Destiny
About the Game
Destiny is a futuristic first-person shooter set in a persistent world. When humans first set foot on Mars they discovered the Traveler, a giant sphere that then allowed mankind to colonize space quickly. Centuries later the Darkness, an enemy of the Traveler, arrived and waged war against it and all of its creations. The Traveler is forced to scarify itself as a measure of protection and what is left of humanity on Earth is forced to live in a city constructed underneath.
Story & Setting
While fighting, movement and jumps are important when confronting enemies. Each planet has its own story and various quests. The main story consists of different campaign missions that need to be completed for The Speaker, unlocked gradually and opened up on Earth, Moon, Venus and Mars respectively. Each planet generally has five major story missions.
Gameplay & Core Systems
At the start players chooses a class (Titan, Hunter or Warlock - corresponding with the classic Fighter, Rogue and Mage) and then customizes the appearance through race (Human, Awoken or Exo), gender, face, hair and marking. The Titan is a fighter with an advanced mech suit, the Hunter is a bounty hunter with a knack for reconnaissance and ranged weapons, and the Warlock is a magical being that uses spells and explosives. Each class has various subclasses (unlocked at level 15) and specific abilities and statistics. None of the weapons in the game are restricted to a single class. The most distinct differences are the grenade types, jump abilities, melee attack and a special ability.
Standout Features
- MMORPG: The game borrows elements from the MMORPG genre in its design, with the Tower as a main hub zone to interact with NPCs, buy weapons, gear and Ghost upgrades, receive mail, buy and upgrade ships etc.
- Rewards for completing missions can also usually be collected here.
- Guardian: A Guardian can wield up to three main weapons (primary, special and heavy) next to grenades and other abilities.
- Only one weapon of each type can be equipped, but nine more for each type can be stored in an inventory to swap them.
- The character also gains experience and levels up, accessing new abilities.
- There are daily and weekly challenges to earn Marks, but the amount that can be earned has time constrictions.
- From level 20 the general experience system is replaced by Mote of Light.
- Dead Orbit: At that level the characters also gets to join one of three factions: Dead Orbit, New Monarchy or Future War Cult.
Modes & Ways to Play
Next to the mission progression it is possible to enter a planet in exploration mode, offering free exploration. Fireteams are organized through online matchmaking and it is possible to make them public or private, and invite players. Players also do not see all other online players at that location, only a selection. There are also Raids, much harder cooperative missions added gradually by the developer that do not support matchmaking and can only be taken on with players at a high level with high-end gear.
Player support includes Internet, Co-Op, Free-for-all / One-on-one (VS), and Team.
Presentation & Atmosphere
These voyages are not an interactive scene however as the game does not have a complete open world design. For the instance missions, players's character (and possibly other team members) are drawn in a private part in the game, cut off from the open game world.
Display support includes HDTV 720p.