I have just completed the Destiny beta and it was an experience. For anyone who doesn't know, Destiny is a new massively multiplayer online game from Bungie, the maker of Halo. It is a first-person shooter with the ability to level up character and gear so it has an RPG feel to it, but what game doesn't these days. The beta only allows you to get your character to level 8 which is super annoying because I have an awesome shotgun but I can't equip it until I reach level 9. But before I say what you can't do, in the beta at least, let me focus on what you can do.
You can create three characters for the beta which allows you to test each one of the three classes which are titan, hunter and warlock. A titan is a strong soldier focusing on brute force, a hunter uses more range and stealth while a warlock uses more magic (I'm guessing on this one). I tried the hunter and titan and didn't really notice a difference other than with the equipment you start with. However, you can equip any weapon to any class, in the beta at least, so there is little difference between the two if any at all. The character creation is very in depth even in the beta. There are three different races, both genders and a variety of hair and face-pant styles and colors as well as skin tones and face shapes. It is weirdly in-depth, especially when considering it is a first-person shooter where your characters wears a helmet. It almost seems pointless. The only place you or anyone else can see your character is in the Tower, the last safe city on Earth. This is where you go to get missions and gear. I did like the characters I created.
The gameplay is also fun. The closest game I have played that I can describe this game as is Defiance. If you like Defiance, you will like this game. If you didn't like Defiance, you may still like this game because it is better in many ways. The character upgrades are a little better, although they were kind of linear. Each level gave me a new upgrade, but no choice as to what the upgrade will be. It was predetermined. Moving through the world and killing enemies was fun, engaging, and could be challenging. The world is an open world, but there are missions you complete on the map and then get transported back to you ship or the Tower. Other players are on the map with you and may kill an enemy that's creeping up your six. The map isn't linear even though the mission objectives may be, and that is a good thing. Open worldness is my favorite attribute of a video game. My only real complaint about the gameplay is that it was too short. I know it's only a beta, but I almost beat it with two characters in less than 12 hours while sleeping. The beta is open for another week or more and I have nothing left to do in it other than the multiplayer.
The multiplayer is pretty fun, and that is a giant bump from me because I never play FPS games especially online, mainly because I'm not very good at them. But I did somewhat enjoy the Crucible(that is where you take your ship if you want to play PvP). Only the one kind of game mode was unlocked. It requires player to control zones and kill enemies to gain points. The team with the most points wins. It was enjoyable. I read the descriptions of some of the other modes and they seemed even cooler, so I am looking forward to the PvP in this game. I'm just not a big fan of this kinda of gameplay so I don't think I will be playing much of it. It is cool that playing multiplayer modes gives you experience for your character while also making it a level playing field by disabling level advantages. That way a level 12 can't stomp on you if you are only level three. Playing the Crucible gives you reputation and Crucible marks which you can turn into cool gear which is another good perk. I can't complain about the PvP at all.
Now what can I complain about? I already said it was short. The missions can be linear. I have a curser on my screen when looking at my menu that I have to use the left stick to control. Normally I like using the directional pad to navigate menus, like in FFXIV where you HAVE to use the D-pad. My vehicle, yes I forgot to mention you can call a vehicle so you can be lazy in the virtual world as well, doesn't have any weapons in it, and I can't run over enemies with it. I don't like how there doesn't seem to be a difference between my hunter and my titan. You can't skip cut scenes, even if you already viewed them with a different character. And I'm sure if I keep thinking I will come up with a few more tiny, insignificant problems. I like this game. I'm just not in love with it. I feel if I owned this game I would play it for awhile then set it down. Maybe I would come back to it, maybe I wouldn't. That is not a good attitude to have about an MMO. I haven't heard anything about a subscription me, but if it turns out the game requires one, I will not be purchasing it. If I hear for sure that it is free to play, then I already have a pre-order in for it and I mine as well keep it. I'm not in love with the beta, but I realize it is only a beta, and I see a lot of potential here for a game I would love. I'm just not sure how much replay value it will have outside of PvP, and that scares me a little. Overall, the beta is good and makes me want to play the full version, just not sure if I want to pay for the full version.
