It’s your Destiny to check out the return of our Geek vs. Nerd Face-Off Review feature.
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@whizbang813
GEEK (Multiplayer) – My experience with Destiny was of complete and utter disappointment mixed with dopamine. The story was non-existent and placed within a universe of nonsense with random jargon words, the ethics of selling content back to players is something that I abhor; but when Destiny works – with you and a friend or two – it’s something special. And being that the online servers are reliable and function as they should doesn’t hurt either. *cough* GTA Online/The Master Chief Collection/Gears of War: Ultimate Edition *end unsubtle cough*
With Destiny: The Taken King, Bungie reconciles with many of the foibles that the community has complained about and rightly so. There needed to be more story and context for our actions. There was a dire need for personality in the static NPCs. And there needed to be more places to explore around the solar system. The Taken King delivers in spades in all of these categories and some that players didn’t even consider like increased number of bounties (special missions), giving the gunsmith character missions to turn in better weapons, and modifying the light level to not reflect your actual level with 40 being the level cap. Additionally, quests are welcomed in Destiny as they are more narrative-driven in nature.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpDLxs8z08A
The highlight of The Taken King content is the Dreadnought – Oryx’s ship that is positioned in the rings of Saturn. It is crawling with enemies so item-farming is a possibility for the grinders and there are tons of secrets and nooks to explore. It’s massive; so massive in fact that Bungie decided that players didn’t need their Sparrows – Destiny’s vehicles that spawn on the players. People have even suggested starting a Dreadnought Public Transportation system to compensate. It’s a bizarre omission but given the twists and turns and potential pitfalls and deaths, I can see it from a designer’s side.
The Taken King also adds a slew of new weapons, including a sword, and abilities for the three different subclasses. I got hands-on with the Warlock, who hovers and dishes out lightning like a Sith Lord while my Titan-bro wielded Thor’s Hammer and devastated the enemies. Together we were a lethal combination, while we still missed the Hunter’s light-bow that tethered enemies to the ground and made them immobile long enough for easy kills. I was victim of this in the multiplayer which hasn’t seen nearly as many upgrades as the single player.
The Taken King adds 8 new maps that are all expertly designed per the expectation of Bungie. There is a map that takes place on Mercury with the Sun hanging overhead and a bunch of maps on Earth–my favorite being Memento in the European Dead Zone, for reminding me of The Last of Us with overgrown vegetation in a city street. The two modes that are added to Destiny are sparse offerings considering Bungie’s history with the Halo franchise.
Rift is a capture the flag variant where a ball of light spawns in the center of the map with player fighting over it. Whoever can run the ball to the other teams goal, scores points and the other team is tasked with defending the ball-runner. Mayhem was available as a modifier in the Destiny 2.0 update to decrease the time it takes for the super-bar to fill up, but it has yet to be applied to The Taken King. Applied to all modes, even pre-existing ones, is the concept of Mercy Rule. If the opposing team is dominating your team or vice-versa, the match ends and the dominating team receives a special medal. I would like to see that incorporated into other games because no one likes to be in a team that gives up or leaves entirely. Best just to get it over with.
Bungie not adding more modes both confuses and frightens me. Capture the flag is such a basic mode that most, if not all shooters, include in the base game but Destiny only had: territory control, team deathmatch, free-for-all, etc. If Bungie is going to hold back multiplayer modes in the future, like a Juggernaut mode or a SWAT variant in Destiny, then I might raise both eyebrows in shock rather than just one incredulously.
All in all, The Taken King is worth the asking price due to the volume of content being added into Destiny that was simply not there in Year One. Where can Destiny go from here? That is a question they might not have time to explain why they don’t have time to explain.
“Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”
@Noway
NERD (Campaign) – With Year One of Bungie’s Magnum Opus coming to a close, fans and critics alike were wondering if they had the desire to even pick up Year Two of Destiny‘s expansion, The Taken King. Why bother? After a year of disappointment, empty promises, and almost no delivery on the game we were sold, who could blame anyone for not wanting to drop $40 on something that would lose its luster two weeks after it drops? Bungie was on a mission. Bungie had to stake it’s claim that Destiny was a franchise that was not to be given up on. The developers weren’t satisfied here just collecting our money. They raged, guardians.. they raged against the dying of the light and gave us the game it always should have been…
If you’ve played any of the Year One content of Destiny, chances are you were either completely turned off by its failings and traded it in with about 20-hours of gameplay, or you were like me and have grinded it out almost daily since launch with your cadre of like-minded clanmates wondering what the definition of insanity was.
If you fall into either of those categories, I have some good news and — cue “King” Wade Barrett — I’ve got some really bad news. The good is that the story-telling system in Destiny has been overhauled; the delivery of the narrative is done in a much more cohesive way–one that makes a whole lot more sense and utilizes a ton of different characters. The characters in the Tower have more dimension, and it makes for a much more enjoyable experience.
Other good news is that the loot system has also been overhauled, promising some more intelligent drops based on what is in the player’s inventory. The bad news, however, is that there isn’t MUCH story, there isn’t MUCH of a change to what some people would call a confusing and inadequate loot system. I would argue that the changes are certainly excellent refinements to the game, more or less saying, “about time Bungie”.
The story in and of itself is great– albeit brief, with almost endless side quests to occupy yourself after your final showdown with Oryx. And while I have not yet attained my light level 290 yet (gimme a break, congregation; I was on a 5-day vacation 2-days into the launch), most of my clan reports that this is finally a raid worth grinding for, and this Disciple is beyond excited to take the fight to Oryx with my fire team.
The Taken King is a success on many fronts, showing players that, yes, Bungie does listen to its audience. The expansion also shows much potential for growth into a franchise that can be the juggernaut of juggernauts. It renewed my faith in the brand, which I — rated high to begin with — wasn’t altogether sure was possible. Haters won’t be impressed, apologists will be obsessed, and the casuals will be a little confused, but Destiny: TTK is a great place to either start your relationship with Destiny, or to renew your vows and give it another shot.
