Watch Dogs was an utter disappointment. And if you’re wondering why I’m talking about Watch Dogs when I’m intending to write about Destiny, there’s a good reason. From the very beginning, I’d been excited for Watch Dogs. It looked like an awesome new concept, and I was glad it wasn’t a new Assassin’s Creed.
Then the game got pushed back. And pushed back again. AAAAND again.
Finally, it came out. And was it awesome? Did it live up to the year plus of hype?
No. At least, not for me. Instead of some new genre bending experience, I was playing Grand Theft Auto with a magical cell phone and a protagonist I couldn’t stand. In fact, I kept wanting bad things to happen to him. You know why hits were ordered on your family? You hacked into a hotel of a seedy mothertrucker and stole vast amounts of money. You commit theft and fraud and we’re supposed to like you?
End of aside. Where was I? Destiny? Yes, Destiny. My levels of hype for Destiny are near what they were for Watch Dogs, and the last thing I want to be is disappointed twice in the same year. But thankfully, Bungie has graced us with a beta!
Follow the cut for my thoughts! And pictures!
Wooooo! Thank you Based Bungie!
I was impressed from the very beginning. You can take a lot of care in customizing your character, and then actually take pride in how your character looks, because you’ll be able to see him or her when you’re in the tower, as well as when you use your supers. (The rest of the game is in first person.) I was excited to make a hunter that looked rather close to what I look like, sans glasses, of course, instead of having to play as yet another male protagonist, or someone who looks like Quiet from The Phantom Pain.
How I rolled on the PS4. BAMF.
The opening cinematic of the game is something I’ll willingly watch over and over again. Rather than looking like a generic video game cinematic, it looked like something the likes of JJ Abrams would produce, and makes me want to know more about the lore of this new universe. Was it an international project that gets humanity to Mars, like the International Space Station? From the languages in the beginning, it looks like it.
I want to be one of those three people. THAT VIEW.
He’s not as fun as Claptrap, but really, can you be as fun as Claptrap?
I played through the stories on both systems, by myself, and with friends. Bungie has said time and time again that the game is meant to be social, and whenever I was playing with just myself, I found myself wishing that friends were on to play the game with. Your Ghost does keep you company, although as much as I enjoy the vocal stylings of Peter Dinklage, Ghost isn’t quite as fun of a companion as say, Claptrap. I did enjoy how you as a playing utilized Ghost to do different things, like unlocking doors, salvaging recordings, and just in general, navigating around the Tower and Old Russia.
In between missions and exploring, you can go back to the “Tower” and restock, meet up with friends, buy guns, armor for your Guardian, and a whole host of other things. Including having sweet dance parties. I truly love how social Bungie has made this game.
I’d buy Disco dancing DLC.
Something I hadn’t liked in the Alpha was how public events worked. They would spawn in your area, even if there was only one player (at least that I knew of) was in the area, and these events are obviously geared towards more than one Guardian. I was able to get more experience with them in the beta, joining two different events with another three to four guardians. Joining the events is seamless, and having at least four people seems to be the magic number for completing them with the highest rating.
Protip: Don’t try to be a f#$%ing hero. Work as a team, even though you may not know the people you’re playing with personally.
And finally, the Crucible. In the Alpha, I had hated the Crucible. Absolutely hated it. And now, I’m not even exactly sure why. The mode in the Crucible, Control, is a mode that’s geared towards players like me. Players that don’t put their K/D in front of playing the objective for their team. (The mode is similar to Hardpoint Domination in Titanfall.) The maps (at least the four available in the beta) were well sized, and suited towards a number of different playing strategies. Like to rush? Direct lines to the points provided several entertaining close-quarter gun battles. Like to sit back and defend? There were plenty of places on the maps that a skilled sniper could take up and provide cover when the other team would try to neutralize a point.
Not to mention, the intro screens to the Crucible are stylish.
The hype is very much real. Far more real than it ever was before.
See you on the 9th, fellow Guardians!