Having been a Halo fan for many years, I was expecting a world filled to the brim with story. A very dark look at the fate of Humanity just managing to cling to life against hordes of aliens. I was expecting my Ghost to guide me through the darkness with witty banter and interesting tales.
What we got was a bland run of near identical missions (granted, they do go through some very pretty scenery) with a boring final "boss" mission and a storyline that leaves you wondering what the hell just happened. You never once get the sense of a desperate Humanity fighting tooth and nail for survival, just a boring 10 minute stroll through mission after mission, killing lots of mostly easy enemies which rarely serve up any decent loot from the random drops.
At no point was a story developed. The only two cut-scenes that have any kind of story to them in the Reef area cannot be accessed twice, while the other (much less story driven) cut-scenes can be rewatched, but only by going through one of the bland levels again. What could have been an amazing piece of lore was swept under the rug when the Speaker is talking about the Traveler. He should have explained how it saved humanity, but instead he merely recounts about how he COULD tell you about it without explaining anything at all. That kind of frustrating story point is found in every part of the game where the story could be progressed.
Peter Dinklage's performance as the Ghost is almost cringe-worthy at times, with the dull monotone that he was apparently instructed to use making the only character companion you have very boring to listen to. This apparent "guide" is purely used as a device to hold you up in an area while having to kill multiple waves of enemies, before moving on slightly to be held up again and kill multiple waves of enemies. The game mechanics never really vary from that pattern.
The saving graces of this game are it's gameplay and sound design. If you have played Halo, the guns handle very similarly, while the powers of each of the three classes make you feel amazing as you launch them straight at a group of enemies, disintegrating them all in one go.
The music of Destiny is yet another master-piece by (now ex-Bungie) composer Martin O'Donnell and is easily the best feature of the whole game, adding more of an emotional sense to the game than anything in the storyline itself.
Overall, Destiny is fun to play with a group of friends when you don't think too much about the story, but if you are looking for the next big sci-fi story in games, look elsewhere.
What we got was a bland run of near identical missions (granted, they do go through some very pretty scenery) with a boring final "boss" mission and a storyline that leaves you wondering what the hell just happened. You never once get the sense of a desperate Humanity fighting tooth and nail for survival, just a boring 10 minute stroll through mission after mission, killing lots of mostly easy enemies which rarely serve up any decent loot from the random drops.
At no point was a story developed. The only two cut-scenes that have any kind of story to them in the Reef area cannot be accessed twice, while the other (much less story driven) cut-scenes can be rewatched, but only by going through one of the bland levels again. What could have been an amazing piece of lore was swept under the rug when the Speaker is talking about the Traveler. He should have explained how it saved humanity, but instead he merely recounts about how he COULD tell you about it without explaining anything at all. That kind of frustrating story point is found in every part of the game where the story could be progressed.
Peter Dinklage's performance as the Ghost is almost cringe-worthy at times, with the dull monotone that he was apparently instructed to use making the only character companion you have very boring to listen to. This apparent "guide" is purely used as a device to hold you up in an area while having to kill multiple waves of enemies, before moving on slightly to be held up again and kill multiple waves of enemies. The game mechanics never really vary from that pattern.
The saving graces of this game are it's gameplay and sound design. If you have played Halo, the guns handle very similarly, while the powers of each of the three classes make you feel amazing as you launch them straight at a group of enemies, disintegrating them all in one go.
The music of Destiny is yet another master-piece by (now ex-Bungie) composer Martin O'Donnell and is easily the best feature of the whole game, adding more of an emotional sense to the game than anything in the storyline itself.
Overall, Destiny is fun to play with a group of friends when you don't think too much about the story, but if you are looking for the next big sci-fi story in games, look elsewhere.