I’m sure Destiny will be a great game. I’m sure it’ll be lots of fun. That’s not in dispute.
What is in dispute is its eventual place in history, and I have a feeling it will occupy a very lofty position when all is said and done. I’m not sure I agree with that. Granted, I haven’t experienced the entire game just yet but like millions of other gamers, I did participate in the alpha and beta tests. I’ve said in the past that Destiny could end up being a legitimate Game of the Year candidate and I’m not backing away from that.
But I think we’re going to be seeing some stupid high scores for this game and I’m just not 100 percent certain it’ll deserve to be one of the highest-rated titles in history.
Let’s face it: At its core, Destiny is just another shooter
An evolution of the genre? Sure, very likely. One of those hybrid multiplayer/MMO experiences that never really ends? Yup. Guaranteed to bring in another billion dollars for publisher Activision? Absolutely. That all being said, if we really dissect this game, what sits at its core? It’s essentially another first-person shooter with a lot of cool features. It’s Borderlands fused with Halo on steroids. It has a huge amount of potential and I’m hoping Bungie realizes that potential over the years.
But is this worthy of occupying one of the top spots in the annals of video game history? There’s a very good chance that you’ll see many perfect scores for Destiny, even if critics are only awarding those 10s based in part on the future potential of the game. This leads me to my other issue: If the game is going to continue to grow and expand over ten years, what does a review on launch day even mean…?
That’s another topic for another time, but I have a feeling many reviewers will simply be staggered by the size, scope, ambition and fun factor of the production, and the 10s will flow like water.
I think we can all agree that it offers nothing new from a gameplay standpoint, so it would have to be evolutionary or revolutionary, right?
A shooter is a shooter. Destiny looks like a FPS and plays like a FPS. It features a big ol’ open world and limitless multiplayer possibilities, and the depth is reminiscent of role-playing games. It will undoubtedly be a robust, rewarding adventure. But again, at its core, it’s a shooter. The gameplay is nothing new; in fact, we’ve all experienced this type of game many times over. Now, a game doesn’t have to be unique in order to be revered as one of the best ever, but it does need to stand out in some way.
This means Destiny will indeed have to feel like a giant step forward for the first-person shooter genre. It will have to leave all other FPSs in the dust. It will have to convince me that this is A. a defining next-gen experience and B. the ultimate FPS experience as compared to current and previous competition. I’m just not convinced I’ll feel this way. And if I don’t, and I see Destiny securing a 95 or 96 from Metacritic, I’m going to strenuously disagree.
There’s a difference between a great game and a legendary game. Which will it be…?
