Just played the beta for Destiny. And HOLY FUCKING SHIT I'm excited for when this game comes out.
As Bungie's newest project taken on, I think it might be safe to say that this game is a better Halo. And I mean that in literal terms, too. Both games have a computer-based AI-type character guiding you (Cortana, your ghost), both have an enemy alien race trying to destroy you (the Covenant, the Fallen), AND they both have some sort of mindless parasitic race that goes nuts on you on sight (the Flood, the Hive). However, I think this game takes it on in an upgraded fashion because it's no longer roleplaying based. You can almost say this game is like the World of Warcraft of Xbox One. You've got levels, items, armor, weapons, upgrades etc. And they even have color coded weapons and armor exactly like World of Warcraft (Green, Blue, and Purple.)
But this sort of approach is great because when I noticed that this game had a level system, I foresaw a game that no longer had you follow linear missions in order to step forth to the next level so that you can fight enemies specifically developed to take you on at the same level of difficulty as they were back in the mission from before. Instead, the way you approach the game and what speed is solely decided on your personal readiness to take on a challenge in the game that's set in such a way where it'll be easier or harder depending on what you've brought with you to take it on. You can actually choose missions in any order you so desire (excluding the fact of having to unlock much higher level missions which is reasonable and keeps you guessing) as long as you feel that you and your character are up for it's difficulty setting.
You're not gonna just blast into a canyon full of level 15 creatures when you're level 6. And at the same time you can just roll through an area encased with level 4 creatures when you're at level 10. As your character grows stronger, you too grow stronger as a player because you learn how to handle the WIDE amount of weapon styles that slowly become more frequent as you play more throughout the game. And you actually feel satisfied when your efforts acquire you a new piece of equipment that actually makes a difference towards how challenging your next approach of the game will be.
That's another thing, too. Not just higher levels, but better equipment. The feeling of seeing your character hold this new, astonishing and jaw-dropping rifle makes you feel excited to use it. Witnessing your character's armor pieces changing into new pieces with higher stats makes you get the feeling of progression. And this game does a great job of comparing to you the advantage of having said new piece compared to the old one, which only emphasizes that progression feeling more.
I'll admit a bit of the magic of feeling like a heroic player aspiring himself by defeating these relentless creatures does diminish a tad because the places your missions are placed tend to have various other "heroic" players just running around. But that all goes away when you actually arrive at your mission. Because it seems like you're leaving the rest of the world behind to accomplish your goals, which make them feel epic. And that's good. You want to feel epic. You want to feel important. Because a good chunk of this game involves multiplayer. And you can't do well in multiplayer if you don't have a belief that your character is uniquely driven and harnessed through your skills and experiences.
Public events tend to happen a lot which are great because the game feels less scripted and more community, all while still having that unique experience factor I just mentioned in the paragraph above. You can take on missions with other friends and lean on each other. You actually get this sense of urgency to try and stick together with your teammates rather than just charge through the armada of enemies without them.
I haven't tested out the "Crucible" section of the beta which is the player vs. player portion of the game, but I get a sense that it carries over the same sense of urgency that you feel in the player vs. computer scenarios. Only with more intensity.
All in all, the beta is designed well to give you a good taste of what could be a massive game full of new updates and possible expansions. And I can say I'm actually excited for when this game, and all of it's unseen content, are released.
