RadicalVelocity
Member
Yeah, I can get behind what you're saying. I still think the 'your benefactor is the villain' thing can work, but it would need a super-robust narrative behind and beyond it to make it work... And I doubt Destiny would ever have received a super-robust narrative
Hey, Killzone 2 is a very flawed game, but it is frequently brought up in conversations about best-ever AI and gun combat. I've spoken with salaried developers who consider its AI on par with FEAR's, and if you play it on Elite, you see this first-hand. It's an incredible effort. Much worse game overall, though, of course.
Yeah, Destiny's Halo-like shoot/punch/grenade trifecta is fantastic, it's a genuine pleasure to play. And the AI is solid. But beyond that is barely any depth in terms of mechanics. In FEAR and MP2 you had the slow motion mechanic. In Killzone 2 you had the great cover mechanic and the unbelievable, unparalleled realistic sense of weight. Crysis gave you superpowers. Wolfenstein: TNO gave you a great narrative.
Destiny has nothing aside from it's (naturally brilliant) gunplay. The gunplay bleeds dry of all its fun-factor because there are literally no other mechanics in play (incredibly limited vehicles notwithstanding). There is nothing else to do. There is certainly no story to keep you pushing on (unlike Wolfenstein: TNO which is similarly just really good gunplay). And every mission's objective is the same. And you retread them over and over again.
Full disclosure: I only played vanilla Destiny for about 15-20 hours and never reached the Raid. I wasn't going to grind the same boring-as-shit cookie-cutter missions for one hour a night for two weeks to unlock the Raid and promptly quit the game for good. There were literally tens of better games to play and hundreds of better ways to spend my time. (This is beside the point, though, I guess.)
Old territory now, but chaining through the conversation...
You were right to quit when you did, the grind was disgusting.
But what kinda weight should a person then give "destiny has nothing aside from its gunplay" in light of that disclaimer?
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Halo and F.E.A.R are still the pillars of brilliant AI work, though I never cared that much for the latter's gunplay. KZ2 had a great feel to shooting that seems as much accident as intent, going by other games in the franchise.
Smorgasboard answering and all that.