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The Hawk Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Gamer's Corner column [The Hawk Eye, Burlington, Iowa](Hawk Eye, The (Burlington, IA) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Sept. 14--"Destiny" available for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 for $59.99. Rated "T" for Teen. There's never been a game as big as "Destiny." I'm not basing that on the actual size of the game maps, mind you, but on the sheer amount of dollars that have gone into the project. Mega-publisher Activision claims the game has a long term budget of $500 million, far eclipsing the most expensive "Grand Theft Auto" games. "Destiny" just hit store shelves Tuesday, and on Wednesday, Activision announced it already had made that $500 million back in sales. Though it didn't outsell such juggernauts as "Grand Theft Auto V" (which made $800 million its first day), or "Call of Duty: Ghosts" (which earned more than $1 billion in one day), it does make it the biggest original video game launch in history. Which leaves just one question. Is it any good? Those who read my gushing praise of the beta version of "Destiny" six weeks ago already know I'm in love with the mechanics. But the longevity of the title will come in the form of large scale raids and public events that I have yet to experience, making my answer far from complete. Looks like I'm not the only game critic with that problem. A quick glance at Metracritic reveals only a handful of reviews, simply because there hasn't been enough time to explore everything. I've spent more time playing "Destiny" alone than I have with friends, and the crux of the end-game content requires real life cooperation. Where "Destiny" ranks on my best games of the year list in January will provide better insight into those aspects. Right now, I'm happy enough with the game's story missions and side quests to give it a perfect score. It's certainly the prettiest game I've every played (gotta love that constant frame rate), and the buttery smooth controls have kept me glued to the TV for hours. I haven't been this enamored with an open-world FPS since the highly underrated "Rage" back in 2011. Considering what a genre-bender "Destiny" is, it would be more accurate to call it an FPS with an online persistent world and light role-playing sensibilities. But even that unwieldy description fails to capture the game's melting pot mechanics. Set seven hundred years in a post-apocalyptic future that follows a prosperous period of exploration and technological advancement, players take the role of "guardians" -- the last defenders of humanity. The only known survivors of the alien plague were saved by a white, spherical celestial body that enabled humans to reach the stars. Despite the numerous sci-fi tropes that may ring a bit too familiar, the story and presentation have a unique, ethereal feel, much like Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey." Though the game basically boils down to shooting the crap out of hordes of aliens, it always feels like there is something larger at play. A reason behind the slaughter that may serve a higher purpose. Then again, it could just be the haunting theme song that adds credence to the game's violence. Much like "Halo," the title screen of "Destiny" opens with gentle choir-like vocals, which should come as no surprise since it's from the same developers. That's not the only trick the developers at Bungie pulled out of their "Halo" playbook. Though the aliens and environments have a much less cartoony look, the overall visual style makes "Destiny" feel a lot like a "Halo" reboot. Massive, brightly colored aliens fire slow-moving bursts of plasma that remind me of the needler guns and Hunters from the original "Halo." You even have a little robotic helper (voiced by Peter Dinklage from "Game of Thrones"), who flits about to activate long lost technology while you defend him from the encroaching hordes of baddies. The combat feels even more like "Halo," complete with a quickly recharging shield that allows for aggressive attack and retreat strategies. Thanks to the multitude of powers allotted to each guardian, you'll spend far more time attacking than running away. Those abilities continue to grow as you level up, allowing players to disintegrate groups of enemies with a single action. As a warlock with a powerful melee blast, I often rush into a battle head first, picking off baddies from a distance as I close in. From there, I can throw a psychically charged grenade, creating chaos among the ranks. That's followed by a large blast of melee energy, which recharges my grenade so I can keep the onslaught going. It's an intoxicating pattern of controlled chaos that keeps me endlessly entertained. And since this game has a lot of random weapons floating around, I often change my strategy based on the newest toy I stumble upon. I didn't think I would care for the ultra-long range sniper rifle until I found one. I ended up using it for the next two hours. Much like "Borderlands," everything in the game can be tackled cooperatively with online friends, which is a big help when you're surrounded by high-level aliens. That teamwork is best utilized for special strike missions that group random strangers together, unless you bring along a couple of buddies. I've only spent a couple of hours teaming up with one of my friends (the same one who played "Borderlands" with me), and it definitely multiplies the fun. You'll also run across a lot of strangers crisscrossing the play areas, which gives the sparse universe a much livelier feel. The spacey visuals and character models are very reminiscent of the "Mass Effect" series, which isn't surprising, given how many sci-fi influences that franchise has. Getting to the end of the story takes about 15 to 20 hours if you ramrod your way through without exploration, and that's where "Destiny" becomes more of a mystery. Many critics already are complaining about the size of the game, which is structured into several distinct zones rather than one open-world environment. Right now, you can only play on Earth, the moon, Mars and Venus -- with a few ancillary locations such as The Reef, Cassini and Mercury thrown in for good measure. Each planet features a limited (though fairly large) playing area, and you'll see those same areas over and over as you take on more missions. In it's current form, "Destiny" is my favorite game of the year, though not my favorite game of the decade. The potential for it to grow into something larger may change that, if the developers at Bungie are to be believed. The game's current limitations do little to detract from the fun, so they already have the perfect template. The rest of "Destiny" comes on a promise -- a promise of big team raids that have yet to be fully explained, and downloadable content that is supposed to keep the game relevant for the next 10 years. The first two expansions are planned for December, coming in a single package that will run you $34.99. Let's just hope it's not a quick cash grab designed to make the game more expensive than it should be. I'm already in love with "Destiny." Now I'm just looking for a long-term reason to marry it. Four out of Four Stars ___ (c)2014 The Hawk Eye (Burlington, Iowa) Visit The Hawk Eye (Burlington, Iowa) at www.thehawkeye.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |