Destiny Public BETA [PS4 / PS3 / 360 / XBO] review

[concretesnail]

It is quite likely that with a little over a month until release it is final code and production is already in progress. And that the beta we are playing now will be the information they use for the day one patch.

On the testing front, did anyone have issues yesterday with the chat function. When I used game chat I had massive reverb and chat audio coming out the speakers as well as the headset and couldn't get it to stop. So went for party chat and that worked fine if the snap thing was there in the side of the screen, but if you nudged it off and went back to full screen the chat channel was blocked despite still being in the party. Snap the party window open again and the audio returned.

A quick question, if anyone can help. On the destination screen the mission briefing have coloured stripes over the top edge, what do the different colours designate and why are some xb gold only as a requirement?

On a straight game play view I did start to enjoy it last night working in a fire team and working the powers and weapons to compliment each other's attacks worked really well

[Asura]

Don't you mean the Beta demo ? . I think people need to remember it's just a demo

I disagree. People often say this, but I think people should judge a game based on the demo. What else is the demo for?

(that being said, this is a beta which is slightly different)

[PeteJ]

Has the beta ended now? I didn't get to see everything (didn't try the Strike mission and only tried two rounds of MP, and not the second mode that opened up last night).

I like what I see despite and some reservations about how much content there is in the final game, I'll be getting this at launch. I agree with the comments about the AI not being particularly interesting (but still better than most games), but the combat is still really engaging especially when you have the hive guys charging you and wizards at the back throwing space magic at you. The end of the final story mission on Earth had a nice set-piece I thought, really enjoyed that.

The moon level was very nice. I wasn't sure how they'd make the moon interesting, thinking it would suffer from Mass Effect 1 boring planet exploration, but it was absolutely stunning to look at. The lighting and art direction was really quite something, which gives hope that the rest of the game will remain interesting...

...but I still have doubts about the length of the game and the business model. The story missions are all really short and although we didn't get to do all the missions on Old Russia - there is a zone with massively high enemies that wipe you out instantly - the beta still covered the majority of the map. It's heavily rumoured, and now all but confirmed, that each planet will only have one area. So Old Russia is all we'll see of Earth. The main map screen had slots for what, four planets? If they are all the size of Earth that isn't as much content as I was hoping for.

For all the talk during development of additional areas in Earth, such as Old Chicago, and that Destiny has a ten year plan, I fear we're getting a fairly short single player component with a whole load of paid DLC coming later.
Saw this posted on GAF - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhNk...edirect=1#t=72 - listen to the first few minutes. The scope of the game must have been really pulled back in the past twelve months.

[EvilBoris]

Isn't the whole point of the game to grind yourself to tears? I can't see the main story taking any less time to complete than any other blockbuster. Especially as they can physically stop you from proceeding due to enemies being invincible if you are too many levels below them.

[originalbadboy]

Isn't the whole point of the game to grind yourself to tears? I can't see the main story taking any less time to complete than any other blockbuster. Especially as they can physically stop you from proceeding due to enemies being invincible if you are too many levels below them.

Yep that should be how it works, however if there isnt enough area / missions then it wont matter.

I share the same concern regarding size of the game (at launch) ideally its needs to have about the same content as something like Guild Wars 2 or Borderlands ... If its just a few Earth sized places with 5 or so missions people will have done everything in a matter of hours, regardless of whether you need to grind or not.

If there isnt enough content at launch and it turns out they are quite obviously taking the piss for DLC then I wont be going any further with it than the base game,

[EvilBoris]

Tge Old Russia area was pretty damn big and there were areas that were blocked off. Im sure i played like 5 hours on the alpha/beta on that level alone. Even if I multiply that by 5 then you've actuslly got a fair bit of content, that's begire the game demands you enter tournaments etc

[Tobal]

As im starved games to play on my ps4, destiny is just about good enough to warrant getting the base version with out any of that season pass bull****, as i'm way to wary of there being to little content with only 4 areas and the hub tower to go to, and I've seen rumors there is only 10 strike missions... so I guess Bungie will expect pvp and it rewards for gear to tie us over till they throw out expensive "expansions", back in the glory days of PC expansionw where as big in content as the original game.

[bcass]

Activision's involvement makes me fear the worst regarding the concerns above. I'll probably wait until a while after the dust has settled before jumping in, to see exactly how they plan to milk this one. Which is a shame, because the beta has been great, but with the amount of investment involved in this project, you can guarnatee it has been designed around a very stringent business model.

[fishbowlhead]

anybody else underwhelmed with this 500 million dollar game?

honestly, i really don't see how this game will hold my interest once i have seen all locations and done with the so called "story missions". everything about it is so unimaginative and familiar, be it Borderlands, Halo or Mass Effect, but it never comes close to each one of them. bosses have ridiculously high health bars which render every showdown an exercise in patience, even if fighting in a team. loot is rare and heavy weapon ammo even more. the upgrade system is linear, leaving not much room for experimentation. the story is trivial and i don't even dare to compare it to the sci-fi epic that Halo is.

a good and nice looking shooter that i will most likely pick up at some lower price point. but for now i cancelled my preorder.

good luck with this Bungie!

It's managed to drag me out of my gaming hole and switch the ps3 on to play seriously for the first time since Journey. I've seen some real crap get absolutely raved about on here the last year, over rated, broken dross like battlefield4 that was poored over, though on playing was completely undeserved of said attention.

This in the other hand, looks fantastic, has great art, plays great and the online is just superb, a real step up and fully deserved of the attention.

Some people are just hard to please

[nonny]

I don't get the appeal to be honest but I'm hoping the beta is effectively hiding some of the things which will raise the bar in the final game.

The gunplay is too floaty for starters. This has lots of halo elements but it pales in comparison to it in terms of accuracy and gunplay. This isn't too bad in the missions against dumb AI but in PVP it just feels sluggish. As such I didn't like the PVP at all and I didn't like the announcer either.

When Halo is coming back end of this year with 100 multiplayer maps, all that customisation, weapon balance and classic gameplay I'd hoped Bungie themselves would show it up as a remake, but this from a multiplayer standpoint is a definite step back.

As for the missions and co-op. Yeah it's not bad but it's been done before. This has tonnes of polish graphically and the audio is absolutely gorgeous... But I just think the gameplay is missing some zap. As such I am hoping the progression is good and unlocks some genuine delights at higher levels. I hope the enemies become crazier as well and more then anything I hope sincerely that the narrative is on a par with something like Mass Effect.

I think this is going to decent, no doubt. But I think when the hype wanes and dust settles it'll just be another borderlands, sprinkled with some halo-ness. I'll not be pre-ordering and I'll most likely wait it out till it's cheap before deciding whether to jump in.

[originalbadboy]

Tge Old Russia area was pretty damn big and there were areas that were blocked off. Im sure i played like 5 hours on the alpha/beta on that level alone. Even if I multiply that by 5 then you've actuslly got a fair bit of content, that's begire the game demands you enter tournaments etc

The area is big enough granted, however its nowthere near stuffed with missions like Borderlands is. I dont know exactly how many hours I put into the area but I would say it wanst more than a couple at the most. And that was doing every mission, and then again on Hard. Yeah there are the public events, but if we are just talking about missions then I dont think thats a massive amount of content.

Dont get me wrong there is enough to do initially at least, but when you consider that with Borderlands you would probably spend at least 30 hours doing all the main missions and side missions, this is starting to look a little light on content, with the rest being held back by paid DLC.

If (and this is the great unknown) there are 4 or 5 beta sized areas you are probably looking at 10 hours tops of content, possibly 8 hours at the most. Thats COD territory not Borderlands, if it transpires that's the case I wont be getting any DLC, as that is the usual Activision piss take.

[fishbowlhead]

The area is big enough granted, however its nowthere near stuffed with missions like Borderlands is. I dont know exactly how many hours I put into the area but I would say it wanst more than a couple at the most. And that was doing every mission, and then again on Hard. Yeah there are the public events, but if we are just talking about missions then I dont think thats a massive amount of content.

Dont get me wrong there is enough to do initially at least, but when you consider that with Borderlands you would probably spend at least 30 hours doing all the main missions and side missions, this is starting to look a little light on content, with the rest being held back by paid DLC.

If (and this is the great unknown) there are 4 or 5 beta sized areas you are probably looking at 10 hours tops of content, possibly 8 hours at the most. Thats COD territory not Borderlands, if it transpires that's the case I wont be getting any DLC, as that is the usual Activision piss take.

How did you only spend a few hours in the Russia area? It's packed with things to look at and crannies, then there's the free mission to mess around in with other players just milling around. The way the events happen is really organic as well, the way random strangers suddenly all pile in and help each other is awesome. Then you have the much better AI, though not to halo CE standard, plus the way enemies appear from drop ships is infinitely better than a magic door.

After recently completing borderlands2 this is on a whole nother level.

[Golgo]

Well I played the beta to death and enjoyed it quite a lot. The server/netcode side of things is impressively solid. For all it's technical solidity, though, I feel there's something naggingly bland and safe about it all. I'm wondering now whether Evolve might be more appealing, innovative and characterful, so I look forward to hearing lucky Xbox1 folks' views on that beta.

[FelixofMars]

Well I have to say I was a bit dubious in one match I had to how some people are THAT good. I was getting bored of getting shot each time I walked out so decided to be sneaky. I was hiding for a few minutes waiting for someone to come past my area. I was crouching and not moving at all, the first thing they did on entering the area was to turn around and come straight over to where I was hiding and cap me. I guess just luck/being through but I cant really explain how they knew unless the radar has been changed from Halo to show you even when not moving/firing.

Its more the skill+killer setups based around maximum damage in one shot and effective use of the radar being used on on halo mp newbies.

[Team Andromeda]

I disagree. People often say this, but I think people should judge a game based on the demo. What else is the demo for?

Its's just a demo and many demo's don't always reflect well on the final product . Looking over that if I just played the 1st level of Halo say in a demo - I would have thought the game was total crap- it took a while to get going and by the 3rd level of Halo I was totaly hooked .