Destiny has been building up for a long time and over the weekend of June 13-15 players got their first glimpse of this intrepid game. Even with it being only a sliver of the content to come, Destiny seems to be a promising first-person multiplayer RPG.
Plenty of weapons and upgrades, along with awesome powers for each class. It’s still an early and limited build, but even with those limits it managed to keep me entertained.
Starting Out
There are the three classes and three races to choose from. The races include humans, exo and awoken. The races don’t affect your abilities in anyway, but the classes determine several things (obviously). Different grenades, abilities and powers.
I chose to play as a male Awoken Hunter. My special ability was the golden gun. I can summon a gold pistol to fire three devastating solar flare shots, which deal fire damage. Also, highly focused on precision and a blade. Can use a deadly knife throw ability as well to deal a decent amount of damage towards my enemies.
Destiny Missions
My first story mission took place in the old ruins of Russia down on Earth. An alien race known as the Fallen have been showing some increased activity around the Cosmodrome. After landing on the ground I head for the building off in the distance, but finding my way isn’t easy. With a tap of the PlayStation 4 touchpad on my controller I bring up my Ghost. It’s a handy little droid that shows you where your objectives are.
Not only does it point you in the right direction it also gives you access to your vehicle and the option to return to orbit around which ever planet you’re on. The alpha only featured Earth and The Tower. We’ll get to the purpose of the Tower later.
I headed through an airplane wreckage yard to find several Fallen patrolling the area. The Fallen appear somewhat feral creatures with four arms. They are quick and stick mainly to gun combat, but the Fallen can use a stealth mode making them particularly deadly. Combat plays out nice and smooth controlling much like any other FPS. At least it plays smoothly.
I eventually reach the Cosmodrome. I clear out some of the Fallen to find what they are up to. Turns out they’re hiding/keeping in some of the insect like members of the Hive race. They’re swift and aggressive preferring to get in close. There are other types of the hive that use ranged attacks in addition to fighting hand to hand. A quick blade and my handy shotgun help to make short work of them.
Head upstairs to find several Hive and Fallen fighting each other. There is one massive Hive Wizard in the room and it is my prime objective to take it out. He uses a strong shield to protect himself, but using plenty of cover and I fought him off
The Tower and Beyond
After my mission is completed I’m returned to orbit above Earth. I decide to set my destination to the Tower, the guardian home base inside the last City. This serves as the central hub for all players. Here you can buy new weapons and armor, vehicles and update your personal ship. You can also talk with other players, read messages and pick up small bounty jobs to complete.
After leaving the Tower I head back to Earth to freely explore the Old Russia area. As you explore the area there are several beacons in the area in which you can pick up several side missions to complete. This ranges from clearing out areas full of enemies to scouting the area for explorers or research. There are also random public events that players can participate in as they explore the area. Any number of players can join in as long as they’re in the area in which it is occurring.
After spending my time gaining some experience and upgrading equipment I head into the higher level story mission. Here I get my first experience playing alongside other players.
If you’re doing this publicly two other players will join up with you randomly in the orbit screen, then you head into fight. It’s fairly standard co-op multiplayer gameplay from there. Teamwork is stressed throughout firefights. The odds are often stacked against you, so balancing your powers and weapons with the other Guardians.
Destiny Alpha Overview
At the end of my whole excursion through the Destiny alpha I capped at level eight wishing I could keep levelling up and exploring its world. Even though it was short lived and limited, knowing there will be more to come makes it all worth the wait for the public beta to start July 17.
When it all comes together Destiny is going to be one hell of a game for FPS and RPG fans.
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