Of course, some may argue that Destiny as a FPS is very, very reminiscent of Halo again – with rechargeable shields, many alien races as enemies, weapon system etc. I don’t know if I could make it to the end of the day without it – thank you Bungie! That app is also a solid advancement in integrating phone as the ‘second screen’ with the main gameplay experience – for example the Grimoire, the in-game encyclopaedia and repository of knowledge, is best accessed from a phone. For a high-functioning addict like me, being able to swap my character’s gear during lunch break is like a breath of tank air for a scuba diver 15 meters under sea’s surface.
The production value of the game applies not only to the console experience alone – it also goes for the companion smartphone app. In terms of design decisions and features comprising the game, there are no redundancies, things have their clearly defined purpose, with a room to expand the experience even further in the future DLC releases. Peter Dinklage as the Ghost (I am a big fan of Tyrion Lannister, both from the books but also in the HBO’s show) is doing a God’s work (the rest of voice acting is outstanding as well, by the way)… There are of course no surprises here – Bungie has mastered the genre of console FPSs and had set the previous benchmarks of quality with Halo series. The game is rock solid – it plays great, it looks great, it very rarely glitches, the music is mind-blowing. One of the most striking things about Destiny is its excellent level of polish. Destiny, especially in its opening sequences and first locales (meaning here the Old Russia and Cosmodrome locations), conveys the feelings of nostalgia, loneliness and an unarticulated, yet present, threat. The tale of a fallen human civilization, desperate struggle to survive, unknown forces, semi-dead gods and last bastions of light is a far cry from hyper-masculine Master Chief bundled together with sexually objectified Cortana. In Destiny, the appeal of the narrative is also located more in the world and background story, as opposed to The Last of Us, where it is all about the protagonists’ development over the course of the game. The sheer fact, that we can compare the narrative achievements of The Last of Us and Destiny is a huge credit to the latter.
#Destiny patrol mission logos series
Destiny of course is a FPS game, with different game design ambitions that The Last of Us (as a shooter, The Last of Us is nowhere close to Destiny’s brilliance) – but Bungie took a serious attempt in it at providing the players with a more mature, thought-out story, going beyond a bit childish power-fantasy of the Halo series (save for Halo: Reach, which narrative of a civilization’s fall, losing battle and poignant ending were actually quite interesting). I am actually debating whether I should tie Naughty Dog’s game with Dishonored, another game which I resonated with strongly (but it could have been all in my head, as the narrative in the latter title is more player-focused, and player has more agency in shaping and interpreting it), but I think that The Last of Us shines a bit brighter in that department. The Last of Us, to my mind, remains the pinnacle of the industry’s maturity as a storyteller so far.
Not The Last of Us yet, but getting thereįorgive me the strong and a bit controversial heading here – but it accurately reflects how I feel about the comparison of the degree of complexity of narrative in The Last of Us and Destiny. Screenshot from Destiny taken by the author (uploaded via PlayStation application).
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