Destiny is a game that I have been excited about since I first heard about it. I am a long time Bungie fan and I absolutely love Halo. That being said, Destiny takes several amazing aspects from several games including; Halo, Borderlands, Mass Effect, and almost every RPG in existence. The gun-play is on par with most shooters, it feels and looks very similar to Halo which is to be expected. The problem comes in when you play through the story, the voice acting is one of the most hit on subjects as far as Destiny reviews go, the problem is not the actors, in fact I feel that the actors are all great at what they do, the issue is that the story is so bland and vague that the actors are all bored with the concept entirely. With the story aside, particularly since it is only a tiny sliver of the rest of the game.
The real game begins after you finish the story, which won't take long if you take out the fact that you have to spend a large part of your time level grinding in order to maintain the pace required for the story. Once you reach level 20 you begin leveling through your equipment, stronger gear has a light stat, this allows you to level up beyond 20. This is where you begin entering into high level missions, such as Strikes, which are best done with 1-2 other players, friends or strangers can join in on these. Another major aspect of loot grinding are the Raids, which are being released as weekly updates in game. These missions are similar to strikes in that they are harder and require a few other players, the primary difference is that they must be friends and they can take MUCH longer to finish. Most of them are released as a week long quest because it very well may take that long to finish them, and unlike strikes they start off at the level that you chose and increase in difficulty as you progress.
The game is not all bad though, the missions are typically boring rinse and repeat ordeals that can take quite a while, the 3 planets and the moon that you visit during your play are reduced to tiny slivers of the vastness that is promised, yet never delivered, however, teaming up on the fly with random players and joining in on a public event to show off your skills...or lack thereof is insanely enjoyable. Personally I love the idea of grinding through waves of enemies with a friend or two in order to find a new exotic weapon, and being able to jump in or out of the fight at any time(given that you aren't on a story mission) is great, as is waving, dancing or sitting with another random player. If destiny had a proximity chat, then I could easily see this game expand anyone's friends list. Playing online in the crucible is enjoyable given that there are only 4 game types and a 5th game type that is added or taken away at the whim of Bungie. It is a good game with it's own set of flaws, though to be fair many of the issues will be fixed as Bungie has teams working to release new content daily. As for the story, hopefully that can be solved with the upcoming DLC.
Ultimately it is fun to play with friends and strangers alike, and if you enjoy looting and grinding for new gear, and if you can get passed the poorly written and extremely vague story, then you will find yourself playing for hours on end.
