Do you even story?
It could have been so much more! It could have been so much better! However, it was horrifically destroyed by a lack of creativity. Yes, I’m talking about 'Destiny. Now, before you organise an army of pitchfork wielding gamers to storm my doors, just sit back and read what I have to say and you will understand what I’m attempting to convey. For a game that prided itself in its immersive universe, it is almost impossible to feel a part of it when the scriptwriters fail as vigorously as they did in this game.
Now, before I take a lighter to this script and save all of humanity the shame, I would like to talk about the positives of the game and what makes it bearable. For all those that don’t know, 'Destiny' is FPS (First Person Shooter) created by Bungie, more commonly known for their work with the 'Halo' franchise. 'Destiny', essentially, is a 'Halo' re-work, splashed with ORPG (Online Role Playing Game) elements. What sets 'Destiny' apart from 'Halo' is the fact that you’re able to free roam through the universe... wait my mistake, there’s only the option of: three planets, one moon and one area that I’m not even sure how to describe. Such variety. However, the lack of environments was made up for by making each map massive! With an array of areas to discover and slay alien races like the Fallen and Vex. Which honestly was enjoyable, especially with the ability to instantly kill enemies with singular headshots.Besides that, the next best feature 'Destiny' has to offer is their armour and weapons. They are stunning. Honestly, that was to be expected from the designers of the 'Halo' armour and worlds. The attention to detail is spot on. With a large variety of class based armour sets and the ability to customise the colour to your specific tastes, you can create your perfect sci-fi fantasy guardian. Not only was the armour crafted expertly, but so were the weapons. With inspirations taken from real world weapons, and creations in the 'Halo' universe, the Bungie team moulded concoctions of mass-amazement. The satisfaction when loot a brand new and powerful gun fills you with this evil joy and an insatiable urge to mass slaughter everything you encounter. However that trivial enjoyment wears off rather quickly.
Last positive I can discover in this game, is the unique and wonderful environments. I had honestly never seen anything like the worlds that were presented to us by the Bungie team. There were no shortcuts taken and no back alley jobs used. Every inch of the environments were detailed and filled with such intensive beauty. I would spend hours on each map with a long-range scope, just looking out at the hidden beauty through the skylines and far reaches of the maps. It is rare to find a game where they have paid this much meticulous attention to even places where the majority of players wouldn’t even bother looking.Now, we come to the part where we take a shredder to the game. Although it only has one major problem, which is the worst issue any video game could execute: the story was rancid to say the least. What annoys my brain, is the fact that the story for 'Halo' was fantastic, so I have no clue has to what they did to destroy 'Destiny' as much as they did. Maybe it was new script writers or maybe it was the fact that Bungie didn’t prioritise correctly with this game. If they wrote the story like they wrote 'Halo's then this game could be almost faultless. But alas, it was ruined.
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The creativity and dialogue were feral to say the least. For example: “the darkness is coming. We will not survive it this time,” and “until it gets its voice, I am the one who speaks for the traveller.” I’m sorry but this is dreadful. I know that the average person could create a better story than this, even if they were half asleep and on a morphine drip. Harsh, but true. Bungie, you are the creators of one of the most popular series of games in the world and you couldn’t write something better than that? I am ashamed.
To sum this all up, Bungie focused too much on making their worlds and customisation perfect while giving up attention to the vital point of the video game. The story makes everything. It brings the player into the world, it makes us cry with the characters. It allows us to feel what they are feeling. That is what video games are for, not just entertainment, but like a great novel! It is meant to take us away from the troubles of our lives and drop us into the story of the character we are playing. It is an art form; there is no conceivable way to take shortcuts when creating art.
Considering the graphical features and the semi-interesting gameplay, I would rate 'Destiny' a five out of ten bananas. Why you ask? Nobody expects the banana.
