[dropcap]B[/dropcap]ungie and Activision have finally released the role-playing game Destiny. It was first announced in 2009 in Halo 3 ODST’s epilogue—the last words were “Destiny awaits,” along with a picture of a mysterious orb approaching the Earth. Despite being in production for approximately four years, the game fails to live up to the expectations set by players from all over the world.

What sets this game apart from others is the magnitude of its game world. The four playable worlds give the player a vast amount of space to explore. The wide variety of weapon and armor choices give the player the opportunity to have a unique character that they can call their own.

The game takes place in a post-apocalyptic setting hundreds of years in the future. Preceding this time period was an era called the Golden Age, when Earth started colonizing the solar system. All was well until these colonies started disappearing in a mysterious event known as The Collapse. The last of these cities survives on Earth, guarded by a white spherical body called The Traveler. This gargantuan relic grants special powers to the city’s protectors, called Guardians.
What really captures the player is the fascinating sci-fi scenery of the game world’s futuristic setting.

There are four playable planets in the game—well, three and the moon. These planets feature awe-inspiring scenery that immerses the player the moment they set foot into it. There are five playable game modes:

• Explore
• Crucible
• Strike
• Tower
• Story

Story mode contains the game’s main campaign and is quite standard. Explore mode gives the player free reign to explore all four worlds and search for treasure without a set mission; this is one of the most enjoyable game modes. Tower mode allows players to regroup with members of their squad and plan out their next move. Strike and Crucible are both multiplayer modes, Strike being a cooperative mode and Crucible being a competitive mode. The multiplayer mode is incredibly reminiscent of the Halo series.

The game’s artificial intelligence, such as monsters and other enemies, puts up a good fight. The enemies take cover, they are tough to kill and they use shields. However, the guns the aliens drop when killed are not as effective as they seem on the aliens themselves, making for a very disappointing process.

Overall, Destiny had the potential to topple the top game series such as Call of Duty and Halo, but it fell short on diversity and depth. The missions were repetitive and took too long. The massive maps give the player the freedom of exploration, but the novelty wears off after a while. However, the multiplayer did stand out due to Bungie’s superior ability in crafting top notch multiplayer gaming experiences. This game was great in theory, but poor execution resulted in its overall mediocrity.