Destiny beta impression.

Destiny, property of Bungie studios

Destiny, the persistent world - not MMO - first person shooter, has finally been unleashed as an open beta for a limited time. The game, developed by Bungie (the creators of Myth, Marathon and most notably the Halo series) is only accessible to people who pre-ordered the title as well as their friends with whom they shared one of their spare keys. 

Not only have I been feverishly playing the beta, but I was also in the closed alpha around the time of E3 2014. With the launch of the game imminent, I wanted to share some of my thoughts on what I have seen and experienced. 

First let me preface this with the fact that I have been playing it on the Playstation 4. Also, I pre-ordered the Digital Guardian Edition (I like swag and don't have the room for anymore physical items). Come July 17, I booted up my PS4 and there it was; ready for me to help the Traveler. Time to make my Guardian. 

The first thing I noticed was the fact that this time around I got some more background in the form of the opening cinematic. Following that, I dove into the extensive character creator. In the alpha I decided to focus on making a hunter. While fun, I found that the super move (the golden gun) just wasn't the best choice for me. Seeing as my hand-eye coordination isn't what it used to be, I found that I just couldn't hit my enemies well enough to justify the character. For the beta, I chose the warlock as my class. Let me tell you, that was the right choice. 

I found the new class to be the much more suited to play style. The super move, the nova bomb, is much more tactical for what I need. I like to run in and blow stuff up. I am almost positive that this will also be my choice for the final release as well. 

One of the things that I noticed off the bat in the alpha was how gorgeous the game looked. The draw distance was far, the details were breath-taking and world felt alive. I wasn't expecting as much of a jump in quality as I saw when I first landed in the first playable level in the beta. While everything I saw from the alpha was there, I found that there was so much more detail now. The particle effects were abundant, the light bloom and lens flares helped add an extra layer of realism. 

Probably the most intriguing aspect of the game to me is the social interaction with other players. Destiny, while not being an MMO, is very massively multi-player. Yes, I know it is confusing, so let me try and flesh that out a bit. The world that the game takes place in is persistent. That means that while you are playing, others are in the same world with you. There were numerous times that I was in a white knuckle firefight only to find that at the last minute, another player would dive in and help out. 

Those random bouts of assistance even make up another side to the experience; random events. During my time with the beta I would be flying around and find the world suddenly darker, as if I was plunged into a solar eclipse. Next thing I know, my AI assistant (voiced by Peter Dinklage of Game of Thrones.) called a ghost would announce an event was happening nearby. A waypoint marker would appear and off I would go. Now, this wasn't just for me either. Everyone in the area would be notified and we would all run to defeat whatever mean baddie would show up. The earlier you got there, more damage you did and helpfulness to the team got you a rating. The higher the rating, the better the rewards. 

The similarities between Destiny and an MMO don't end there. It has dungeon like areas called "Strike Missions" where you team up with two other players to make a fireteam. The enemies are harder, the battles larger and the bosses are meaner. Oh, and the loot, the loot is sweeter too. In the beta, we only get to experience one of them. I found myself enjoying it quite a bit. 

The last major piece to the whole experience is the "Crucible", or Destiny's name for PVP muliplayer. In this limited preview we were only allowed to try out the mode titled "Control". This was a mix of your standard team death match and king-of-the-hill. Each team of six fought for control of three areas. Each of the maps were tightly balanced and perfect for this mode. 

While everything so far has been positive, I do have some gripes that pulled me out of the immersion. I fully realize that this is supposed to be a sliver of what the full experience is, I found numerous invisible walls that would instantly start a countdown timer. Once zero is reached you die and have the pleasure of seeing your corpse with your ghost floating about it. I can see having them in areas obviously not allowed to players. But I ran into them in areas that I didn't have to try and glitch my way into. I would be exploring and walking up a hill (admittedly it was the side of a small passage between areas) and the timer would kick in. What's that? A ledge I can check out, nope. Not major, just slightly frustrating. 

The next two annoyances also came from the single player experience. The beta caps out at a modest level eight. Enough to tantalize, but keep you wanting more. There were areas in the open world were the enemies would go from level four or seven to "???". They tended to be around level eighteen or twenty (revealed when they kill you in one hit). I would be happily enjoying myself and then dead. Just like that. To go along with that scale in levels is the armor. There were numerous time I would win a Strike mission or a Crucible battle (or find a chest) where I would get a shotgun or cloak I couldn't wear. It wasn't that I was not the right class, just to low a level. Again, nothing major, just a minor frustration. Both of these will become less of a frustration when we access to all the levels. 

My final qualm came from the Crucible and can be fixed prior to launch. On one map there are vehicles the teams can use. I found them to be WAY overpowered. I played game after game where if I didn't have my super ability, I would be mowed down. Not fun. But that is all stat adjustment that can be looked at post-beta. 

All in all, I would say I have spent close to fifteen hours with the beta and a total of about twenty five including the alpha. My expectations are very high and I can say I am truly excited to dive in fully. I hope to see you all out there too. Now, check out some of the screens I captured on my PS4. 

I had to kind of glitch my way up here. 

OOOOOHHHHHH, particles a-plenty