This press release arrived yesterday afternoon and I wanted to pass it onto y’all in case any of you are playing DESTINY. You know, that game which just earned $325 million after five days of release? I was standing in line at Best Buy this weekend: the three people in front of me were all purchasing DESTINY for the PS4, and I was buying a headset to play DESTINY on the PS4. My preferred platform for this one, by the way, is the PS4. The XBOX ONE version appears more robust/contrasty/striking, but is nowhere near as rich and fully realized graphically when stacked up to PS4 - on my system, at least.
Personally, I rather love the game, although I’m hung up on a moon level which…for some reason…is kicking my ass and I can’t quite seem to push past it. If you’re still on the fence about whether or not to purchase DESTINY, and I know a few people who are, my humble perspective is this:
There’s yet to be a moment which floored me, or made me say “Holy SHIT that’s awesome!” Frankly, this is the kind of reaction I was hoping for and anticipating in the months leading up last week’s release. Alas, it hasn’t happened yet. This said, what DESTINY lacks in invention and freshness is more than compensated for with consistently impressive breadth and spectacle, sometimes furious gameplay, highly effective sound design, and a strangely paradoxical personality.
How is it paradoxical? DESTINY is familiar - which keeps it from feeling wholly unique I think. One can find touches of STAR WARS, LORD OF THE RINGS, CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK, RPGs, the ghost of HALO is ever-present, and I’ve noted a few other influences as well. This isn’t to say DESTINY is derivative - it isn’t by a long shot - I’m just noting that it’s inspirations are discernible. Which may what’s hamstringing that ‘Holy Shit!’ reaction I’ve been looking for.
On the flip side, this same familiarity is one of the qualities which make DESTINY such a blast. It’s accessible and comfortable in design and story - especially to a Geek like me. In this regard, DESTINY is a lot like STAR WARS: much of its DNA is inspired from elsewhere, but shaped into its own ‘verse’ which hinges on a familiar…but still compelling…soul.
Much like HALO before it, DESTINY isn’t a half-bad science fiction/science fantasy tale either. It chronicles what happens on and around Earth after a ‘Golden Age’ of human evolution and enlightenment is precipitated by the arrival of ‘the Traveller’ - and a subsequent onslaught of the Traveler’s enemies, which now threatens to hose everything. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if, also like HALO, the DESTINY universe ultimately finds it way to bookstores as novels, comics, or whatnot. It’s sprawling, rich tapestry and backstory seem ripe for further exploitation and exploration.
So back to the moon I go - I’ll get past those witches and that friggin’ laser-eyed cyclops at some point, I suppose. This is the first game in quite some time which I’ve been invested in, and interested in, enough to sit down and work through whenever could grab a few spare moments across the course of a given day. So, despite the qualifications I’ve outlined above, clearly it’s working on a fundamental level, and hugely enjoyable, no? And working rather well at that…
Here’s the press release…
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Glen Oliver
“Merrick”
