Destiny: New FPS Revealed. Morgoth no longer fapping

[Spectacle]

I find it very weird that a game can have a 10/10 review and a 0/10 review at the same time.
Something's fishy

It's only user reviews so far. For the average gamer kid 10 means "I like it" and 0 means "I don't like it".

There is a reason why youtube etc moved from 0-5 stars to like/dislike for user ratings.

 

[Angthoron]

Myeah. Plus there's the awesome heroes that'll write "Well, this game actually deserves a 7 or 8 but since there's so many 10s I'll balance it out by giving it LOL 0!!!!"

 

[DDZ]

It's probably an overhyped piece of shit, but man, those user reviews are always pathetic.

Anyway, will give it a spin tonight.

 

[Markman]

WOW so much edgy. What specifically is wrong with this game?

What I've gathered, its a grindfest with no blood or gore and lots of repetitive grindy gameplay. People say its more boring than Borderlands series.

 

[Infinitron]

Destiny Is So Restrained It'll Blow Your Face Off

Remember the Destiny beta? That fantastic art design, the shooting that felt very nice? The (great) subdued tone that (not great) spread into Bungie's subdued handling of almost every gameplay element - from the missions to free roam questing to the MMO hub - resulting in a surprisingly flat and uninspired experience?

Well, at the time I hoped that Bungie had simply withheld a bunch of stuff from the beta. Seemed like the sort of thing a developer might do to keep the actual game a surprise. Surely the final experience would be more tightly paced and better designed, with more motivation than a nearly invisible carrot dangled way off in the distance in front of the player's gun.

Turns out I was wrong. The beta was 100% representative of the finished product. Destiny is restrained as fuck. It's so good at holding back that you'll swear you're missing half the game.

It's a shame because there are some great concepts in the background fiction. Delivering that stuff in a subtle way could work. Unfortunately Bungie created a game where those tidbits are spread too far apart, and the spaces in between require the player to trudge through bland and repetitive missions, then take pointless diversions through half-hearted approximations of other genres.

How far does the restraint go?

• If you look at the game packaging closely, you'll realize the letters in the title only spell out Destin
• Enemies are labeled with some such vague names as: Bad Thing, Some Sort Of Alien, Other Guy, and You Know
• The game runs at 90% transparency, appearing as a faint hint of movement overlaid across your console's UI
• Bungie liked those infinitely spawning "go and kill x in a cave you haven't visited, for a boring reason" quests in Skyrim, but thought they were a little too thrilling and on-the-nose. The analog in Destiny asks you to "go and kill x in a map you've already visited, for no particular reason".
• The silent, awkward countdown at the end of every mission is punctuated by a pulse-racing additional moment of silence
• When you put your little floating computer guy on an Important Object and defend him as he goes about his work for the tenth time, he almost seems like he's about to make a clever comment about the situation seeming familiar, but he doesn't
• If you look closely you'll note that bullets only travel just far enough to enter bad guys' bodies, always stopping before they exit
• In PVP there are no rounds or scoring, just the honor system
• When the camera switches to third person mode it pulls back just far enough to display a close-up view of the back of your head that takes up the entire screen
• Skills have such bonuses as "run a bit slower" and "wait longer between shots"
• The character customization just lets you choose whether your dude's eyes are open or closed

To be fair, the white PS4 that it came with is very nice.

6/10

 

[felipepepe]

So, Hellgate: London Mark II?

 

[markec]

So, Hellgate: London Mark II?

Only this game is looking to be a huge hit so you can expect few sequels.

 

[Cadmus]

So, Hellgate: London Mark II?

From the little that I know, this sounds exactly right, including the hype&fail part.

So, Hellgate: London Mark II?

Only this game is looking to be a huge hit so you can expect few sequels.

I haven't heard anything positive from the users apart from a few shills, are you sure?

 

[Wirdschowerdn]

The marketing pull is strong enough to make the good consumers buy the game, even though they'll feel it's shallow and lacking, but "the Internet sez it's great so perhaps there's just something wrong with me?"

 

[felipepepe]

People will play. There's nothing else to play in next-gen consoles.

 

[abnaxus]

http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/704532-destiny/70045915



What was it again, $500 million budget?

 

[Jick Magger]

I swear to god I hate people who start their comments off with "Is it just me, or...", it's the most shallow and two-dimensional attempt at phishing for approval you can possibly stoop to.

 

[Cadmus]

I swear to god I hate people who start their comments off with "Is it just me, or...", it's the most shallow and two-dimensional attempt at phishing for approval you can possibly stoop to.

DAE?
Am I alone thinking that the movie Avatar is overrated?

just mentioning this gives me a Reddit PTSD

 

[Infinitron]

Activision: Destiny "most successful new video game franchise launch ever"

Sorry, Codex. Bobby wins again.

 

[felipepepe]

Hype always wins. With the pre-ordes and day-one purchase madness of today, even Daikatana would be a successful release. Gamers are not a learning animal, the industry has no incentive to change the formula.

 

[SuicideBunny]

Activision: Destiny "most successful new video game franchise launch ever"

Sorry, Codex. Bobby wins again.

and then those copies sit on their shelves and get reduction after reduction after reduction after reduction and nobody even gives a fuck about the sequel. at least i hope that will be the case. retailers always buy into hype, not paying much attention to the subtler nuances.

 

[abnaxus]

Activision: Destiny "most successful new video game franchise launch ever"

Sorry, Codex. Bobby wins again.

 

[Blaine]

Check out the advanced graphics in this game.

 

[Kane]

MUH COW A DUDDY

 

[Infinitron]

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-09-10-destiny-early-impressions

Destiny thrills, but the big picture rings hollow
After a day's play, how does Bungie's shared world shooter fare?

This is an early impressions piece, culled from just over a day's play. To find out more about when to expect our review, please refer to our recent editor's blog.

Maybe it's something that crosses the mind of real astronauts when they make it beyond the earth's orbit, when the cacophony of launch thrusters is muted. Maybe it's a question they all ask themselves when presented with the awesome emptiness of space. Is this it? Is this all there really is to it all?

Destiny's Earth was so well trodden during the alpha and beta periods earlier this year that returning to in the final game feels something like coming home. You know the nooks and crevices, and know not to disturb whatever high-level monsters are dwelling in the basement, and for many the game will only really start when orbit is broken, your Guardian taking its first steps on the moon. And when you're there, it can all feel a little empty.

Destiny's launch hasn't lacked a sense of pageantry - and it's certainly not lacked for marketing millions, either - but the game itself is often lacking some spectacle of its own. When the beta launched, the spectacle was the game itself - a chance to finally play Activision's high-budget folly, to explore Bungie's first new universe since it forged the Halo rings almost 15 years ago.

Bungie's talent for stirring sci-fi art hasn't waned in the years since Reach.

But, by nature of its massively multiplayer-ish design, Bungie's new universe doesn't contain the same stirring set-pieces as Halo; it doesn't underscore each rifle shot with the weight of apocalyptic circumstance. There's no Silent Cartographer, no Assault on the Control Room - no pre-defined moment that gives Destiny its magic. It's all about the smaller, shared moments, of course, but even then Destiny can sometimes be left wanting.

Some atypically poor world-building doesn't do Destiny any favours. By the time Bungie had departed its last grand series, the universe was a mess of lore - but it didn't start that way. Halo was introduced through a clean tale of a hero and his quest, dropped into the middle of warring species neatly drawn and distinguished. Destiny's a mess upon arrival; seven hours into its story missions, I have only the faintest clue what I'm fighting for, and very little idea what I'm fighting against.

Building a universe that can simultaneously be unravelled by millions of players is obviously a challenge, but Bungie hasn't helped itself with some misshapen exposition and flatlining voice actors whose performances are dead on arrival. Peter Dinklage's AI companion Ghost was derided in both the alpha and beta, and fares no better here - a problem exacerbated by mission design that too often asks you to defend him from waves of incoming enemies, when most players surely couldn't care less whether he was ripped to shreds or not.

Destiny's central hub is capable of presenting some stirring sights of its own.

It's a shame such problems undermine a universe that is exemplary in its art design. The thawing Cosmodrome gives way to lunar levels where you can feel the moon dust sticking to the back of your throat, while Venus' jungles are tangibly damp with humidity. They're inter-cut with grand vistas pulled from the very best science fiction covers: Chris Foss-style illuminations of violent skies and wide open landscapes.

And while Destiny might not have the spectacle of Halo, it's got all of the scale and then some. Bungie's success all those years ago was primarily about bringing the dynamic tools of a shooter into a sandbox, and now that sandbox is bigger, those tools more sharp. Mechanically, Destiny is astounding, the compulsion loop of a loot-heavy game like Diablo fitting snugly around the meaty, elastic shooting of Bungie's back catalogue. There's a wonderful rhythm to playing Destiny that's easy to sink into - clear a strike, a story mission or patrol session then retreat, retool, repeat.

Levelling is smooth, and contrary to what Bungie suggested a few months ago feels in step with the progression rate in the beta, which is to say that it's pleasingly rapid. New abilities trickling through in-step with new gear drops that mean there's always a new toy to tinker with at the end of any run. What toys they are too! The four years since Halo: Reach have been enough for me to forget that no-one makes a pulse rifle fizzle like Bungie, and few others can make a shotgun boom so satisfyingly.

Dinklage's Ghost is enough to make you pine for 343 Guilty Spark.

Their design hasn't been compromised by the overlaying of stats and attributes, either, and the integrity of Bungie's weapon set when transposed to such different systems is impressive. There have been tweaks since the beta that have helped - the hand cannon now has some lightning to back up its thunder, even if it's still a little too unwieldy to take to The Crucible's quick-paced multiplayer - and it's easier than ever to fall for single pieces. My own Copperhead Mk. 32, a shotgun that deals a mighty burst of solar damage and asks for nothing more than a tease of the trigger, won't be retired any time soon, and a Psi Tempus pulse rifle gave the empowering sensation of breaking the game for a mission or two.

If the enemies don't necessarily have a sense of purpose, they certainly pop with one. The small fizz of light that sears from a Dreg after a headshot, the tinny scream of a downed Harpy and icky thrill of hammering away at the glowing centre of a Hobgoblin's belly until they pop - the cannon fodder gives feedback as satisfying as the cannons in Destiny.

Who needs purpose or narrative drive after surviving a Strike, or when celebrating another victory in The Crucible? The social moments really string Destiny together, the magic coming in those random encounters when exploring the wilder world - little flashes of camaraderie between strangers that are invariably punctuated by dance-offs before players go their separate ways.

Yet there's still that slightly hollow ring to Destiny's world, which feels rich in art but sparse in life, even as other players are streamed in. Maybe some of that emptiness comes from the maxim that you're never more alone than when surrounded by others - but even early on it's clear that throwing everyone together is where Destiny's strengths, and its weaknesses, really lie.

 

[Kane]

Isn' that the same franchise/TV show Trion made a piece of crap MMORPG for?
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2014-09-08-destiny-is-the-most-pre-ordered-new-ip-ever
I hope they realize that in the long run they're starving off their own meadows with those completly exaggerated reviews, because less and less people will care about them, their games and their shitty tabloids.

 

[chestburster]

FFS, it's a grindfest game made for grindholics. It even resets your raid mission progress on a weekly basis so you have to restart grinding from zero every week. Anyone going in expecting a story-based "cinematic" COD or true sandbox EVE FPS is just a dumbfuck.

Destiny Is So Restrained It'll Blow Your Face Off

• Bungie liked those infinitely spawning "go and kill x in a cave you haven't visited, for a boring reason" quests in Skyrim, but thought they were a little too thrilling and on-the-nose. The analog in Destiny asks you to "go and kill x in a map you've already visited, for no particular reason".

Because you need "particular reasons" to kill x monsters in Diablo?

 

[Blaine]

I actually didn't expect Destiny to be this mediocre and banal-shit-boring. My main qualm was with having to use a console controller to control a FPS, which I absolutely refuse to do. I played Golden Eye a little bit back in high school because everyone else was playing it. I played Halo way back in the early 2000s because I was in the military and everyone else was playing it. Back then, my sum total experience with shooters on the PC had come from playing Doom, Wolfenstein, Blake Stone, Duke Nukem, and Quake I. None of those are truly demanding in the aiming department on single-player. For the most part, I stuck to adventure games, RPGs, and 4Xs.

Whatever. Anyway, every review (even most of the popamole reviews), every news aggregator (including even Reddit, on which large gaming-related subreddits are absolutely stuffed to bursting withn decline-loving fanbabbies), every forum I've read all say the same thing: Destiny is Borderlands with fancier art, but without an interesting story or characters, lots of repetitive grinding and bland quests, bad itemization, and no open-world feel.

And now, everyone's favorite pussified mangina and talentless hack, Ben Kuchera, justifying spending half a billion dollars on this turd back in June (this is a link to an archive of a Polygon article; they don't get clicks when you visit this archive snapshot):

https://archive.today/J4sbm

 

[Ebonsword]

Wait, so this game has already generated $500 million in revenue? At $60 a game, that's 8.3 million units sold.

I knew that there were a lot of stupid people in the world, but the fact that there were 8.3 million of them willing to buy this game during the first week of release means I'm going to have to lower my expectations regarding the human race even further, which I didn't think was possible.

 

[Blaine]

No, I think that figure represents copies... uh, shipped out to stores, retailers, warehouses, etc. There's a term for it that slips my tongue at the moment. I don't think all of those copies have been sold, though apparently Activision have the cash in hand.

I could be wrong, though.

Also, it cost $500m just to make Destiny and will have ongoing costs, so we'll see what their ROI actually is. If a significant portion of the copies shipped to vendors aren't sold on to customers, I assume the game will be a flop since they'll essentially have just paid for the game's development and little else.