I wasn’t completely sold on Destiny until I finally got a chance to spend a couple days with the beta, and I suspect that a lot of you are going to feel the same way. Bungie’s ambitious game is an amalgam of what the studio’s done in the past with Halo, alongside what it views as the future of multiplayer and connected gaming.

But after evolving my Hunter to level 8, exploring every available nook and cranny of the gorgeous Tower, slowly raising my K/D ratio after a couple dozen rounds in the PvP arena called the Crucible, having a few unforgettable brushes with complete strangers, and scratching the surface of its story, I was once again reminded how Bungie helped change the console landscape with the Halo series, and how it aims to do it again with Destiny.

The Variety of it All

The thing that really impressed me with Destiny’s beta was just how many different types of play exist in this small and early slice of the game, how they all share in the same character-progression economy, and how thankful I am that Bungie lets us off the leash at such an early point in the adventure. Reading Ryan McCaffrey’s E3 preview clued me in on the huge amount of activities present in the alpha, but I wasn’t prepared for how well they all jived together.

The player-authored ebb and flow of Destiny is obviously going to differ on a user-by-user basis, but I was enthralled with the freedom I had to forge the meta-narrative of my character in whichever way I saw fit, and even more thrilled knowing that no matter how I chose to play, it would ultimately help grow my character. I love being able to hop between tense, three-person Strike Missions, leisurely strolls through the various vendors of the Tower, and raucous deathmatch rounds in the Crucible at my leisure. Authoring my own story helped enhance the feeling of being a single hero in a much larger universe.

Destiny also managed to dangle that elusive “just one more round” carrot in front of my face with aplomb. I was always so close to my next milestone, whether that was leveling up my character and unlocking a new ability, discovering a new rifle with slightly better stats than my old faithful, or feeling like I could do better in the Crucible if I just played that one more round. And you know what? I was more than happy to chase that carrot again, and again, and again.

A New Take on Classic Multiplayer

The Crucible, Destiny’s PvP arena, captures the same great feel and flow of classic Halo multiplayer, but adds in some interesting variables to make it feel like a different beast. Strategies like gathering around elusive Heavy Ammo drops so that multiple teammates can benefit, or waiting until the right moment to use your Special so that you kill multiple opponents both work together to raise the amount of mental balls you have to juggle during any given round.

While I really dug a majority of my time with the maps available in the Destiny beta, I was a bit worried about how imbalanced matches seemed to get once vehicles were included. First Light, a larger map set on the surface of the Moon, is the only one of the beta quartet that houses vehicles, and their presence changed the flow of play in a way I wasn’t a huge fan of. Tanks felt overpowered partially because of their ability to tear you to shreds, but mostly because of how they left you relatively defenseless. Without the ability to board an opposing tank and rid it of its occupants, it felt like far too much importance was placed on hoarding vehicles, and not enough on sheer shooter skills.

Obviously, this could all change with a few pre-launch tweaks under the hood, but given how balanced and revolutionary the vehicle play in Halo was, I was expecting a bit more from Destiny’s mounts. Still, Control, Destiny’s take on the classic King of the Hill mode, is a blast, and I can’t wait to check out what other modes Bungie has in store for us. Here’s to hoping a few of them eschew from the genre classics and really try something new.

A Touch of Journey, a Dash of Dark Souls

While I really do appreciate the cooperative nature of Strike Teams and the classic chaos of a 12-player Crucible match, it’s Destiny’s more subtle touches of multiplayer that left a lasting impression on me. Finding yourself in the middle of a firefight that’s quickly heading south against wave after wave of enemy reinforcements, only to suddenly gain the upper hand thanks to a group of strangers who appear on a ridge and help even the odds is surprising and powerful. What’s even more is the sensation you feel when they simply move on without ever giving you a chance to say thanks, and the thought that you’ll most likely never run across those specific players again.

Like stumbling across a fellow wanderer in Journey, or summoning in a random player to help you out in Dark Souls, there’s a power in Destiny’s moments of anonymity that few games aside from the aforementioned are able to attain. Bungie emphasized the importance of these random encounters in terms of adding scope to the universe and really making the player feel like they’re a single part of a much bigger adventure, and so far, the beta has shown that wonderfully.

Lingering Story Questions

The one thing that Destiny’s beta failed to do is convince me that its story is anything more than an inoffensive, but generic science-fiction tale. While the game starts off on a great note complete with a great cinematic that sets the stage, followed by a nice dose of mystery in the form of who your Guardian is and what their role in the world might be, the story Bungie has told so far isn’t the thing that’s compelling me to keep playing.

Obviously Bungie could be playing their cards close to the vest in the beta – the likely scenario given their history of doing so with Halo – but I would’ve really loved some sort of interesting story event that really got its hooks in me. The Destiny beta starts at the beginning of the game, and introduces a few compelling questions – What happened to the Traveler? Who is the Speaker? Why have I been dead for “a long time” before being awoken by my Ghost? – but it’ll be up to the final version of Destiny to prove its fiction’s worth.

That being said, one story fear you can officially put to rest is Peter Dinklage's now-infamous role as your Ghost companion. During a recent trip to Bungie HQ, I got to hear a newer, but still work-in-progress build of his voice, and I can assure you that he sounds every bit as mechanical and ephemeral as you’d expect a flying sentient robot to sound.

Beyond the Beta

The thing about Destiny’s beta is that it does an incredible job of cluing us in on the foundation and core tenants of the game, but only dips its toe in the deep end. We got a chance to see some of the late-game content, including high-level characters that move like superheroes, insanely powerful weapons and armor that look like nothing we’ve ever seen from Bungie, and a late-game Raid that marries traditional MMO missions with the reactionary skills of an FPS to create something entirely unique. We’ll be talking more about those later this month as IGN First rolls on.

In short, the beta is just the beginning of our journey with Destiny.

Don't miss the rest of our Destiny coverage, including multiplayer map reveals, beta secrets, a livestream, endgame content, and more!