Destiny

[Frenetic Pony]

Man[, if they could give me something like Defiance but with Halo mechanics and a little bit of Borderlands then I would be very happy indeed.

 It's not that, much more Borderlands and much less MMO.

 

So far as I can tell it's Borderlands and Halo mashed up as gameplay in a kind of Star Warsy universe. With "Borderlands" part coming in with like, 8-16 player multiplayer, auto co-op matchmaking, and a big "common" area or something. Which would sound fantastic if the last really good game that Bungie made was Halo 1.

[Merus]

I think you and I played very different Halos 1 and 3. The Halo 1 I remember involved walking through the same room for an hour, punctuated by all-too-brief set pieces outside. And then! Two levels later you do it all again, except backwards.

[gregbrown]

Thank God that Bungie finally earned the creative freedom to make a sci-fi shooter with vehicles.

[Merus]

Thank God that Bungie finally earned the creative freedom to make a sci-fi shooter with vehicles.

 

with things that we've never seen before in a video game although we've seen things very much like them in quite a lot of video games

[Dosed]

Thank God that Bungie finally earned the creative freedom to make a sci-fi shooter with vehicles.

I lol'd. 

 

I was initially quite skeptical about Destiny but then I realised I never really played the Halo series for the campaign anyway, so if they can nail the multiplayer then I might have to give this a look in.  

[Frenetic Pony]

I think you and I played very different Halos 1 and 3. The Halo 1 I remember involved walking through the same room for an hour, punctuated by all-too-brief set pieces outside. And then! Two levels later you do it all again, except backwards.

 

The one where Halo 1 had the best local co-op shooter campaign in ever and Halo 3 sucked. Get past the art and Halo 1 is simply an amazing, fantastic campaign when played co-op. It also had the best multiplayer of any Halo in most every way, the Halo 1 pistol is still one of the funnest weapons in any multiplayer shooter history ever, but they removed because it wasn't "balanced". Even though it was fun as hell to sit on Hang'em High and just snipe people from all the way across the map.

[melmer]

[Thrik]

Oh boy, the fact that the back of the central dude's helmet looks like Master Chief is something I just can't un-see.

 

[melmer]

Oh yeah isn't there a new trailer today...?

I think that cover is very pretty. I'm so glad "video games" have moved away from all that modern warfare shit. It's time for futurism and magic!

Edit. Yep 3 minutes ago

[melmer]

Preorder for beta access... I'd quite like to get in on that

Aaaand done through amazon. £55 though :-/ I'd hope those prices come down a little nearer the time.

http://www.destinythegame.com/wheretobuy

[Frenetic Pony]

I can't help but feel totally unexcited for this. It looks like a boring Borderlands beat for beat, moment for moment. I've already GOT Borerlands. I've got my Diablo like Co-op MMO-ish/FPS like Hybrid. Except mine's got a great sense of humor, local co-op, a more unique and wacky arty style, and already looks more tuned in and conscious of what it is and what it's trying to be. Ok, it doesn't have automated co-op matchmaking YET, but Borderlands 3 is no doubt already planned.

[darthbator]

Isn't the next borderlands game that borderworlds project. I thought that's what the next chapter was looking like.

[Murdoc]

As someone who liked the idea of borderlands, but hated the world, piss poor humor, "style", and gameplay, it looks like Destiny is intended for people like me. 

[melmer]

Played 15mins of the alpha. Teamed up with thumbs reader James. We killed a wizard then did some break dancing. It was the best

They totally nail the Star Wars hover bikes which you can summon at any time... Maybe only outside

[Bjorn]

Played 15mins of the alpha. Teamed up with thumbs reader James. We killed a wizard then did some break dancing. It was the best

They totally nail the Star Wars hover bikes which you can summon at any time... Maybe only outside

 

I've paid very little attention to Destiny.  Your post just created like a dissonance fracture in my head, as it doesn't jive at all with the limited ideas I had about Destiny.

[Twig]

...Yeah I'm with you Bjorn, I did not think of Destiny as that kind of game.

 

I'm slightly more interested now. But also it's still a console FPS.

[singlespace]

I'm surprised this isn't more popular amongst Thumbs...  it's a game where you fight wizards on the moon. WIZARDS ON THE MOON.

[Griddlelol]

I like the sound of Destiny, but it's not interesting enough for me to buy a PS4. Which brings me to another issue with this "type" of game. The online coop seems to be ingrained in it. If I pick up Destiny months after the release, I bet no one will still be playing. 

I feel like that with Titanfall. I'm glad I got to play at the start, and feel like I got my money's worth but the game is a bit shit now. Long matchmaking queues and people who trash me because I've not played it every day since release. I worry Destiny will be like that too.

[quantum_leopold]

Argh, I was really excited when I heard there'd be Alpha access this weekend on PSN.  Unfortunately I'd been out for a funeral all week, so only really occasionally glancing at E3 coverage, so it's just this morning I see that it looks like you had to sign up to receive alpha access?  Is that right?  What're the odds they do what the Titanfall guys did and say at some point "okay, everyone can get on now?"  Gonna keep my fingers crossed.  Watching a bit on Twitch and it looks pretty neat.

[Twig]

I'm willing to bet Destiny is one of those few games people WILL still be playing (provided it doesn't end up being complete dog shit).

[ariskany_evan]

Argh, I was really excited when I heard there'd be Alpha access this weekend on PSN.  Unfortunately I'd been out for a funeral all week, so only really occasionally glancing at E3 coverage, so it's just this morning I see that it looks like you had to sign up to receive alpha access?  Is that right?  What're the odds they do what the Titanfall guys did and say at some point "okay, everyone can get on now?"  Gonna keep my fingers crossed.  Watching a bit on Twitch and it looks pretty neat.

 

Alpha is just a 3-day thing that required sign-ups.  I signed up and didn't receive an email about it, though I should probably check my PS4 tonight just in case.  They're doing a "pre-order the game and you get into the beta" which starts July 17.  Maybe they'll also do another limited sign-up towards the end of it just to stress test it?

 

The ads I've been seeing for Destiny look pretty terrible.  All third-person shots with stiff animations.  I guess it's the low bit rate of ads coupled with in-game footage that makes it look primitive, but geez it doesn't get me jazzed especially with the way everyone is talking about how Activision is putting their marketing muscle into it.

 

Mington, let us know how it plays!  Is it just a sleeker Borderlands?

[Boris Stoke]

I played some of the Alpha last night.  It's fantastic.  I wish there were some quick chat commands for party members who aren't using mics, though.  Or even just for running into people who aren't in your party.

 

It seems there are "story" instances and "exploration" instances so you always come across someone who's doing what you're doing.  It's also a bit more Journey-ish in that people just sort of show up but in your area but it's not like you go to a land and see a hundred players all killing the same enemies you're trying to.  It's like a controlled filter.

 

The story missions are the highlight for me so far because it just feels like a new single player epic fps from bungie that I can play coop if I choose.  Exploration is pretty MMO-ish other than the fact that there are no quest logs.  You get one mission and you do it or you abandon it.  You don't jungle a dozen of them at once.

[James]

Played 15mins of the alpha. Teamed up with thumbs reader James. We killed a wizard then did some break dancing. It was the best

I'm glad you didn't mind me crashing your session. I'd actually just come out of a previous session where I was about to kill THE WIZARD, but my connection momentarily failed, so I thought I'd make replaying that portion a bit more fun by doing so with someone else. And it was fun.

It seems pretty good so far. I guess I wasn't anticipating quite how like an instanced MMO it would be, but the important difference is that I find the minute-to-minute gameplay satisfying and fun, rather than only playing to chase some goal on the meta level, which I tire of quickly.

[quantum_leopold]

I got into the Alpha--just search on twitter for "Destiny Alpha," and if you've got another window open ready to redeem a PSN code, eventually you'll snag one blasted out to the public (mine came from a Bungie dev). @Bungiehelp is also allegedly DM'ing codes to those that request one, but I haven't actually seen anyone claim to have received such a DM.  I've played 10 minutes, and things looked real purty, but I didn't actually get to do too much before my connection dropped.  Will be playing more tonight, I'm mrlogical on PSN if anyone can figure out how to join me.

[JonCole]

I have a PS4 alpha code for anyone who wants it, send me PM. I'll update this once it is taken.