A Look at Destiny: Beta

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Image courtesy of Destiny

Image courtesy of Destiny

Readers who are up to date with video games news will recognize Destiny as a big name game and a huge selling point for the PS4 and Xbox One systems. After releasing Xbox exclusive content for some time, the creative team at Bungie decided to give a new story a try. And while Destiny isn’t exactly Halo, it’s still got the same charm that came with those games. It’s got all the trappings of a good sci-fi and post-apocalypse story, and so far it seems to be coming together in a very interesting way.


Although the full game isn’t out, the Beta has been up for the last few days for Playstation users. It goes through the first few story levels of the game, bringing us to Old Russia on Earth, and allows us to experience the story missions as well as a free roam and an instance run. Although the level cap is currently 8, that’s enough to unlock all the different weapon types, the special powers that come with each class, and the upgraded melee attacks for them as well as the PVP arena, The Crucible, and the bounties that come with it. There was a special event on the 19th and 20th called the Iron Banner, which showcased a new area of the Tower (a sort of central hub area where players can buy items), as well as two new PVP maps, one on Mars and one on Earth to compliment the Moon and Venus maps. The PVP maps were gorgeous and it will be interesting to see what other locations are released as time goes on.

One of the major things that might have some people surprised if they don’t play a lot of online games is the appearance of other people as they  wander around areas. Even if you’re going on a story mission, other players will be around doing their own missions, killing enemies, and even participating in public events. Public events are open to anyone who wants to take time to do them, and are usually quite short. After that, players can be back on their merry way.


There’s much to rave about when it comes to the game. While the voice acting has been criticized, fans will recognize not only Peter Dinklage from Game of Thrones, but also Nathan Fillion of Firefly and Castle fame, Nika Futterman from The Clone Wars cartoons, and Lance Reddick from Fringe. The graphics are all stunning, and the gameplay is simple and easy to pick up. It’s easy to change between the three classes, which all have their ups and downs. The Hunter is a typical sniper and long range support class, with a knife that can be thrown and used as basic melee. The Titan is almost the very definition of a tank, able to punch enemies into submission or get in close and shotgun them. The final class is the Warlock, and while it hovers between long and short range support, it seems to shine somewhere in the middle. All three classes are enjoyable, although I personally enjoy the Hunter and Titan classes the most.
While the Beta will be closed for maintenance for a couple of days, it will reopen to all gamers on Wednesday. Xbox users will get their time in the world until it recloses again on the 27th, this time until the game is finally released.

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