Destiny review. Reviews Destiny: beautiful but empty game. On two chairs

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Bungie left the series with pomp, giving the players goodbye. The emotional story was closely intertwined with excellent sound design, amazing acting and addictive gameplay. After such a farewell gift, no one doubted that it would be exactly the way it was promised to be made.

The brainchild of the authors of the legendary simply could not be bad. The level of expectations went off scale: every piece of news, every piece of art, every mention of the game was immediately overgrown with hundreds of comments and rumors. We were promised a powerful story, a stunning world and a dynamic gameplay that requires players to be dexterous, smart and tactical thinking.

But, as is usually the case, soap bubble, swollen to exorbitant proportions by the pathos driven by Activision and the expectations of the most seasoned fans, burst, revealing to the gaming community an interesting, but far from revolutionary action movie.

I want to warn you right away that players who are used to having everything at once have absolutely nothing to catch. This is a game about long-term development and long journeys. The project unfolds rather slowly, introducing the player to all the elements one by one. You just need to be patient and wait until the game is fully revealed.

The ancient enemy of the alien benefactor was not long in coming, and soon the rapidly developing humanity was again on the verge of extinction. Hundreds of years later, Earth is finally ready to strike back. The so-called guards must give the decisive battle to the invaders.

Sewn with white threads, the plot is replete with incoherent and at times illogical episodes. Huge holes gape in the script, through which faceless heroes, boring enemies and the scriptwriters' inability to set the right pace for developing events are visible. But a carefully thought-out universe, idealized human heroism and magnificent musical arrangement make it possible, if not to close one's eyes to script blunders, then at least not to attach so much importance to them.

But to hell with the plot - people do not buy action movies in order to watch the heroes wrap snot around their fists, cry for their comrades who hit the oak and unleash heart-to-heart conversations with enemies. There is plenty to do anyway. There are modes for single player, cooperative and team battles. Tasks vary, starting with simple planetary patrols and ending with the cleaning of abandoned industrial facilities from enemy units that have settled in them.

Ability to handle weapons and knowledge of the area give experienced players advantage over newcomers, but this does not mean that novice guardians will not see their moment of glory. The maps are full of alternative routes, nests for snipers and convenient positions for those who like to wait for victims, and not climb into the heat with weapons at the ready.

Despite the fact that many tasks will take you to the most remote corners of the game world, almost all of them start from the same locations, which, as a result, becomes boring over time. Moreover, consecutive missions are constantly interrupted by the need to return to base in order to receive a reward for completed tasks and equip. Long-term downloads (sores of all versions of the game that fell into our hands) add fuel to the fire of indignation.

It would be nice for the developers to work on the party search system. It is not uncommon for teams to be like a hodgepodge of characters of various levels, which makes completing tasks too boring for some players and too difficult for others.

In terms of gameplay behaves exactly as a fighter should behave from Bungie. Each of the presented types of weapons is balanced almost perfectly. In addition, each of the classes has its own set of unique skills and melee attacks.

Victories over enemies would bring more satisfaction if the alien troops did not consist of dullards and half-wits. Opponents try to take the player exclusively by numbers, without even trying to bypass from unprotected flanks, work in a team and take advantage of the terrain.

All player characters develop in parallel as they complete story missions and participate in multiplayer battles. There are not many trophies earned in battle, but almost all of them can be used, so you do not have to shovel tons of unnecessary scrap metal in search of useful weapons.

There are only three similar classes in the game. However, each of them still has its own characteristics. The Sorcerer can turn several enemies to dust with an energy bomb, but the Hunter prefers to gracefully slice opponents into ribbons in close combat.

Let's be realistic: the world of computer entertainment has long turned into a pipeline that does not work on the revolutionary ideas of dreamers who are trying to somehow dilute the gray and monotonous action movies with something new and really interesting, but on the money of greedy publishers like Activision or Electronic Arts. Games are not made by people who know what the public really wants, but by all sorts of managers, some of whom are nothing "smarter"

Before the release, it seemed too contradictory: like the handwriting Bungie can be traced, especially with regard to visual design, but on the other hand, Destiny looked like a clone Borderlands, only made on a grand scale and on a budget.

Launching Destiny for the first time, controversy turns to resentment: from the game Bungie you expect a well-developed universe and no less interesting history than the adventures of the Master Chief. All this in Destiny Yes, but in a reduced form. The plot tells how a small expedition lands on Mars and stumbles upon the "Wanderer" - a huge floating sphere, which subsequently allows humanity to make an impressive leap in development and technology. But the heyday did not last long - from the depths of space came a destructive evil - "Darkness", which turned life in all the planets of the solar system into ruins. The Guardians are destined to save the universe - the ultimate fighters, for one of which we have to play. Globally, the scenario does not develop further, you will meet a minimum of any characters, but, however, if you delve into what is happening, you can catch the notes of a good sci-fi story: for example, on one of the planets you will encounter the Rasputin artificial intelligence - it controls some important complex and speaks Russian.

And the plot is the first and last thing that will disappoint you in Destiny because the cornerstone Bungie staged exciting shootouts and socialization. Destiny- this is an MMO, only modern and free from everything superfluous that interferes with other games of the genre. Knowledge of MMO language terms like the words "raid" or "strike" is completely optional here; it won't take much of your time Destiny great for session play. Even giving her two hours a day, you can have a great time. Destiny gives concentrated pleasure, and each entry here is a separate adventure through the planets of the solar system: here you are, teaming up with friends, going to perform story mission to Mars, wandering among its ever-red sand dunes, and at another moment your company is brought to the moon, and there you perform additional mission(strike), together exterminating crowds of alien creatures.

Fights with opponents - the strongest side Destiny. Artificial intelligence enemies in Destiny works in best traditions Halo- they never stand still, bypass you from the side, and those who have jetpacks, and sometimes do unpredictable maneuvers. Most battles take place over vast areas, providing operational scope and a constant search for new tactics. The play styles for each of the three character classes - Titan, Hunter and Warlock - are spectacular in their own way: for example, the Techno-Mage can effectively turn a crowded group of opponents into stardust by firing a devastating energy ball at them.

Eventually Destiny touches stranglehold without letting go of your screen. After each task, you arrive at your home location, buy or receive more powerful weapons as a reward for your work, which you immediately want to try out in action, and just under this task a new uncharted planet has opened on the map - Bungie constantly motivate you to return to Destiny, and they do it very well.

***

The main question is whether Bungie keep players in Destiny in the long term. Mechanism further development game is understandable - the release of DLC, which will bring new classes, planets and interesting tasks. Also, on consoles Destiny no real competitors. I would like to believe that Bungie everything will work out, because they managed to make the first well-organized, large-scale and wildly beautiful MMO.

it is obvious that Activision was able to convince far from everyone in the world that to live without Destiny - absolutely not possible. Which is definitely good news, as the $500 million budget definitely raised concerns about how journalists would write reviews. However, Activision has clearly done its job, so many have already bought the game, and those who haven’t will no longer pay attention to the reviews, since Bungie itself directly discredited them, indicating that you need to play Destiny for a week or two to evaluate it. the way she is.

One way or another, the first reviews of Destiny finally began to appear on the network. And, among other things, two of the largest Western sites - gamespot and giantbomb. And both sites rated Destiny unexpectedly harshly. 6 out of 10 and 3 out of 5. Not great for AAA+, right?

And the most surprising thing is that both reviews point to one main and serious problem in Destiny - its emptiness. Externally, the game turned out great, especially when played on the new generation of consoles. The world of the shooter is built the way you'd expect from Bungie, the people who made the Halo series.

Destiny has all the elements of a great multiplayer shooter, but it feels like they just don't add up.

"When you collect all these parts, you get a game where the missions are designed to be repetitive, but all the missions are so repetitive that you're not interested in going through the same zone over and over and over again for the purpose of grinding reputation or loot. It's beautiful game with empty feelings."

"Story missions also suffered due to repetitiveness. With the exception of one or two, each mission presents you with the opportunity to run around an area (which must first be reached by going through zones already completed several times in past missions), find an ancient or alien computer, or something like that, send your drone to scan and analyze the object so you can continue the mission. A lot of missions end with the drone just hovering over an artifact while you fend off waves of enemies while listening to a couple of sentences from generally meaningless dialogue. The menu is structured to indicate the need to play through these areas multiple times on different difficulties, but since most of the missions are hardly different from each other, I felt that there was nothing more for me to do in Destiny immediately after completing the story.

"Its fantastic graphics often serve as a distraction from game mechanics which is very disappointing. Destiny has a little bit of genius, but most of it makes it feel like the game was made by people who weren't quite sure what kind of game they were making. What is a loot shooter? Like that, only the loot is not very good. Or maybe it's an MMO? No, although you do bump into other players from time to time. A shooter with a strong storyline like Halo? Of course, if you are not averse to going through this story not in the game, but on the developers' website, where there is a lot of information about the lore. Maybe Clans? Again, they exist on the site, but are not reflected in the game in any way. All elements great games and genres are there, but many of them evoke a feeling of underperformance, semi-realization, in connection with which Destiny cannot be recommended for purchase. If you're interested in this game, it's worth seeing what Bungie does in the coming months before spending money on it."

It will soon be a whole year since the Playstation 4 settled in my apartment, and since then I have not yet been able to snatch a single game for which it would be worth buying this particular console. nicely replaced by ... yes, any good shooter from any platform. Infamous: Second Son, in general, is also not that very unique sandbox. Or, let's say, I wanted some kind of jprg - but now they don't exist at all! Finally loomed on the horizon new part Persona, but it's still a long way off.

What did they suggest I try? remake The Last of Us, a remake of a remake tomb raider, FIFA update for the next number ...

One joy from the hasty purchase of PS4 - now the console is even more expensive. And the new gamepad connects to the PC without any problems. You can / need to take them generally separately from the console, drive them into indie platformers from the Steam library.

Well, at least the non-exclusive, but still attractive and purely console-based Destiny is out.

Destiny, if anyone is not in the know, is such a first-person shooter, only at the same time it is also a cross-console MMO. AAA-caliber, with an epic PR campaign, graphon, coming additional content and cosmic pathos. If you have an Xbox 360 or PS3 then you should buy the game because it is one of the last big titles coming out on those platforms and if you have Xbox One or PS4, then you need to buy the game, because there is nothing else to play on these consoles.

This review could have ended safely if the disc with Destiny did not cost from two to three thousand rubles a piece. A ticket, say, to the entrance to the third "Matrix" (which also had to be watched in any case) at one time was much cheaper. Plus, a multi-user project is such a thing, you need to not only buy a box, but also keep a premium subscription. Therefore, it is still worth taking a closer look at the game.

Actually the process is as follows: we have a peaceful city for purchases and receiving quests, and there is a map of locations full of strangers of different levels of coolness. Missions are divided into story, side and grind. If anything, the first differ from the second only in the length of uninteresting briefings. Let's talk about grindan separately below.

Suddenly, in addition to the MMO genre, Destiny also turned out to be just a decent shooter, which, to be honest, your humble person personally did not expect much. Shooting strangers turned out to be exciting fun even apart from pumping, plot and clothes. Perhaps it's an uncouth keyboardist speaking in me now, not used to harsh gamepad challenges, but I already got much more pleasure from shooting enemies in our MMOFPSRPG than in the same Killzone: Shadow Fall.

But role processes, of course, also make themselves felt. And, oddly enough, nothing particularly good can be said about local rpg elements. With one exception.

Why do we love role-playing games? First, for a strong, preferably non-linear plot. You won't believe it, it's not here.

We also love rpg for long-playing pumping with goodies. If you wish, you can pump all the way to Destiny in about a week, since the maximum character level is the twentieth. In brackets, however, it is worth noting that here the developers acted quite cunningly. In fact, twenty is not the limit of the character, but the limit of his personal experience. You can climb higher in rank, but already at the expense of cool legendary blasters and space helmets, stuffed with all sorts of improvements. Agree, the extraction and selection of the right equipment is still a less trivial task than a simple spacing into pieces of combat locations. Agents on the ground report that some individuals have risen to the thirtieth level due to the stylish wardrobe, and who knows, this may not be the limit, especially considering the upcoming inevitable DLC.

Why else love role-playing projects? Per cooperative game, of course. And Destiny does not lag behind fashion here, allowing you to put together a squad of as many as three people. For cooperative triplets, there are even special locations-instances in which no other player will interfere with the grouped adventurers. And all this would be great if gamers who wander around Destiny alone would not have to pay for the holiday of cooperative life. The point is that these very instances are mandatory for absolutely everyone to visit, including gamers wandering around Destiny alone. And, as it usually happens, in special locations we have special monsters digging in. In our case, these are very fat monsters. To kill them, in principle, by strength and alone, and it’s not even very difficult, it’s just very dreary and therefore never fun.

Sometimes things happen right on the "public" pieces of maps. For example, a healthy mechanical artillery scorpion can land on a location, which will need to be calmed down by literally all gamer forces present in the area. What's good is that you can attack these guys with an intergalactic berserk even from the very first level, since the penalties for death in Destiny are negligible.

Why do we not like role-playing crafts? For grindin. Especially for grinding ingredients for crafting and an unusual “elite” currency, without which you can’t buy goods in good shops. Both the first and the second are in abundance in Destiny. The story is standard - first of all, you need to constantly knock out, pick up and store poorly lying garbage, then you need to complete packs of quests like "kill ten strangers and collect 50 of their scalps." It gets boring very, very quickly.

To technical side Destiny is hard to find fault with, but something is still annoying. This "something" - constant reloads every half mission and one and a half menu screens. Well, yes, this inconvenience is part of history that likes to repeat itself. The games of the outgoing generation managed to process their own loading, the public got used to it, new consoles come out, and rollback begins, accompanied by the groans of gamers accustomed to good. Non-lethal.

But the promised graphics are in place, and also, in the form of a pleasant surprise, an excellent interface for various menus. The usual prefixed hell is canceled this time - sorting out equipment and choosing tasks is now simple and convenient.

About the notorious multiplatform. By and large, Destiny's cross-console servers have only one task - to make sure that MMO landscapes do not turn into deserted deserts in two months (as happened, for example, with the equally well-publicized Titanfall project). A certain sense of this idea is simply bound to turn out, the only question is how much the game will be able to warm up hardcore fans. Otherwise, cross-console plays absolutely no role.

Bungie has come a long way since its inception. She managed to release such popular series in the nineties as Marathon and Myth. But the real success brought her, of course, Halo. It was not just a must-have purchase for every Xbox owner - the console itself was purchased for the opportunity to immerse yourself in an amazing universe of the future, where for many decades humanity has been at war with the Covenant - an alliance of hostile aliens. But the story of the Master Chief continued without his creators, and the studio changed Microsoft to Activision as a publisher. And you can blame the latter for greed and squeezing money for a long time, but the fact is obvious - the new publisher gives Bungie complete freedom in working on Destiny. After all, despite the vast experience of the developer, this is really a new project for him.

⇡ Last battle

It's ironic that Destiny, like Halo fifteen years ago, was originally conceived as a third-person action game. But the developers don't seem to be destined to make TPS - and soon Destiny turned into a fantastic shooter. It is noticeable to the naked eye that many Halo developments formed the basis of the universe and history - they would look so natural in the next part of the saga about the fight against the Covenant.

It's a distant but not very bright future. Mankind began to explore space outside its native planet: it built its colonies on the Moon, Venus, Mars and in more remote corners of the solar system. But then the earthlings were subjected to a swift attack of aliens. As a result, all outposts were abandoned, and the Earth was almost completely destroyed under the onslaught of aliens. When people were on the verge of extinction, they were saved only by a miracle - a certain entity called the Wanderer. A huge sphere hovered over the last bastion of earthlings and gave hope for survival: mysterious power and high technology. Humanity perked up, gave the invaders a decisive rebuff and began to gain its former strength. The Golden Age arrived, but it didn't last forever. Another mysterious force again drove people to their home planet. The survivors took refuge in last city— a stronghold of earthlings built under the Stranger. This is where we, the Guardians, come into play.

Guardians are the best fighters who have learned to use the power of the Traveler. They are divided into three classes: hunter, titan and sorcerer. Taking on the role of one of them, the player will have to get out of the huge walls that protect the City and arrange a fun life for the invaders. The choice of profession does not affect the available weapons in any way, but it limits the armor. It is also allowed to use special abilities called Focuses to fight aliens. Some of them only indirectly affect the parameters of the hero, for example, increasing the damage from certain weapons. Others allow you to teleport, throw blobs of energy and do god knows what else.

⇡ Single or not?

Developers are in no hurry to put all the cards on the table in terms of gameplay. From a shooter's standpoint - judging by the available videos - Destiny retains all the best that was in Halo: a good sense of shooting, despite the fantastic weapons, and a combination of spacious locations and corridor areas that provide some tactical freedom. The latter is especially important given the strong emphasis on co-op.

Bungie promises a unique symbiosis of single player and online component. I would like to believe, but so far it is very difficult to imagine how it will work. The creators call Destiny none other than Shared World Shooter, that is, a shooter in the general world. In words, everything is simple: if desired, any player can reach the final in splendid isolation (some episodes, however, will still have to be played in the company). But it's much more fun to play as a team. Users will be able to unite in special units - " shock groups”, whether it's a pre-planned trip with friends or random encounters in the game world. We dare to assume that in the latter case, the circuit will probably be implemented in the manner Dark Souls.

Initially, everyone travels in their personal universes, which "intersect" at random. For example, you are in a certain area where at the same time there is someone else - you got into his playing space, passed the site together, and then your paths may diverge again. At least that's how it looks now. But the creators went further. During the passage, special events will occur, during which you will need to unite in large groups. For example, in one of the demonstrations, right before the eyes of the hero, a portal opened in the sky, from where aliens fell. At the same time, several more squads of other living players suddenly appeared, who need to jointly fend off opponents, and then defeat their leader. Having dealt with this problem, everyone will be able to go their own way again.

Despite the fact that, according to the assurances of the developers, Destiny is primarily an FPS, the game has many elements of other genres. Given the significant shift towards online, it is not surprising that rich customization options await us. appearance your character and his pumping. Enemies (mostly bosses) will "drop" unique weapon, Armor and Focuses. And each gun has its own skill tree. It should not be ruled out that other things used can certainly be improved in some way.

⇡ World of the future

The earth of the 28th century is a rather sad sight. When you see the world beyond the Wall, Enslaved: Odyssey to the West and The Last of Us come to mind first of all. Dilapidated, dilapidated buildings overgrown with greenery, rusted metal structures and car skeletons - in general, a real post-apocalypse. Interestingly, we will even be brought to the territory of the former Russia. However, we have to not only explore the expanses of our native planet, but also break out beyond its borders. It is definitely confirmed that we will visit the abandoned lunar colony and in ruins on Mars and Venus.

Each area is distinguished not only by its characteristic visual appearance, but also by the enemies that inhabit it. Destiny will face several races: space pirates The Fallen, the insectoid Hive, the cybernetic Vex and Exo, and the rhinoceros-like Cabal. Bungie, as it did in its days with Halo, randomly shuffles the combinations of opponents in each skirmish. Given that each type of enemy has its own strengths and weak sides and your own tactics, any battle turns into a small puzzle. Thoughtless shooting will most likely lead to death, so you have to use your wit and think quickly. In any case, we hope that this will be the case.

In between battles, you will have to wander around the peaceful zone, where, in the manner of Diablo, you can sell the obtained items and prepare for the next battles. Or just explore the world, since Destiny definitely has something to admire. The developers are deservedly proud of the new engine, which they have been forging for almost four years. The quality of the character development is not inferior to that in Killzone: Shadow Fall, and the draw distance, particle effects and volumetric lighting are very impressive. Landscapes from the visual materials available before the release can be admired endlessly. Of course, this applies to versions for eighth generation consoles. Although the game will be released on PS3 and Xbox 360, it is unlikely to impress anyone there.

Bungie set out to revolutionize the FPS genre by using fresh principles for player interaction. There is something from PlanetSide 2, Borderlands, shooter basis from Halo and, probably, elements of Dark Souls. Destiny looks great, intriguing, but still remains a dark horse. To understand how the notorious “shared world shooter” actually functions, you will have to wait at least until the summer when the beta test starts. We expect a full release in September this year.

Destiny

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