Since I got to experience the Destiny beta in July, I’ve been excited for the release of the full game. I was eagerly awaiting the chance to really explore the world that Bungie had created to the fullest extent. Despite some internet problems over the course of the week, I dare say I was able to get a good grasp of what Bungie built. What I found was an interesting mixture of FPS and MMO elements, and it meshes quite well, despite the game being light on narrative.

As always, I’ll begin with the story. Destiny was one of those games where the story wasn’t talked about much when it came to advertising for the game. Anything mentioned was always vague, and I wondered if that was to avoid spoiling anything. As it turns out, any mention of the story before the game’s release was vague because the story within the game is vague, or—more accurately—hardly there at all. During the course of my run through the narrative, I only got the vaguest sense of what was really going on. Yes, Bungie does have what are called “Grimoire Cards,” which do really expand on the lore of Destiny’s world, but those cards can only be accessed on Bungie’s website. This further separates the player from something that could well be an interesting story. As it is, the basis for the plot is pretty cliché: You are the one person, a Guardian, who can stop the oncoming tide of undefined evil space magic with undefined good space magic. You meet an AI called a “Ghost,” voiced by Peter Dinklage (we affectionately referred to the character as Dinklebot, as apparently many others do, as well). Ghost has a lot more personality than we were shown in the alpha or the beta, which was nice, but at the same time, my character had none. He spoke all of three or four times that I could remember, and his story is never even hinted at. I was, therefore, unable to get attached in any way. The other characters are either vendors, mysteries that the game doesn’t even try to explain (possibly saving that for future DLC or a sequel), or the numerous enemies you mow down who are in no way given any character. Once again, the Grimoire Cards give a bit of interesting backstory on each of the four enemy factions: Vex, Hive, Fallen, and the Cabal. Unfortunately, none of them have any motivations beyond the basic tropes that we see in every other mediocre sci-fi. To sum it up, the story is really just shoved into a dark corner, only allowed to slightly reveal itself to the player between run-and-gun sessions. That’s a shame; Bungie could’ve built a great narrative to accompany a great game. As I said with Titanfall, if you’re going to have a story, do it well.

The gameplay is where the game starts to really shine. It is a first-person shooter, but that is done well. Add to that three different classes with two subclasses for each, and the game really does offer quite a few ways to kill things or help your fellow Fireteam members. As with the beta, I played the Voidwalker Warlock class, which allowed me to throw around attacks that would create miniature singularities. I’ve maxed out the Voidwalker’s ability tree, and it has been a blast. My friends play a Hunter and a Titan, so our Fireteam is always pretty balanced. Each class has its own strengths and weaknesses, and the system is very well put together. Even farming enemies for gear drops can be fun, as the gameplay is solid. There are also five locations you can explore thus far: Earth, the moon, Venus, Mars, and your home base—the Tower. Each location is markedly different, and with the exception of the Tower, each one offers a new enemy to fight and conquer.

Now, as this is a quasi-MMO, I’ll talk about both the PvE (player vs. environment) and PvP (player vs. player) elements. The PvE elements are deep and varied; between the story missions, strikes, and the recently released raids, this game has a lot to offer someone who just wants to team up and take on the world…er, worlds. The strikes and raids, in particular, rely on the player and their Fireteam to be appropriately geared. To take on the high level PvE content, you need the right weapons and armor, or you will not survive. For the player who likes the more traditional PvP experience, a place called the Crucible provides such a distraction. There, players duke it out in almost old-fashioned gunplay (with the aforementioned abilities thrown in rather well). With game modes akin to Team Deathmatch, Domination, and Free-For-All, the Crucible is the place to go for the player who wants a good fight. Fortunately, they won’t be left behind in the gear department, as Bungie has instituted a random drop at the end of every match, which yields good gear for levels up to 24 (after that, it becomes rather useless). Additionally, players in the Crucible can earn marks and reputation to buy gear from certain vendors, which further encourages PvP play.

The loot drop system is…interesting. It works well for the most part. You kill enemies in PvE, and they have a chance to drop an item. The rarity and power of a drop is indicated by color: white for common, green for uncommon, blue for rare, purple for legendary, and yellow for exotic. The soft level cap in the game is 20, but you can level up further with light (up to 30). However, this is where the drop system can get frustrating. When a player hits about level 24, the loot drops quickly become largely irrelevant if he or she can’t do the higher level strikes. This results in frustration and causes players to resort to farming enemies for the chance of a legendary or exotic drop (which you will need to advance past level 24). This is mitigated by a vendor who comes every weekend with exotic gear for sale, a nice addition, and vendors that sell legendary gear (though the currency and reputation needed to buy the gear takes some work). Perhaps the most frustrating element is that, when you do inevitably get a legendary drop, it could be anything from an uncommon item to an exotic, but the latter is incredibly rare, and if it’s an armor piece, it might not even be for your class. I’ve found six or seven legendary engrams, and only two have actually yielded legendary items. The others yielded uncommon or rare, which was rather annoying. The rarity of a legendary drop is enough without having to worry about actually getting a purple-coded item, too. In short, I like what’s there, but some of it needs tweaking.

Destiny looks good, but it’s not a powerhouse by any means. The character models are always cool, and the environments are beautiful. In the last level of the story, I felt compelled to sit down at the edge of a cliff and look down on the surface below me. The colors and look of the planets is very well done. Apart from that, though, the graphics aren’t really what I would consider a next-gen experience.

Final Score – 8.0: In short, this game is fun. I would say it’s as simple as that, but as I’ve learned from continued play with Titanfall, fun does not make a perfect game. Destiny has a lot of MMO elements that it uses very well, and that makes it addicting and enjoyable. However, the nonexistent story and shallow characters make it very difficult to get invested in the meat of the conflict between the Guardians and the forces of “The Darkness.” As the opening cutscene went on about The Darkness and the Traveler, I joked that it was just “space magic.” As I played, though, it seemed that such an explanation was at least as coherent as what we got from Bungie in regard to the story. I guess the magic of the game is really in the MMO elements. The story gets shoved to the wayside, and nobody really seems to care. That said, I’d really recommend picking this up. The post-level 20 content is easily some of the most fun I’ve had with a game like this (granted, my MMO experience is limited). Check it out; despite its flaws, Destiny is still a great game.