14 DAY TRIAL // Destiny, the highly ambitious multiplayer-only first-person shooter from Bungie, is finally getting close to its September release and, as a special treat for PS4 owners, the studio has organized a "first look" alpha stage that lasts until the end of the week on the new Sony console.
This is the first semi-public taste of the upcoming game outside of specialty trade shows like E3 or Gamescom, as well as the first one in which a larger number of people could participate.
Does it manage to deliver the hyped up experience it promised or should we forge our own destiny with another game? Let's have a quick look.
Destiny kicks off the experience straight with the character creation portion, which allows players to select from one of three classes: Titan, Hunter, or Warlock. Titans are your somewhat basic soldiers, Hunters specialize in long range guns and close range melee attacks, while Warlocks are adept in the use of magic-based attacks.
Next you can pick from three different races, in the form of Human, Awoken, or Exo, and proceed to customizing your gender and looks.
Afterwards, you're dropped pretty much into the game, with the alpha focusing on the Earth region of Old Russia. Here the fun really begins and you start to see the sheer scope of Destiny as a whole. The level alone is huge and filled with all sorts of smaller areas, from wide open enclaves surrounding ancient machinery to caves, underground facilities, or abandoned buildings filled with lots of different nooks and crannies.
Enemies are present in many of these zones but the aggro system is quite good and, if you get some distance between you and your foes, they'll go back to their standard zones.
Destiny's action is split between multiple situations. There are story-based encounters, like the one right at the beginning that acts more as a tutorial, in which it's more or less you against the enemies, with a few other human players possibly crossing your path.
Then there's the Explore portion, in which you go around the environment and look for beacons from the last city on earth, which relay small goals that can be completed in that area. From killing enemies to chronicling the structure of certain areas, to collecting various items, these missions can be easily started and easily completed.
Last but not least, there are Strike encounters, in which you need to have a PlayStation Plus membership, because you enter the matchmaking system and are paired with allies of similar skill, and are tasked with defeating different enemy bosses.
Blend all these encounters together, not to mention the wide open areas offered in this alpha, and Destiny definitely feels impressive as a first-person shooter. Throw in the pretty great weapons, the special abilities wielded by the three different classes (especially their super ones) and you'll have a lot of fun.
Where Destiny really shines, however, is the fact that you don't feel alone against the enemy world. You'll see other fellow players moving around the environment, on their own missions or errands, and you can even work together to take down enemies for shared loot and experience. These moments are fun on foot and even better when riding around in your Shrike, which are basically futuristic hoverbikes.
The Destiny alpha paints a fun picture of the upcoming multiplayer game and it's going to be interesting to see the bigger experience in July's beta and the full one this September, when the game appears on PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.