mechanics, frantic gun fights and satisfying kills

As an MMO its a failure, endless repetition, no endgame content bugger all social aspects

Its worth playing but I wouldn't expect to be playing it for long