Community Review: The Destiny Beta

Almost everyone I know is playing the Destiny Beta and if you’re not? You’ve probably seen a ton of streams, video, and screenshots from the folk who have.The successful Alpha drove the world of mouth, the large scale beta is pushing things into the stratosphere.

The Beta has been, arguably, the most ingenious piece of marketing Bungie could have realistically come up with. Not only has it given codes to people who pre-ordered, the folks who pre-ordered have an extra two codes they can dole out to friends — it’s the ultimate pay it forward scheme. And the game is so good: I’d say that a vast majority of the folks being given free codes? They’re going to buy Destiny. Once you’ve played it, it’s going to be pretty hard to resist. It’s just that good.

Why is it so good? It’s hard to explain. I’d say that it combines the smooth, perfectly pitched mechanics of Halo with the devilish number wizardry of WoW. When you take that raw, rewarding feel of Halo-style gunplay and combine it with a robust levelling system — you’re bound to have something pretty spectacular indeed.

Also: sweet mother of god it looks good. It looks so good on the PS4. It’s not just the raw texture work, it’s the art itself. The world itself is beautiful and it feels brilliantly considered and delicately designed.

And those skyboxes. Jesus Christ those skyboxes. On my Facebook at the moment, there are about three photos of Destiny skyboxes on my feed, and that’s how it is at practically any given time. When you are out in the open, there is something glorious to look at. Always. At any given time you can look up at the sky and fall in love.

My only regret is that I haven’t spent enough time with it so far. I’ve been so busy: I’m moving house, I’m playing World of Warcraft for my Idiot in Azeroth series — but at any given time you can find me daydreaming about Destiny, and the beautiful world it’s set in. Yep, I think I’m a bit of a fan of this game.


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