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Destiny has been out for a week now, and I've hit the level cap for the first time in an MMO, even going so far as to eke my way above it. It is, no better way of saying it, a weird game: not quite a normal shooter, definitely not an MMO, at once wildly grand and curiously empty. It's theoretically one of the biggest games we've ever seen, but here at launch it feels small, constrained and confusing. Bungie may be paying the price for its odd cocktail of ambition and apathy -- the terms of a 2010 (now possibly altered) contract state that the developer would only get a $2.5 million bonus if the game scored 90 or above on gamerankings, which it likely won't.
Taken individually, it's very difficult to recommend any parts of Destiny. The single-player missions are supremely repetitive, interrupted only by terrible voice acting and a convoluted story. The multiplayer "strikes" are mostly characterized by endless, bullet-sponge boss fights that we all could have agreed was bad game design a decade ago. The competitive multiplayer is serviceable, but special abilities and weapons have a way of screwing with the balance, and the number of different modes is practically Spartan (get it?) when compared with some of the other major offerings on the market. A Bungie executive recently said that the game only really gets going after 20 hours, which just seems like poor planning.
So why can't I stop playing?
Gamers are well-accustomed to that dopamine rush that accompanies a slight adjustment in virtual numbers. Loot, as we all know, is addictive. New helmet, new rifle, new gauntlets -- even the most perfunctory increase in our little stat counters is enough to keep, and Destiny knows how to dole out its loot. From the very beginning of the game, Bungie had achieved a near-perfect balance of fight and reward, just enough to make me feel like I was getting rewarded for my play but enough to drive me forward. It's the sort of pacing that can be a devil to get right, but makes for a powerful alchemy when someone hits it on the head quite like this. Destiny is an expertly paced game on the scale of the daily play session, and the fact that we're expecting regular content updates helps that daily session flow into weeks and months.
There's another reason past loot acquisition that keeps me coming back to Destiny, and it's a little bit counter-intuitive. For some reason, the fact that the repetitive mindlessness of it feels like more of an asset than a drawback. You can just sort of sign in, load up the daily "heroic" mission and just sort of sleepwalk through it. At the end, I might get a new item, but I'll at least get some premium currency that I can trade for better items, and thus my need for forward progression is sated. Lather, rinse, repeat -- the little sub-objectives offered by bounties offer me just enough focus to keep that dopamine flowing. It's relaxing not in spite of its flaws, but because of them. Just toss a shiny new helmet my way every once in a while and I'll be fine.
In short, Destiny is like a gigantic, fancy Candy Crush.
Destiny has an interesting opportunity here -- the launch was something of a commercial success and a critical wash. But that buys it time, and if it can keep the game world moving forward at an acceptable pace, it could really keep growing and changing with just enough new content to keep it interesting without becoming overwhelming.
This game came out much earlier in the release season, which is another reason it's getting our undivided attention right now. In late December, when we're coming off of the wave of holiday releases, Bungie will release its first major expansion pack. I could easily see this title fitting into my gaming life in this way -- as a low-energy hobby to take up time in between more involved games. In that sense, it's a success, but we're still a long way from seeing whether or not it will come together on the scale Activision is hoping for.
