Platforms: Xbox One Developer: Access Games Publisher: Microsoft Studios Players: 1 Release Date: September 19, 2014
Revel in the details.
D4 is a bizarre game full of odd characters, but best of all its something new. A point and click adventure that sees you hoping back and forth through time to solve the murder of your wife, D4 is a refreshing experience that surprises at every turn with its oddball humour and interesting collectibles. You’ll only explore 3 rather small areas, but each one is crammed with so many things to see and do that it’ll make many full retail games look sparse with content. D4 is a truly unique experience, and therefore may not be for everyone, but for those looking for something completely different it’ll definitely impress.
D4 is built to be an episodic experience, giving us a prologue and the first two episodes in this package. David Young, our time travelling detective, wakes up in a bath tub and explains that this is where he ends up every time he travels back to the present. From here on you’re free to explore David’s apartment at you leisure or continue on with the next clue; this being the type of open scenario you’ll find yourself in throughout the episodes. The whole experience could probably be run through in 3 hours or so, but in doing so you’d be neglecting all the extra distractions D4 boasts that can easily double that playtime. For instance I found myself rooting through the apartment for various collectibles (these range from simple medals to more detailed scrapbook entries and old letters) for 20 minutes before I even got round to approaching the objective; if you’re a sucker for exploring every nook and cranny then you’re going to sink a lot of time into D4.
Conversations are an enjoyable time sink.
Hit that objective and you’ll be attacked by a woman who seems to believe she’s a cat in one of a handful of action scenarios that entertain as much as they do thrill. Its a crazy encounter that’s telling of what you should expect from there on in, there’s a sombre story of loss and mystery at its heart but D4 isn’t one to hold back when it comes to the bizarre. Merely being the opening few episodes of a season unfortunately prevents the story from doing anything but build some vague intrigue for a conspiracy you get the feeling you’re only scraping the surface of, tauntingly ending just as it gets to the good stuff. The conspiracy is brilliantly fleshed out however, with many of the scrapbook extras and old case files that at first seem to be purely auxiliary falling into place as parts of a bigger puzzle later on.
Most of the characters you’ll encounter however are anything but subtle. Whether its a panicked passenger on a doomed flight or your old time partner from the force, each and every character is brimming with personality. The ‘extra cases’ these characters can give you generally offer some tantalizing rewards and further dialogue options, many of which again can touch on the mystery you’re trying to solve in new ways. Just being given the option to interact with these quirky characters at length is rewarding enough; for instance I could laugh at the otherwise mild mannered Forrest Kaysen devouring his comedy sized portions all day. David Young himself is a compelling protagonist, his sarcastic wit and single minded approach to the case at hand clashing well with colourful host of players he’ll have to investigate. The voice cast do a great job of bringing the larger than life characters to life as well, the level enthusiasm thrown behind each line of dialogue ensuring there’s never any disparity between the straight talkers and the more eccentric personalities. The comically thick Boston accent Ben Pronsky gives our protagonist merges well where it could have been atrocious, giving us a refreshingly not-so-gruff hero that brings levity no matter how dark things get.
Kick ass and chew bubble gum.
Gameplay brings the usual point and click fare to the table, but there’s variety enough in terms of what actions you’ll need perform to ensure that looking at everything in a room never gets repetitive. D4 can be played entirely with Kinect or a controller, or a bit of both should you prefer to switch things up mid episode. While I personally prefer to have a controller in my hands, those who opt for Kinect will be pleased to know it works brilliantly besides the odd misreading. D4 always demands you’re attention as well, throwing inspection options in during its cut scenes and tasking you with managing three different resources; you’ll rarely be running short on these resources or failing its action scenarios but they all serve to keep you more involved with what’s going on. D4 can however be reluctant to let you flex your brain, with many of the cases boiling down to you collecting a series of clues and having David Young piece them together himself in a cut scene. Some activities will demand more of you, such as a memorable series of quizzes on aviation you’ll be faced with, but regardless D4 could do more to involve you in the actual detective work.
All of this is presented in a visually striking cell-shaded style that makes each scene look as if its jumped off of the page of a comic. Areas are as detailed as the unique characters which makes jumping in time from one colourful scene to another, along with a nifty transition animation, an aesthetically awesome thing to do. If you have sufficient credits you can even change the outfits of the major characters or the music in your apartment, and again the options here range from subdued to bizarre and everything in between. Lastly there’s a great selection excellent music here, from its catchy intro music to the Irish rock track that plays during what’s arguably its best fight scene in a turbulent plane cabin.
Verdict
D4 is hard game to describe, it may sound ridiculous in writing but when experienced it arguably works, and it works very well. There may be little detective work involved in these first episodes, but the eccentric characters and intriguing premise will more than likely captivate you as you engage its lavishly crafted scenarios. There are few games that’ll see you batting a baseball with a mannequins leg as a plane enters chaotic turbulence, but even fewer that would have you enjoy these moments as much as a meal between two old friends discussing old cases. If you’re looking for something that stands out amongst the games on offer this fall then D4 is worth diving into, and it’ll only be a matter of time before its outlandish characters hook you in.
Hits
+Great cast of eccentric and hilarious characters +Stupendous amount of collectibles +Fun and rewarding distractions +Striking visuals +Excellent and diverse soundtrack
Destiny seemed like a sure bet, an esteemed developer with a ton of money behind it doing what they do best but on a grander scale than ever before. What could go wrong? It turns out a lot could. The story is barely there, its mission structure is repetitive, the RPG elements are too light and its online innovations often hinder the experience just as much as they enhance it. But despite all of this the core gameplay still wins out with Bungie’s gunplay at its most satisfying against the lavishly painted galactic backdrop. Destiny unfortunately, now at the beginning of its ’10 year’ life, is not all it could have been. However it is a top class shooter set within one of the most beautiful galaxies ever crafted, hardly the worst starting place for a franchise that’s set to see numerous expansions in the coming years.
Its perhaps best to start with what’s best about Destiny. The shooting is top notch, each action you take is responsive and has a visible impact on the enemy. Whether you’re peppering a towering Cabal from afar or introducing a Fallen dreg to your fist, the enemy will feel every hit, visibly reacting to attacks wherever they may land. On top of this each class has its own specific skills that add an extra layer of individuality to proceedings. A Hunter may double jump with blinding speed to avoid enemy fire where a Titan could instead opt to toss a stun grenade to blind his foes instead. Furthermore supers allow each class to throw down some instant devastation in tight situations. These options along with their their equal reactions are endlessly satisfying and ensure that the flow of combat never leans too heavily on statistics alone. The impressive shooting can however mask the Destiny’s shortcomings in the RPG department. Its skill trees are narrow to say the least, rarely giving you any input in your characters development besides selecting skills as they’re made available one by one. Subclasses are unlocked at level 15 and do offer satisfying variations on the characters skill sets, but arguably offer too little too late.
Each gun you’ll use is a delight to wield and can be upgraded in useful ways (albeit with a similar lack of options) but with only 9 base weapon types the room for variation is once more limited. The selection of vehicles available, though all fun to use, is also slim which further narrows the possibilities in combat. Couple these with your limited skill set and you’ll soon find yourself disappointed whenever another guardian of the same class as you joins your team as you’ll find yourselves fulfilling the same role via the same methods. Ultimately the sheer lack of options available mean that your guardian won’t play awfully differently whether he’s level 5 or 20, which is disappointing for an RPG no matter which way you cut it.
It may come up short when applying RPG elements to its gameplay, however Destiny does succeed in designing a world (or worlds) within which the grandest of RPG’s could take place. Even though each is wildly different in appearance they’re all a pleasure to look at and combine actual playable areas with impressive artistic backdrops flawlessly. There is an underlying problem however in that Destiny offers little reason for you to explore these planets besides the odd treasure chest and collectibles. Perhaps if there was more freedom in regards to how we explored and went about pursuing objectives within these areas the open world approach would be warranted, but once Destiny has dropped you off at the same starting point for the fifth time to travel to some other corner of the map its reuse of areas becomes repetitive rather than exploratory no matter how nice they look.
The Cabal are a force to be reckoned with.
Across these four worlds you’ll be shooting four different enemy races, each of which is a joy to encounter. Few of the enemies skill sets are truly original but all are combined well to create factions that act very much as coherent units that are unique when sized up against each other. Bosses however, while generally enjoyable and challenging, are almost always super powered versions of normal enemies that you’ve fought numerous times before. A mere glimpse at each race also gives the player an idea of their history, with the excellent art direction doing wonders for fleshing out these otherwise underdeveloped antagonists. The Cabal are a particular highlight, their imposing outline, brute force tactics and superb theme providing a fantastic challenge in the games final act. Martin O’Donnell’s soundtrack in fact contributes as much to the creation of the galaxy as the visuals do, its uplifting tracks throwing a more fantastical twist on the post apocalyptic sci-fi scene. From the oppressing tones that accompany the Vex to the Cabal’s imperialistic beats, this is some of O’Donnell’s best work to date.
Its a shame then, that given Destiny’s impressive galaxy, that every aspect of its story is lacklustre. Its central campaign barely attempts to give us a compelling reason to be rushing to our next objectives, our guiding ghost telling us to kill certain targets for no discernible reason at all. It does pick up in the second half of the campaign as the cast of characters, enemies and vistas are all expanded in different ways; but proceedings soon degrade back into vagueness before ending prematurely.
There’s been much criticism of the voice acting here, particularly in the case of Peter Dinklage’s Ghost, but its perhaps the writing that’s to blame as a performance can only be so good when you’ve clearly no idea what you’re talking about. No matter how epic the galaxy may be made out to be, you’ll only need to ask the question ‘why?’ after every sentence uttered and the illusion of depth soon falls apart. The reluctance to form any reason to press on in the campaign does unfortunately bleed into gameplay which often falls back on escorting your ghost companion from A to B and then defending him in wave based battles. Luckily the steady stream of new enemies and planets keeps this structure from ever becoming too much of a problem, but when you encounter a more memorable mission such as ‘Scourge of Winter’ it makes you wish the rest of the campaign could have that much energy behind it all the time.
There’s plenty to do outside of the campaign however. Patrol mode allows you to freely explore each of the four planets in pursuit of randomly generated missions and The Crucible is Destiny’s answer to competitive multiplayer, pitting guardians against each other on a surprisingly level playing field. Strikes challenge your fireteam of three to battle through some truly tough encounters that always end with great boss fights that demand team coordination. While they don’t escape the routine wave based scenarios, they do provide some of the best of what Destiny has to offer as the game is at its best when your overcoming the odds with friends. *I’ll be updating this review once I’ve fully completed the Raid mission.
It is true that Destiny is best when played with friends, but when it comes to doing anything but enabling people to play together its online features seem half finished. Matchmaking facilities set up games quickly and generally hold steady throughout your session, but weaker internet connections can really suffer when Destiny forces players into another ones world. The Tower is always loaded with other players despite there being no reason for it to be; you’ll have limited means of communication but you’ll still have to wait for its lengthy loading times every time you pay it a visit as a result. Its important to emphasise that these features will only be problematic for some players, but its hard to shake the feeling that Destiny does little to innovate with its much touted and sometimes invasive online components.
Venus sure is nice to look at.
Likewise the loot and customisation system seems to be content in doing enough and no more. Rarely did I find myself having to decide between two pieces of equipment as one was always better than the other. Vehicles and ships come off even worse, with your personal Sparrow vehicles boasting few noticeable upgrades and ships amounting to nothing but customisable loading screens. Destiny’s endgame just disappoints further as all your activities post campaign will involve replaying missions several times with hopes of unlocking rare level cap enhancing equipment. It turns what should have been Destiny’s main appeal over other shooters into an exercise in repetition which will either hook players in or turn them off completely. There’s a solid 20 hours of fun to be had without the need to replay any content already, but Destiny squeezes this content for all its worth in the worst possible way. Some element of randomness could have helped Destiny greatly here as even the best encounters can grow stale when you’ve run into them for the umpteenth time with no hint of change or meaningful reward.
Verdict
Taken for what it is, Destiny is an excellent shooter backed by solid new features that can be a blast with friends. But digging a little deeper into its features more often than not yields disappointment as it becomes apparent that Bungie is content with doing enough and no more. It offers a good roster of game modes in one cohesive package that all entertain, but its difficult to commend its gameplay for having overcome any rocky waters given that the boat is never pushed out in the first place. Destiny is very much a mediocre story told by a brilliant story teller, you’ll be drawn in by the wonderful galaxy and satisfying gameplay but its average features prevent it from ever fulfilling its potential. It may not be a perfect start, but if it can learn from these initial shortcomings Destiny could very well be destined for greatness down the line.
Hits
+Excellent core shooting experience +Beautiful galaxy full of jaw dropping vistas +Engaging and challenging enemy factions +Strikes offer some of the best co-op action this year
Misses
–RPG elements are too shallow across the board –Non-existent story lets down the galaxy and its inhabitants –Limited array of weapons and vehicles –Offers little reason to explore its open areas –Underdeveloped online components
Platforms: Playstation 3/4 & Xbox 360/One Developer: Bungie Publisher: Activision Players: 1, 1-6 Online Release Date: September 9, 2014
Shoot first, ask questions never.
Destiny seemed like a sure bet, an esteemed developer with a ton of money behind it doing what they do best but on a grander scale than ever before. What could go wrong? It turns out a lot could. The story is barely there, its mission structure is repetitive, the RPG elements are too light and its online innovations often hinder the experience just as much as they enhance it. But despite all of this the core gameplay still wins out with Bungie’s gunplay at its most satisfying against the lavishly painted galactic backdrop. Destiny unfortunately, now at the beginning of its ’10 year’ life, is not all it could have been. However it is a top class shooter set within one of the most beautiful galaxies ever crafted, hardly the worst starting place for a franchise that’s set to see numerous expansions in the coming years.
Its perhaps best to start with what’s best about Destiny. The shooting is top notch, each action you take is responsive and has a visible impact on the enemy. Whether you’re peppering a towering Cabal from afar or introducing a Fallen dreg to your fist, the enemy will feel every hit, visibly reacting to attacks wherever they may land. On top of this each class has its own specific skills that add an extra layer of individuality to proceedings. A Hunter may double jump with blinding speed to avoid enemy fire where a Titan could instead opt to toss a stun grenade to blind his foes instead. Furthermore supers allow each class to throw down some instant devastation in tight situations. These options along with their their equal reactions are endlessly satisfying and ensure that the flow of combat never leans too heavily on statistics alone.
Destiny is best enjoyed with others.
The impressive shooting can however mask the Destiny’s shortcomings in the RPG department. Its skill trees are narrow to say the least, rarely giving you any input in your characters development besides selecting skills as they’re made available one by one. Subclasses are unlocked at level 15 and do offer satisfying variations on the characters skill sets, but considering the level cap stands at 20 and the fact that you’ll be done with much of the games content by this point its arguably offering too little too late. The skills themselves each play a useful role in gunfights but often only offer different ways of achieving the same things. For instance across the 18 different grenade types available to all the classes, only a handful stand out as being anything but a different means of dealing the same damage. As a result skills are either too similar or used too infrequently to meaningfully change the way you play, which brings us to the similarly troubled weapon selection.
Each gun you’ll use is a delight to wield and can be upgraded in useful ways (albeit with a similar lack of options) but with only 9 base weapon types the room for variation is once more limited. Admittedly each weapon type can come in a multitude of varieties, but the differences between them are so subtle that you’ll rarely feel a tangible difference between one shotgun and another besides the obvious like magazine size. The selection of vehicles available, though all fun to use, is also slim which further narrows the possibilities in combat. Couple these with your limited skill set and you’ll soon find yourself disappointed whenever another guardian of the same class as you joins your team as you’ll find yourselves fulfilling the same role via the same methods. Ultimately as a first person shooter Destiny is a resounding success in terms of mechanics, but the sheer lack of options available means that your guardian won’t play awfully differently whether he’s level 5 or 20, which is disappointing for an RPG no matter which way you cut it.
It may come up short when applying RPG elements to its gameplay, however Destiny does succeed in designing a world (or worlds) within which the grandest of RPG’s could take place. Even though each is wildly different in appearance they’re all a pleasure to look at and combine actual playable areas with impressive artistic backdrops flawlessly. Terrain also plays its part in differentiating the four playable worlds, with Earth’s larger debris filled planes contrasting well with the likes of Venus’ more vertically orientated ruin filled canyons. There is an underlying problem however in that Destiny offers little reason for you to explore these planets besides the odd treasure chest and collectibles; furthermore few of the areas feel truly alive as there’s little sign of any of the locales having actually been lived in despite every area being rife with enemy forces. Its difficult however to truly criticise Destiny on this point as the areas serve their purpose as a backdrop for its action perfectly, its just that the open world nature of the game feels unneeded much of the time. Perhaps if there was more freedom in regards to how we explored and went about pursuing objectives within these areas the open world approach would be warranted, but once Destiny has dropped you off at the same starting point for the fifth time to travel to some other corner of the map its reuse of areas becomes repetitive rather than exploratory no matter how nice they look.
The Cabal are a force to be reckoned with.
Across these four worlds you’ll be shooting four different enemy races, each of which is a joy to encounter. Each faction behaves differently in combat and have interesting hierarchies that shift your priorities in battle. Fallen vandals may cloak and rush you forcing you out of your comfort zone if you’re sniping whereas shield wielding Cabal can create an impassable wall that can make a shotgun assault difficult to achieve. Few of the enemies skill sets are truly original but all are combined well to create factions that act very much as coherent units that are unique when sized up against each other. Bosses however, while generally enjoyable and challenging, are almost always super powered versions of normal enemies that you’ve fought numerous times before. Furthermore almost every boss boasts an aggravating ground pound attack that discourages getting up close; bosses that force you to change tactics are always appreciated but to have every boss exercise the same counter measure can grow tiring.
A mere glimpse at each race also gives the player an idea of their history, with the excellent art direction doing wonders for fleshing out these otherwise underdeveloped antagonists. The Cabal are a particular highlight, their imposing outline, brute force tactics and superb theme providing a fantastic challenge in the games final act. Martin O’Donnell’s soundtrack in fact contributes as much to the creation of the galaxy as the visuals do, its uplifting tracks throwing a more fantastical twist on the post apocalyptic sci-fi scene. From the oppressing tones that accompany the Vex to the Cabal’s imperialistic beats, this is some of O’Donnell’s best work to date.
Its a shame then, that given Destiny’s impressive galaxy, that every aspect of its story is lacklustre. Its central campaign barely attempts to give us a compelling reason to be rushing to our next objectives, our guiding ghost telling us to kill certain targets for no discernible reason at all. It does pick up in the second half of the campaign as the cast of characters, enemies and vistas are all expanded in different ways; but proceedings soon degrade back into vagueness before ending prematurely. Games don’t necessarily need brilliant stories to drive them if the core gameplay is strong enough, but Destiny makes out as if it is telling a grand tale whilst throwing out terms you’ll never learn the meaning of. The two driving forces of its galaxy, the heroic ‘Traveler’ and its opposite ‘Darkness’ are constantly referred to but are never explained in the least, not even to the extent where they could be enticing mysteries. You’ll be gunning down four races with little reason as to why you must, and its never clear whether they’re acting on behalf of the Darkness as they’re clearly not acting as one. The Cabal wage war against the Vex on Mars, but rather than even entertain the idea of an alliance (or explaining why one wouldn’t be possible) with one to defeat the other you’re simply instructed once more to kill everything that moves.
There’s some real character behind enemy design.
There’s been much criticism of the voice acting here, particularly in the case of Peter Dinklage’s Ghost, but its perhaps the writing that’s to blame as a performance can only be so good when you’ve clearly no idea what you’re talking about. The Queen of the Reef stops you from attacking her Fallen bodyguards (a usual victim of your guns) declaring that “It does understand these ones are mine” – we’ll never learn why, and its hard to shake the feeling that Destiny often doesn’t know why either. Grimoire cards can be unlocked (oddly these aren’t visible within the actual game) to flesh out the lore of the universe, but they generally fail to shed any light on any of the more important questions raised throughout Destiny’s campaign. No matter how epic the galaxy may be made out to be, you’ll only need to ask the question ‘why?’ after every sentence uttered and the illusion of depth soon falls apart. The reluctance to form any reason to press on in the campaign does unfortunately bleed into gameplay which often falls back on escorting your ghost companion from A to B and then defending him in wave based battles. Luckily the steady stream of new enemies and planets keeps this structure from ever becoming too much of a problem, but when you encounter a more memorable mission such as ‘Scourge of Winter’ it makes you wish the rest of the campaign could have that much energy behind it all the time.
There’s plenty to do outside of the campaign however. Patrol mode allows you to freely explore each of the four planets in pursuit of randomly generated missions, but the repetitive objectives and aforementioned lack of motivation for exploration will likely make this the mission mode you’ll spend the least time in by far. The Crucible is Destiny’s answer to competitive multiplayer, pitting guardians against each other on a surprisingly level playing field. The objective based modes place just as much emphasis on defending as they do killing which ensures any build of guardian can find an important place in their team, and playing long enough will make you appreciate your skills just as much as other classes.
Strikes challenge your fireteam of three to battle through some truly tough encounters that always end with great boss fights that demand team coordination. While they don’t escape the routine wave based scenarios, they do provide some of the best of what Destiny has to offer as the game is at its best when your overcoming the odds with friends. The boss battles, though still disappointingly just powered up versions of certain enemies, are far better than any you’ll encounter in the campaign due to some smart arena design. The bosses themselves still do little to change things up, but steady streams of reinforcements that force you to move and tightly designed arenas with plenty of cover make these lengthy encounters exciting where they could have easily become grating wars of attrition. *I’ll be updating this review once I’ve fully completed the Raid mission.
It is true that Destiny is best when played with friends, but when it comes to doing anything but enabling people to play together its online features seem half finished. Matchmaking facilities set up games quickly and generally hold steady throughout your session, but weaker internet connections can really suffer when Destiny forces players into another ones world. Slow down rarely occurs but you can expect to be booted when numerous players join to complete a public event, and the fact that Destiny will opt to break your existing team apart to allow you to play with strangers seems backwards. The Tower is always loaded with other players despite there being no reason for it to be; you’ll have limited means of communication and no facilities to organise groups within this hub but you’ll still have to wait for its lengthy loading times every time you pay it a visit as a result. Its important to emphasise that these features will only be problematic for some players and that communicating with other players can be fun despite it having little substance, but its hard to shake the feeling that Destiny does little to innovate with its much touted and sometimes invasive online components.
Venus sure is nice to look at.
Likewise the loot and customisation system seems to be content in doing enough and no more. You’ll be treated to a slow trickle of loot throughout the game that rarely excites no matter how powerful it is. Rarely did I find myself having to decide between two pieces of equipment as one was always better than the other, and I couldn’t even make use of good weapons I didn’t use since trading between players isn’t possible. Vehicles and ships come off even worse, with your personal Sparrow vehicles boasting few noticeable upgrades and ships amounting to nothing but customisable loading screens. Character customisation even feels unneeded, with its small selection of faces and hairstyles doing little to inspire creativity.
Destiny’s endgame just disappoints further beginning with its reward of a single mote of light, an item you’ll need plenty more of before you can purchase anything of worth. Its a sign of things to come, as all your activities post campaign will involve replaying missions several times with hopes of unlocking rare level cap enhancing equipment. It turns what should have been Destiny’s main appeal over other shooters into an exercise in repetition which will either hook players in or turn them off completely. There’s a solid 20 hours of fun to be had without the need to replay any content already, but Destiny squeezes this content for all its worth in the worst possible way. Some element of randomness could have helped Destiny greatly here as even the best encounters can grow stale when you’ve run into them for the umpteenth time with no hint of change or meaningful reward.
Verdict
Taken for what it is, Destiny is an excellent shooter backed by solid new features that can be a blast with friends. But digging a little deeper into its features more often than not yields disappointment as it becomes apparent that Bungie is content with doing enough and no more. It offers a good roster of game modes in one cohesive package that all entertain, but its difficult to commend its gameplay for having overcome any rocky waters given that the boat is never pushed out in the first place. Destiny is very much a mediocre story told by a brilliant story teller, you’ll be drawn in by the wonderful galaxy and satisfying gameplay but its average features prevent it from ever fulfilling its potential. It may not be a perfect start, but if it can learn from these initial shortcomings Destiny could very well be destined for greatness down the line.
Hits
+Excellent core shooting experience +Beautiful galaxy full of jaw dropping vistas +Engaging and challenging enemy factions +Strikes offer some of the best co-op action this year
Misses
-RPG elements are too shallow across the board –Non-existent story lets down the galaxy and its inhabitants –Limited array of weapons and vehicles –Offers little reason to explore its open areas –Underdeveloped online components
Platforms: Playstation 3/4, Xbox 360/One. Developer: Bungie Publisher: Activision Players: 1-3 Online Release Date: September 9, 2014
Halo, is it me you’re looking for?
Let’s get this out of the way, Destiny’s Beta was good, damn good in fact. It played like a completed game, its responsive controls and glitch free areas would have satisfied even those ready to nitpick its flaws. In other words you can tell that the $500 million this game cost has gone to good use, just imagining that this level of polish will run throughout the rest of this epic game is reassuring. Destiny has a lot in common with Mass Effect and Borderlands, but its the fact that it feels so like Halo that’s the best thing about it. If you’re going to build and epic first person shooter, Halo’s perfect super powered gunplay is one of the best places to start.
You’ll start off by creating your guardian, choosing their race and class. The customisation options were quite limited, but what was there certainly looked pretty. It was also quite satisfying to see how quickly your guardian differed from others with the acquisition of more class specific armour. Classes also felt notably different without any of them coming across as overpowered or less interesting when compared to another. Playing as the Titan I was pleased to see I brought a very different set of skills to the table compared to the Hunter I teamed with throughout the beta, even in the early stages. For instance my grenade made short work of the shields of Fallen captains, which opened them up to easy headshots from my co-op partner. It was simple team work, but it nonetheless emphasised the advantages of each class in a rewarding way. Finally the super abilities were awesome, feeling more akin to Final Fantasy’s limit breaks than Borderlands’ action skills with their lengthy recharge times but devastating power. There’s also the promise of a second (and potentially third judging by the empty space) skill tree for each class which is something that will even further differentiate the classes.
Thats one sleek menu.
You we’re given a fair chunk to play with, with most of what was on offer taking place in a single (albeit massive) area of Earth-Old Russia. The story missions gave what felt like the smallest peak into the story, unfortunately shedding next to no light on what was happening or where things were going but establishing the universe well enough to make me curious enough to want to play on. Gameplay wise the story faired far better, giving us a taste of fighting two alien factions and some enjoyable set pieces. Fighting each faction felt satisfyingly different, the tactical minded Fallen offering a different type of threat to the more aggressive Hive. The bigger battles offered some pretty challenging difficulty as well, something I was pleased to see on just the ‘Normal’ difficulty. You won’t be breezing through this game by any means, but you’ll most definitely feel like a bonafied badass when you come out on top. The short story missions however soon blended into one apart from the odd spectacular battle, the ‘go there and defend Peter Dinklage’ mission structure growing tiresome by the end of the beta.
Speaking of challenge, the strike mission that was available was the best on offer. A gauntlet that was far longer than any of the story missions, it threw dozens of enemies at you, including two formidable bosses. It was damn fun, and felt like far more of a fully fledged mission than the bite sized story exploits. The battle with the Devil Walker (a huge spider like tank) felt like a monumental task, with a bunch of varied attacks and a ton of health, it truly gave the impression of a group of footsoldiers going up against a tank (without the one shot kill solutions so many other shooters give to these situations). Calling the Devil Walker a bullet sponge however would be an understatement, as it took anywhere up to ten minutes to kill even when my fire team was nailing its critical spots and revealing its weak spot often. I personally like my bosses to be able to take a beating, but its important that the boss battle is fun in the first place. The Devil Walker wasn’t boring per se, but it had exhausted its handful of attacks early in the battle which made the rest of it feel slightly like an exercise in repetition. Furthermore for something with ‘Walker’ in its title and a cool looking set of spider legs it remained awfully stationary, only ever turning to shoot in different directions, which again emphasised repetition as you rarely had to move from a good section of cover once you’d found it.
The Hive like to get in your face.
The exploration mission gave you the opportunity to explore the Old Russia area in its entirety (though some areas were still blocked off) whilst picking up various missions along the way. Offering the whole area as an open world was appreciated but the missions soon dragged on (why can’t they just be assigned automatically rather than forcing us to traverse back and forth across the map to pick up their beacons) as they only offered pretty basic objectives, though the exploring alone made the mode a fun addition.
The Tower that serves as the games hub area was good fun to explore, but it didn’t have a great deal on offer besides its vendors and beautiful vistas. Something that struck me as odd was the fact that quality voice actors (I think I recognised Keith David) were present but only acted as glorified shop keepers and mission givers, I just hope that they’re given more to do in the final game. Peter Dinklage however, despite all his voice over controversy, was solid as the friendly AI Ghost and I can see him growing on me as we spend more time together in the final game.
Its one pretty game.
The Crucible was a blast. There I said it. A fair few have been expressing their dislike for it on the internet but I found it to be well balanced considering it was having to put wildly different character builds on an even playing field. Its also important to point out that its labelled as PvP rather than competitive multi-player, so going into it expecting an evenly matched experience through and through like Halo would be a mistake. I felt powerful as my Titan, but I also learned to appreciate how deadly the other classes could be. I could take out a whole team with my Fist of Havoc ability, and feel a rush of achievement for it, but I’d also get annihilated by the Hunters or Warlocks abilities just as often. It deserves praise for making you’re class feel empowering in certain situations whilst also making you appreciate the power of the others the next second as well.
To sum up the Destiny Beta, it was one of the best looking and well polished games I’ve experienced in a while. There was also a great variety of modes on offer, each of which was fun in its own way. In a wise move Bungie also ensures that you’ll level up and find gear no matter what mode you’re playing, so no matter what you’re fire team fancies you’ll never begrudge it as you’re Guardians going to gain from it. As I’ll detail in the next section of this post, there’s a lot Destiny can still do to improve what it already has, but even if it ships just as it is it’ll be one hell of a game.
Now on to my hopes for the full release of the game…
1-More interaction options
He just wants to dance.
The taunts available were great, initiating a group dance off being particularly hilarious, but they were limited. Having the option to buy more taunt options would be appreciated and would further the players capacity to make their character unique. Furthermore the sooner they add the option to trade items with players the better. First off it’d remove the disappointment of finding items you just aren’t interested in, and second it would just add another means to be friendly with other players (something Bungie is admirably pushing).
2-Greater customisation options
Which face to choose…
The number of options you could choose from in character creation were pretty limited, and seemed to range from mundane to insane with no middle ground. Here’s hoping they add more options come the full release, as knowing there’s only a handful of faces amongst the millions playing this game would remove the magic just a bit.
3-Better bosses
Devil Walker not Squatter.
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the bosses on offer here, but they could be better. I reckon little changes like giving the Devil Walker more mobility could increase the intensity of a boss fight, forcing you to move and change up your tactics, and would make the ten minute battles far less of a slog. Then again we’ve only seen a few bosses, so the rest of them could already be an improvement over these.
4-More meaningful vehicles
The Sparrow’s a blast.
The sparrows were awesome once I realised they were basically the horses of this game (though summoning them could be awkward), serving as a more enjoyable and convenient way of getting from A to B. But I hope we get more variation on these than the simple palette swaps available in the beta. The ships also seemed to suffer from this, for the time being appearing to be nothing more than an aesthetic choice. The Pike’s that turned up on the moon were fun to use, but compared to the likes of Halo vehicle’s seemed to be awfully sparse. I still yearn for massive battles such as those against the Scarabs in Halo 3, and seeing set pieces like this turn up in Destiny would be amazing.
5–Improved Campaign
Things did improve on the Moon.
This applies to both the narrative and the mission structure. While I was interested by the hyperbole thrown around by some of the characters in the first few missions, Destiny could do with more substance to help tide you over until you do encounter this ‘Darkness’. Likewise the missions could do with more variety and scope, as progressing to a destination and then having to protect your Ghost whilst he does something or other will only remain engaging for so long. As with the bosses, who knows whether the quality of the story will improve past the beta’s missions, but I certainly hope it will. As an aside, its a shame to see that the cut scenes only include your Guardian. Since you’ve reached that point with a team, it would be nice to see that team standing next to you during a conversation.
6-Expanded Tower
The Tower’s got potential.
The Tower was fine as it was, but there are a few additions that could improve it. Simple things like a shooting range for comparing your guns or even a public area dedicated to forming fire teams or just goofing around could inject more usefulness and life into the hub.
So what were your thoughts on the beta? Have any improvements in mind? Let me know in the comments! Finally here’s an infographic that Bungie has released revealing the impressive statistics of the beta. Destiny is released on September 9th on Xbox 360/One and PS3/4.
Platforms: Playstation 3/4, Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360/One Developer: Ubisoft Montpellier Publisher: Ubisoft Players: 1 Release Date: June 25, 2014
This wars personal.
Valiant Hearts is a rare game, one that’s set during the first world war but features very little shooting at all. Instead its purely about the four central characters and how the war affects them, and the dog that ties them all together. That and the war itself, a dire setting that has been recreated passionately with an astute attention to detail. All this is presented through a beautifully drawn art style, simple and cartoon like it paints this dark era of history in a much brighter light, which makes the moments when it emphasises the darkness even bleaker. Don’t let the visuals fool you, its unflinching in its portrayal of the horrors of war, though its just as keen to display acts heroism no matter how small.
Valiant Hearts shows war for what it is.
The story is told from alternating perspectives. It offers the grandfather Emile who’s adamant on seeing his family safe, his son-in-law Karl who is reluctantly taken from his family and drafted into the German army, the American hero with a troubled heart Freddie and the courageous Anna who sets out to treat the wounds of anyone she can help. Even though there’s no traditional dialogue beyond narration, just vague mumbles to convey what they’re getting at, each one comes across vividly. They’re all aided in one way or another by a faithful dog, who in a way embodies what Valiant Hearts is all about. Being just a dog he doesn’t see the men he’s helping as French or German, just as friends, and he insists on doing everything he can to prevent the death of his friends. Its refreshing to see the best of human nature shine in a setting that is a consequence of the worst of it. You’ll feel for these people, and by the end of the campaign you’ll truly appreciate their anguish, joy and resolve. And it really hits home that this game covers the hardships of only four of the millions that suffered in this conflict.
Visually everything you see is wonderful to look at. You’ll be treated to beautiful vistas untouched by war in the beginning, which contrast all the more with the ravaged landscapes you witness in later levels. One of Emile’s later levels is particularly harrowing, having to climb over dozens of corpses as you push on through the dire trenches will remain with you for some time after, all the more so because of its hand drawn art style. Its telling of the games influence on the player when at a certain point it made me make the same mistake the character did without hesitation, I felt just the way the character did, but regretted my actions afterwards just like they did as well. Safe to say you’ll be able to relate to and sympathise with the events on screen because of the personal level on which they are played out, despite them having taken place decades before many players would have been born. Finally the soundtrack deserves a special mention, its main theme alone capturing the beauty of the characters against the sadness of the war perfectly.
Emile is one to be remembered.
After all though this is a game, and unfortunately its gameplay is where it comes up short. Its mix of simple puzzle solving and platforming (you won’t be jumping but timing is needed to avoid the many hazards) plays well and encompasses its variety of objective types well. However during the relatively short campaign these simple mechanics won’t evolve much at all, you’ll be solving many of your problems in the later stages in the same way you did in the beginning. Its a shame that the gameplay rarely increases in difficulty or complexity to reflect the more dangerous scenarios you’re plunged into. Likewise there are numerous collectibles to scour levels for, but after my first playthrough in which I did my usual level of exploration, I was only missing 2 of over a hundred. Its a shame to see an aspect of the game that could have encouraged numerous playthroughs made so easy. However upon reading the details ascertained through finding these collectibles it becomes clear once more that Valiant Hearts is far more concerned with telling its story. Each entry details whatever little piece of history you’ve found to paint a greater picture of the great war setting. Having only basic knowledge of the first world war before I started playing Valiant Hearts (WW2 was given far more emphasis in my history lessons) I was thoroughly interested to learn more about this important time, and Valiant Hearts deserves praise for giving its player every opportunity to do so.
Verdict
Gameplay wise Valiant Hearts is competent but unambitious, only ever impressing with the odd novel puzzle. But that’s not what Valiant Hearts is about, its about the people who struggled and shined during the war. Its main concern is giving insight into what it must have been like to be caught up in this war, and through combining its beautiful art style, inspiring story and real slices of history it undoubtedly succeeds.
Hits
+Beautiful art style +Endearing main cast +Remarkable amount of historic detail to delve into +Perfect soundtrack
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