Hyderabad: Destiny is without a doubt one of the year’s most anticipated games and after playing the closed Beta over the weekend, I can safely say it is going to be a strong contender for Game Of The Year.
Developed by Bungie (the guys behind Halo 1, 2, 3) Destiny will feel quite familiar to Halo fans. The gameplay and visual resemblance is uncanny to say the least, but Destiny can more than hold its own. The Beta gave us a glimpse of the single player/cooperative side of the game along with the competitive multiplayer.
While on mission, players can still free roam in the massive zone with multiple tunnels and paths leading from once place to another. Things are made even more interesting with the fact that you can easily bump into other players going about their business, kind of like an MMO. However the best part has to be the ‘World Events’, large scale missions that require everyone in the area to jump in to complete certain objectives for some shiny loot and XP.
Speaking of the loot system; you could possibly draw parallels with the gun and loot system in Borderlands 2 with different weapons with different stats popping up from enemies and as rewards for missions which you then carry over into your multiplayer journey. However the beta presented a somewhat limited and finite set of guns as compared to the countless possibilities of Borderlands 2, something I hope to see changed or at least improved with the final version.
Destiny at the end of the day is all about is Multiplayer. While the story mode provides a great way to level up and pick up new loot in final stage dungeons, Bungie is hell bent on providing another FPS experience that will define the genre for years.
Bungie threw in two new maps with timed playlists bringing the total up to four from the alpha coupled with new rules on the playlists bringing in level differences, i.e. better weapons means more PVP dominance, taking the game on a whole other level when it comes to First person shooters.
The fast paced gun play coupled with smart usage of some wicked abilities makes the game feel like a much needed breathe of fresh air in the FPS genre.
While there are clearly still kinks to work out and missing features like trading to be added (hopefully), Destiny is clearly shaping up to be a COD Killer; you should be excited about this game.
