Destiny Beta

   

     What can I not say about Bungie's new meticulously thought out Fiesta en mis pantalones! Bungie is reaching out to every platform this time, from PS3 to XBox One. Destiny has the promise of not only keeping the franchise alive but showing that they can do something other than Halo and be good at it! The Beta only let you go up to level 8 but every minute that you were stuck in Russia was an amazing time, whether you were doing story missions or just utilizing the free world time. There was always someone else around to help or be helped.

     The character creation was one of my favorite points. For a console "MMO" this actually had quite a bit of options, not as many as an Elder Scrolls game, bust a lot none-the-less. After playing around with the character creation for a time you got to head into the game.

     The scene starts off with a "Ghost" finding you and bringing you back to life, as a Guardian. You are being chased by the Fallen, a group of creatures that looks a bit like alien scavangers. Once you escape their grasp you have to find a ship to get you to The Tower.

     The Tower is a safe meeting place for all players. It is a place that has shops and class masters so that you can obtain items that are meant for you character, though, like in Borderlands, you usually get better weapons by completing harder missions and joining public events. Once you costumize your character to your liking it's time to head back out to the unknown.

     Though it was just beta, there was still a lot of content for this console MMO. The special event and missions that were playable one day only on the moon showed the capatacity of Destiny. On launch there will be multiple planets you can fly to at anytime to do any missions, or roam around and help others out. As always with Bungie there will be continuous updates and extra content added to keep the players happy. I was so pleased with this beta I had to change my underwear 3 times, take that as you will. All-in-all, Bungie has really hit the mark and once again raised the bar on the online first-person shooter genre.

-beta played on xbox one

Xbox One's Best FPS of 2014

2014 is far from over, but it is clearly evident what games so far have made an impression on Xbox One first person shooters. Titanfall dropped on March 11th, 2014 and made a huge leap into online multiplayer gameplay. I have never played a game so fluent in my movements. Throughout a match I will think to myself,  "I need to get up that building in less that 4 seconds" and by the time I finish saying that I will be jumping off that building onto the next one. The parkour moves mixed with the ability to double jump can make a novice player feel like they have the ability to trample the games Gundam Wing-like Titans. The games multiplayer has exceeded most people's expectations, but the storyline has left the majority of us wanting more. The story is just a way to quickly explain that the IMC and the Militia are two separate groups fighting each other with huge robots.

 You don't even have to actually win the match to proceed in the story. If I remember correctly, I didn't win a single match and managed to still unlock the perks of "beating" the story mode.

Titanfall had a beta that dropped a few weeks before the initial release. Like most betas, the progress you made was thrown out; you could only catch a glimpse of what the game actually holds, except, what you did in the beta is what you still do now in the game... Fight online. Titanfall is a fond reminder of simpler times when Counter Strike 1.5 was a game I played directly after school until I went to bed. You pick a side and kill anyone that doesn't look like you... Easy enough, right? That brings me to my next point, I am in need of a FPS that has more meaning to it, and who better to trust for that than Bungie? The creators of Halo, the best Sci Fi FPS ever made. Try to argue that. Please. Bungie's recent beta release of Destiny has already turned many nerds', excuse me, players' heads around in a complete 360 (no pun intended). What Titanfall lacks, Destiny is there to pick up the slack. Like Titanfall, you need an internet connection to play, but you have more options and customization to make that $170 cable and internet bill worth it. Destiny begins with character customization to satisfy whoever is in control. You create a Guardian who will protect earth from the evil aliens and monsters who now seek habitation on our planet... Sounds like the premise of most science fiction out there, but i'm sure the beta was holding 99.9% of the plot back. Many surprises will be around the corner... Literally. 

The multiplayer is similar to that of the Halos, but the cool thing is that your Guardian and your own weapons come into the battle with you. This proves to be an advantage for the high level characters who have the "one shot, one kill” weapons that are sure to cause the common phrases such as "F THIS!" or "WTF?!?!", but all that does is cause more motivation to play the story and level up in an RPG world with tons of new weapons to help get your kill to death ratio above 1. The main thing about Destiny that got on my nerves was my inability to wall run like Titanfall. I may be spoiled now that I played Titanfall's amazing parkour style, but if Destiny wants to prove that it has everything Titanfall has and more, it may need to reevaluate its style of movement. As of today I am unable to tell you which game is better, but Destiny's beta had all the right stuff to create the hype that Titanfall was trying to achieve.