G'day there guys and gals!Despite playing on the Xbox One and only having the game in hand for a short amount of time, I've been playing the Beta as often as I can. In this time I've been taking notes on the game's strength, where it lacks, small things I notice, ect ect. As the game is in Beta, we can forgive what few faults it has (Such as glitches, drops, KTD and so on) but they will be touched upon slightly.When the game is released it will receive a full review but for now, these are simply my opinions and what I think should be added/removed.
*First off, let's look at the graphics. Bungie and Activision have clearly been working damn hard on this game, everything from character to world design. Differential race (or robot race!) facial features have much difference in both structure and colour. The real difference is only in these places but body shapes (such as a race having different shaped limbs or size) would be a big step in the right direction.
*The lore is definitely there and touched on well, but are not consistent. Story missions tend to jump from one need to the other. The Darkness is the arch enemy of The Traveler; found on Mars, it has bestowed many gifts upon humanity. Lifespans have tripled to humans living over 300 years, technology has been advanced massively, but the Darkness is returning from the galaxy bringing terrible creatures under the factions Cabal, Fallen, Vex and Hive. The opening mission is incredibly well planned out (But is strikenly similar to Elder Scrolls Online...and that's not a good thing) and creates a brilliant sense of urgency. If the story is like this in full game, it will definitely be favourable. I would suggest moving the destination menu to only between Social areas, the Crucible and have a Story mode option to keep players more invested.
*The Traveler is situated in the last free city on Earth and this acts as the social area of Destiny, where players can access their Account and store weaponry or abilities, buy new weapons, customise their outfit or ship and downright party. Players have set emoticons (such as sitting, waving, dancing, point, saluting ect) and can use them to "communicate" with players. One of the small faults here is the area itself. While beautifully made, the city is used purely for upgrades and customisation, but the area is so large that you'll only be using 2-4 of the NPCs (as choosing your class restricts you from wearing/using certain items, rendering other NPCs useless) and they are generally mixed over the map. For example, the Vanguard NPC is situated underground at the back of the map, but the Vanguard Quartermaster is near the Loading Bay, on the other side of the map.
*The Crucible is the true attraction of the Beta (As the storyline consists of 6 missions and players can only reach Level 8 before maxing out), where one multiplayer mode is available. Long story short, it's Capture The Flag. Playing on the moon is awesome, there's no fault there, the map is balanced between high sniping points and close quarter fighting. However, there are a few faults I want to bring to attention.
Ammo drops are quite rare and don't offer a lot of ammunition themselves, but this is the only way to get extra any ammunition for your second or heavy weaponry. During respawn times, players can equip different weaponry, but this sets your ammunition back to zero except for your primary weapon and switching back does not restore it. This is a massive pain especially when your team is tied down by vehicle campers.
Vehicles also are majorly overpowered, the team who controls the vehicles controls the map and your standard weaponry won't take them down easily unless you're massively upgraded or have the rare 20 bullets of your heavy weapon. Upping weapon strength or downing weaponry on vehicles or perhaps slowing their spawn time would be best.
For a quicker summary and suggestion list:
+Huuuuge customisation
+Character/world graphics are beautiful
+Emotes? Sweet.
+Armor includes customisation down to upgrade abilities
+Little/no lag during online gameplay
+Menu load time is quick!
+Great lore
+Weapon range/differ greatly
+Addictive gameplay, enemy attacks changes depending on amount of players/skill
+Online players can come and go as they please
+Play vehicles speed up gameplay dramatically
-Customisation definitely needs to be taken further
-More character/races?
-Graphics on armor can be bland
-Tutorials in game aren't fleshed out
-Lore needs more explanation
-Vehicles overpowered, need adjustments
-Ammo drops much too rare
-Ammunition dissappears when changing weapons midgame
-Online allies disappear during boss fights excluding one mission
-Personal vehicle allows players to breeze through levels right up to boss fights
-10+ NPCs limit down to 4 necessary for class choice, mix/change class weaponry/armor?
This list may be updated until the end of the beta.
*1: Freeroam is amazing and fun, missions are great but are much too few and Glimmer is hard to find. Some missions don't reward Glimmer. All need to, since killing enemies only earns about 5 at a time. Seeing as new ships can cost more than 2000, they need to be either given more freely, up the earn rate or lower the rest. Otherwise playing MP, the campaign or even the freeroam missions, become repetitive fast.
2: Proper tutorials are a must. Even in the menu, it still didn't explain how to properly use Glide (I didn't realise pressing A is both up and down) nor where my resources are. Menu options are small and easily overlooked.
3: Emotes should be universal instead of stuck to a faction.*
And as always, have fun and game on!
