Destiny Alpha Review

It has been many years since I have really, really anticipated the release of a new game, film, or book. Bungie’s announcement of Destiny changed that, and history was made when it became the first title I ever pre-ordered. Pre-ordering gives access to the Beta version of the game next month, but I was lucky enough to gain access to the Alpha, the first A-list title I’ve had the fortune of experiencing such an early version of. Bearing in mind some of the shoddy Betas I have participated in, I wasn’t really sure what to expect. What I got was a finely polished game which could quite easily stand as a demo to the full game. I still have concerns that it will not live up to the hype or my expectation, but so far my experiences show me that Destiny is very, very good.

The game is nothing revolutionary mind you; it takes a lot of aspect of various games and cements them in a fantastically designed user interface. As I mentioned, the game feels really polished already and there are little details that add to the experience such as the HUD and menu system’s fantastic design. Having said that, the inventory and character screen is a little overwhelming and it does take a short while to get used to. This leads me onto my only real gripe about what was put in front of me: I dont know if there will be a tutorial in the final product, but there is an awful lot of history behind the story and a lot of aspects of the game itself are left largely unexplained. I have had to come away and search the internet for some things just to see what they actually do or mean. The armour and gun upgrade system is complex and isn't explained at all and the menu system is unlike anything I have seen before, yet there is little in the way of help when it comes to navigating them.

The world, atmosphere and overall handing feels a lot like Borderlands and I think playing with friends will only enhance that. I can’t say that I have any experience playing Massively Multiplayer Online games, but the character customisation is on par with what I imagine something like World of Warcraft would be. There is also a Dark Souls-esc drop in/out system where random players can wind up in your world at any time.

The gameplay is smooth and the lands are astonishingly big, something which creates the downside that initial loading screens are quite long; although maybe that's because I have been spoilt by the instantaneous loading of Killzone: Shadow Fall. Having said all of that; there are next to no loading screens when actually playing the game on ground level, so it all evens out in the grand scheme of things.

My biggest concern is with Destiny is that after a while it could begin feel just like grinding levels, an issue I had with Borderlands 2 and Skyrim (although for whatever reason wasn’t one I had with Borderlands or Fallout 3). It will be interesting to see what Bungie do to keep the game fresh.

Finally, the aspect of the game which I haven’t even mentioned yet is the player versus player competitive match-up. The Alpha gave access to a Domination-style match set on two different maps which highlighted the fact that victory comes with tactical flexibility. The first map is a close quarters, corridor orientated ruin where the shotgun runs riot – however game’s double jump feature throws the proverbial cat amongst the pigeons as both friends and enemies can easily hop over the walls and obstacles to catch the opposition unaware. The second available map, showing off Destiny’s beautiful, other-worldly locations is a large, open map featuring a multitude of vehicles and turrets, where close quarters combat is restricted to the centre building but the rest of the map is a danger zone where a player is as likely to find themselves in the sights of a sniper as they are beneath a speeding hover-bike.

Even in its alpha stage, Destiny delivers a tight, polished experience which strongly suggests that the post-announcement hype has not gone unfounded. It is difficult to see what Bungie will add to the game for the Beta-test due later this month but if the Alpha is anything to go to and the developers are able to keep the game fresh after over one hundred hours of play, Destiny could well be the game to play for the next few years.

Simon Jenkins