Destiny Review - World of Chorecraft

[marioandsonic]

So another game that's been hyped to hell and back, and turns out to be just okay?

Seems to be a running theme this year...

EDIT: Maybe if they release a PC port, I'll check it out. But I'm not going to hold my breath for that.

 

[LoneWolf83]

So it's boring. What did you people expect from the creators of Halo (mediocrity given form) and the creator of COD (shit mechanics justifies by it being realistic, which it;s not, it's just as unrealistic as Doom but in different ways).

FPS's only work if they are heavenly story based (see Bioshock series), horror games (see nothing cause none f them have gotten horror right, that I'm aware of) and fun (see Doom, Quakes, Serious Sam and Painkiller). Halo and COD are non of these and are only populer because of the bro-casuals who ether play only one game or one game and maybe Madden.

If Destony gets into the bro-casual market it will be a huge success and will probably have just as many squeals as COD, if not it will be a failure just as Halo and COD would have been if it wasn't for the bro-casuals.

 

[Jburton9]

I feel Jim's review is pretty much spot on. I played Destiny most of yesterday and I have come to similar conclusions before this review was posted.

**spoilers** Some parts below cover the start of the game.









Ok right out the gate the game fails to hook and deliver on story. Your character has been dead for what hundreds of years and you are suddenly resurrected. No weapons? So instead of hand to hand fighting and taking that opponents weapon, I happen to see an assault rifle just propped up all nice and ready to fire.

Maybe there are other potential survivors or at least ones that could be resurrected? So on my way to a nearby hangar did I see a single body? Nope, maybe special *guardian only* black boxes with press here to resurrect button? Nope did not see that either.

-skip to getting to home base-

So when I get there, any surprise a guardian is back what miracle is this reaction? Nope. I get a quest heading to go talk to the oracle or what the class lead/trainer is... What happens? Are they amazed that you are upright and no longer metabolically challenged? Nope, they just break off into a monolog and just like Jim says, they fail to notice why we the player should even care what the heck is going on.

Now take this in parallel with Master Chief, the character is established right away, npc's respond to you and your actions, very quickly it is also established that your character is a bad ass killing machine on two legs, has a well earned reputation etc.

Speaking of Halo, Destiny has quite a few similarities. Splinter guns with homing shards, Covenant drop ships with repelling troops, invisible troops with close combat focus, mortar firing minibosses, etc. It was to the point I wanted to see the little troopers running around scared that you have arrived and ready to kick some tail.

Were it not for the huge budget proclamations saying how the game will be really something. Instead this game feels like a mid to low level budgeted game. Definitely not the AAA title that many of us felt we would see.

Other issues that come to mind, if they know the screen scale during setup how come they did not scale the font? It is tiny! Also this should be world of face masks - how am I supposed to feel engaged when staring at glowy plate face covers?


If there was one nice thing I did find was lack of texture popping, that part was well done at least. Also the music was solid but still does not feel very driving yet.

So overall at this point, Destiny is an ok - shared experience - shooter. I really would like Destiny to be so much more but from where? Nothing has been given to us to stand behind and get excited about. My best hope is for later? It has been advertised that this is a new big series and how it will be epic, so maybe that will happen.

I just hope it happens pretty soon because my interest is at that dangerous place, shooting stuff in the face over and over, why am I doing this again? Hmmm.

 

[SKBPinkie]

Sounds like it's straight up my alley.

Solid shooting, good enemies, rewarding RPG system, etc. Stories in games are usually awful anyways, so I don't care about that bit. Hell, I played solo Firefights in Halo Reach hundreds of times. If the gunplay and the overall "feel" of the game is good, then that's absolutely perfect for me. Wasn't expecting anything more from the game anyways.

 

[Vigormortis]

But that's because those sentences cover actually very different games. Titanfall is entirely a multiplayer shooter with a campaign that's very tacked on and ignored by it's audience because it's a multiplayer shooter and what the game expects you to do is shoot in multiplayer.

Destiny has a multiplayer shooter aspect, but the campaign is a huuge part of the game. They've created these huge involved and detailed worlds that do nothing and excite nothing. You could ignore the campaign but that'd feel like you're deliberately having to deny yourself a large portion of the game because of the developers lack of skill.

(Also Destiny has tons of content, it's just none of it is interesting. Titanfall has practically no content, but all of it is interesting)

I actually agree. And that was part of the point behind my confusion.

I explained myself a bit better (I think) in another post. It's on page 1 if you're interested.

 

[TheEvilGenius]

I find it interesting that Jim takes issue with the names of things, calling it a waste of talent. This is Bungie we're talking about, right? Their last games were about a Space Marine employed by United Nations Space Command named Master Chief leading a war effort against The Covenant and preventing them from activating giant halos in space called Halos.

Other races and characters include, Precursor, The Primordial, The Flood, Forerunners etc.

Bungie doesn't exactly have a long history of creative naming. It's a good review all the same, though.

 

[chozo_hybrid]

I'm going to give my brothers copy a go on his PS today, from what I have seen him play, this seems about right. But I imagine this is the kind of game that would be a blast with a group of friends.

 

[shirkbot]

People.
A 6/10 is NOT a bad score with Jim. Not at all.
It is above average. Good.

The average score for video games should be around 5. Maybe just a tad more.
Currently it is around 7...
That is not right.

That's probably because most people think of scores in terms of school grades. It's pretty natural, really. People think of a new, abstract thing in terms of something else they understand better. The reason you have the '7-9' scale is because in school, knowing at least 70% of the material means you pass the class, and below that is considered failing. Shifting it down just fucks with people's heads, since they have nothing else to really compare it too. While a 6 means an above-average score, and that Jim liked the game, people think he's giving it a failing grade.

Just to clarify for international audiences, that's a peculiarity of the US education system. 70% = C = GPA 2.0 = Average. I don't pretend to understand, that's just how it is.

OT: Well at least it sounds like it's a good way to kill some time, but it sounds like Bungie isn't exactly leaving their comfort zone.

 

[BrotherRool]

I actually agree. And that was part of the point behind my confusion.

I explained myself a bit better (I think) in another post. It's on page 1 if you're interested.

Oh, sorry for misunderstanding you

 

[Nurb]

Pretty much what I expected; too much money spent on making an "OK" experience.

 

[RedDeadFred]

Hmm, so decent, but unimaginative.

Maybe I'll pick it up after it has a price drop/sale. After loving all of Bungie's halo games (and the art involved), it's disappointing to see that this is their first foray into something new. Maybe they'll make the inevitable sequel better. One can only hope.

 

[Draconalis]

I kept asking, "What does this game offer outside of combat" and the only answer I ever got was, "..."

I took that as a bad sign. When I got into the Beta, I took it as a worst sign that, without ps+, the only thing you can do is go into instanced areas by yourself. You can't join squads, and can't do any content with other people.

Lastly, I expect MMOs to be somewhat social. Even if it's just watching a night elf dance on a mail box... that's something outside of "go out and murder".

I canceled my pre-order and bought conception II instead.

 

[Something Amyss]

That's probably because most people think of scores in terms of school grades. It's pretty natural, really. People think of a new, abstract thing in terms of something else they understand better. The reason you have the '7-9' scale is because in school, knowing at least 70% of the material means you pass the class, and below that is considered failing. Shifting it down just fucks with people's heads, since they have nothing else to really compare it too. While a 6 means an above-average score, and that Jim liked the game, people think he's giving it a failing grade.

In every school I've been in, a D was in the 60s and still passing. A bigger issue is that C is considered "average" and D below average.

 

[JonnyBigBoss]

Great review Jim! I agree with most of your sentiments, although I have found The Crucible to be a complete waste of time.

I really wanted this game to be something special. Unfortunately, it's the most disappointing game I've played in years.

It's fantastic to see you doing well over here at Escapist. Keep up the good work!

 

[DarkhoIlow]

I called it! But nooo Batman, Batman! they shouted from the rooftops "Destiny is going to be the best game this year!" they said...as I shook my head and shrugged my shoulders walking away.

This is why you don't overhype your games people so when the disappointment hits you take it more softly.

So much money wasted on marketing this game instead of making new IP's..kinda sad really.

 

[LaoJim]

People.
A 6/10 is NOT a bad score with Jim. Not at all.
It is above average. Good.

The other point to make with Jim's reviews is that he tends not to fall into the fallacy that a lot of other reviewers do that says; "This game has clearly had a lot of money spent on it, therefore it must be worth at least an 8, irrespective of any issues we've identified in the review". Lots of other reviews are making many of the same points he is but settling on a higher score (quite a few are still "in-progress" though). I think Jim tends to be forgiving of gameplay or other issues if the game is fun/interesting/unique, but is very harsh on a perceived "lack of soul", especially coming out of a project that has been hyped as much as this has.

I also have to admit to not having quite 'calibrated' myself to the new Escapist review system, however I feel like 3 stars is not the same as 6 out of 10 from most other publications. To my mind the system probably works something like

5 stars = Between 9 and 10.
4 stars = Between 8 and 9.
3 stars = Between 7 and 8.
2 stars = Between 5 and 7.
1 star = Less than 5

Something like that. 3 stars means average which is usually what 7.5 says to me in most reviews.

 

[Fsyco]

That's probably because most people think of scores in terms of school grades. It's pretty natural, really. People think of a new, abstract thing in terms of something else they understand better. The reason you have the '7-9' scale is because in school, knowing at least 70% of the material means you pass the class, and below that is considered failing. Shifting it down just fucks with people's heads, since they have nothing else to really compare it too. While a 6 means an above-average score, and that Jim liked the game, people think he's giving it a failing grade.

In every school I've been in, a D was in the 60s and still passing. A bigger issue is that C is considered "average" and D below average.

In every school I've been in, a 'D' is considered failing. Hell, I took one class where a 'C-' was failing.

Just to clarify for international audiences, that's a peculiarity of the US education system. 70% = C = GPA 2.0 = Average. I don't pretend to understand, that's just how it is.

It makes some sense if you think about it. Knowing the majority of the material for a class is considered sufficient enough to go on to the next one. Knowing just exactly half or just over half is probably considered not knowing enough to count has having passed. Although why 'barely passing' is 'average' I have no idea. Maybe that's just a quirk of when they introduced that grading system.

'C' isn't actually 'average' anymore due to grade inflation, though. The average is closer to A- or B+. The system could probably use some major recalibrations.

Score inflation has also been a bit of an issue, since some people complain when games don't get near-perfect scores. Remember the Escapist's GTA5 review? Jim made a video on the subject, linked here for reference.
Thank God for Jim Sterling.

 

[Fsyco]

People.
A 6/10 is NOT a bad score with Jim. Not at all.
It is above average. Good.

The other point to make with Jim's reviews is that he tends not to fall into the fallacy that a lot of other reviewers do that says; "This game has clearly had a lot of money spent on it, therefore it must be worth at least an 8, irrespective of any issues we've identified in the review". Lots of other reviews are making many of the same points he is but settling on a higher score (quite a few are still "in-progress" though). I think Jim tends to be forgiving of gameplay or other issues if the game is fun/interesting/unique, but is very harsh on a perceived "lack of soul", especially coming out of a project that has been hyped as much as this has.

I also have to admit to not having quite 'calibrated' myself to the new Escapist review system, however I feel like 3 stars is not the same as 6 out of 10 from most other publications. To my mind the system probably works something like

5 stars = Between 9 and 10.
4 stars = Between 8 and 9.
3 stars = Between 7 and 8.
2 stars = Between 5 and 7.
1 star = Less than 5

Something like that. 3 stars means average which is usually what 7.5 says to me in most reviews.

Jim actually outlined the rating system when he became reviews editor.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/editorials/7149-What-Our-Review-Scores-Mean
I like it alot more than the 7-9 scale.

 

[Seracen]

Dear Jim,

God bless you, and thank you for being brave enough to call Destiny on it's "meh" factor. The storytelling really let me down on this one. It remains a good buy so long as the multiplayer community is strong. It certainly is a beautiful game, and the mechanics are fun. But my time with the Beta burned me out fairly quickly...and it certainly did feel like a slog.

Thanks for letting me realize I wasn't the only one who felt this way about it. It isn't a terrible game...it's just...average...and that isn't really worth $60 to me.

 

[Malpraxis]

FPS MMO with a bajillion dollar budget and advertising up the cork hole every freaking where for months. Of course it wouldn't live up to the hype. Maybe it's decent, I'll never know, since that genre isn't my cup of tea, but I doubt anyone was expecting it to be the second coming of Cthulhu, unless gamers are a bunch of hype happy people with the same disease of the guy from Memento.