Do you have your date with Destiny?

The Weekly Slice Previews

By. Meatloaf

Welcome to the Weekly Slice; a gaming, comic book, movie review/preview blog ran by the one…the only…Meatloaf (crowd roars and such).  Anyway, this week I am taking a look at Bungie’s monolithic new game “Destiny”.  With all the flooding of new gameplay, cinematic, and developer videos there is so much info so I am going to bring everything known so far into one area, so I hope you are ready have some fun because I know I am.

First of all before we begin our adventure here today, Destiny is an upcoming massively multiplayer online role-playing first-person shooter (MMORPG) developed by Bungie, and produced by Activision.  If you are not familiar with Bungie, let me remind you a little of their history.  Bungie started in 1991 with Alex Seropian when he created Operation: Desert Storm, since then the company has gone on to make such games as; Minotaur: The Labyrinths of Crete (1992), Pathways into Darkness (1993), The Marathon Trilogy (1994-1997), Myth: The fallen Lords (1997), and last but certainly not the least, they created the Master Chief himself in Halo: Combat Evolved in 1999.  This became their crowning jewel as the Halo Saga took off like blasting a grunt from an anti-grav platform.  Now we come to Activision Publishing, who as many in the game world tend to look at them with confused but revered for some of their more questionable choices, but their history is quite the expansive one as well.  Founded on October 1st 1979 the company was one of the first ever to develop and distribute video games for consoles starting out with the Atari 2006.  Some notable games released out of Activision; Pitfall (1982), Mech Warrior (1995-1997), Tony Hawk Series (1999-Present), Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy/Outcast (2002-2003), Call of Duty: Black Ops1-2 (2010,2012), Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2011), Call of Duty: Ghosts (2013).  As you can see from the Activision camp, things are going well, and taking in the fact that for the Destiny Project they have pumped $500 Million for royalties, marketing, infrastructure, and packaging.  It looks like “Space Magic” Destiny is being banked on to be a big player for at least ten years as per the deal between Activision and Bungie.

Ok, ok enough of the boring backstory behind the companies, now we can get to the meat and potatoes of this preview…The Game.  Destiny takes place 700 years into the future with a post-apocalyptic setting following a prosperous era of peace, exploration, and technological advancement known to us as the “Golden Age” (hmmm seems a bit future mideval-ish to me).  During this time the humans of earth ventured out into the Solar System to colonize the planets.  Near the end of this “Golden Age” there was a cataclysmic event that nearly wiped out the entire human race, but a celestial being only known as “The Traveler” was able to save a few remaining humans and bring them back to Earth in a single city.  This city is guarded by beings known as the “Guardians of the City” (not really quotable, kind of bland, but hey, I am no story designer.).  These beings are tasked with defending the city and on a larger scale, from humanity going extinct. Upon trying to re-establish with former colonies the remaining humans are attacked by many new hostile alien races that have made the colonies and even Earth their new home.  The Guardians now must venture out to defeat these hostile forces to regain their footing in the Solar System…that is where our story begins. (Trigger Epic music and queue dimmer lights)

In the Development notes and as far as what Bungie has told us, there a total of 7 races; Cabal, The Fallen, The Hive, The Vex.  All of which are NPC’s and will be explained a bit later, and then there are the Humans, Exo, and Awoken races which are all playable.   So without further delay let us move on into the playable races.

The Human race- Us, the humans, conquerors, heroes, resilient, and some even a bit too badass for even I to comprehend.  Noted as being reliable, tough, and uncomplicated.  Bungie has come out and said that they took inspiration from Action Heroes, Athletes, and Military.  If that is the case, then you better expect a smart-mouthed, witty, selfless, and resilient monster of a character.    The force that is always taking names and kicking alien ass all over out barren wasteland of a planet with a smile on their face.

The Awoken Race- What if you were to take an elf, angel, vampire, and ghost and mash them up into one?  Well I will tell you it would be pretty damn similar to the Exo Race.  Majestic, strong willed, beautiful, and deadly.  This race proves that you can look good while being covered in alien mess, rock on!

The Exo Race-Last but certainly not least we give you the Exo’s.  Feel like you want to live and play like Master Chief from the good ol’ days, well then here is your chance.  Bungie says that inspiration for the Exo Race came from Good Ol’ Master Chief himself, as well as some more nefarious characters such as; The Undead, and The Terminator (Admit it, you know you said it in a pseudo Arnold voice…I know I did..).  The Exo are a cold, sinister, Viking-esk monolithic built beings that are better, faster, and stronger than any mere human.  Standing toe to toe against an Exo with the mind set that you will do ANYTHING to win just won’t cut it anymore.

(The playable Races as Rendered by Bungie Industries)

Along with these playable races comes three unique character classes, each one has their own inspirations and builds.  When it comes to abilities, the Guardians do not come up short, and that is a fact.  The Traveler imbues certain people with “The Light” which is a mystical force that reminds you of Star Wars or the Matrix, while some people are given incredible luck, and even less are given strength to match even some of the greater beings in the Solar System.

The Hunter-Ever want to play like Han Solo and Clint Eastwood at the same time?  Well if so The Hunter would be your class, being described as a Bounty Hunter that makes their own luck, and bend the rules a bit when it comes to missions.  As a Hunter you are a reconnaissance Guardian that can and will outsmart, and pick your opponent from wither far away with your rifle or at close range with your revolver and throwing knife.

The Warlock- Imbued with powers from “The Traveler” the Warlock is your best friend when it comes to being the ace in anything and everything that deals with mystical ability.  Influenced by Star Wars Jedi Knights, Gandalf from The Lord of the Rings, and Morpheus from The Matrix, you are the one handing out the red or blue pills here.  The Warlock is a Guardian that has spent many years of their life to learn the many secrets of “The Traveler” and “The Light”.  Have fun Force Pushing your enemies into the abyss.

The Titan- Ok lets all face it…we all loved the fact that Master Chief could run into an army of his enemies and unleash a fury the like of which even Hell could not contain.  Inspired by the Fictional Space Marines, Star Wars Storm Troopers, and of course Master Chief yet again.  Take heed and pick up your heavy weaponry and make sure your fists are ready for a beat down.  Your sending a lot of things to Hell and you want to make sure it is done right.

(From Right to Left: The Titan, The Hunter, and the Warlock as rendered by Bungie Industries.)

Now it is time for me to explain a little about the NPC/Enemies that are in the game.  Throughout the story there will be many challenges and types of enemy races to fight and loot.  Enjoy your stay here on Earth and happy hunting.

The Cabal- Enter the Cabal, a wonderful little creature of much joy and happiness that loves to give out some free hugs.  Well…that was a lie, but don’t mind me, let’s try again (awkward scratches head).  The Cabal as a race are juggernauts, always clad in heavy armor and weapons that will put you on your ass faster than a roundhouse kick from Chuck Norris.  The Cabal inhabits the Exclusion Zone of Mars.
The Cabal come in 4 varieties, all deadly, all offering free hugs, these include; Legionnaires (Picture Grunts with tower shields and powerful guns.), Centurions (The same as Legionnaires, but with jetpacks.), Gladiators (50 ft. tall monsters covered in armor with a pretty big Gatling gun.), and Psion’s (Space Magic…That is all).

The Fallen- Have you ever seen the original Mortal combat, or even played it for that matter?  If so picture Goro in a spacesuit and ten times stronger, this is The Fallen, a four armed nomadic race that are sworn enemies to all of the human race.  Bungie states that once they were noble creatures that lived among the stars, now scattered and angry, ready to take what the humans have as their own.
The Fallen come in 3 varieties, all fun to fight against, and each of them have the undying hatred for you and your last foothold on Earth, there include; Dreg (Relentless thieves armed with a shock dagger and a pistol.  Driven by hatred and rage these guys are crafty, but can usually be found due to their hissing and clattering.), Vandal (Due to unknown data these guys are just known to be better and higher in the chain-of-command, beware their long range capabilities…they have good aim.), and the Captain (The high and mighty Captains of the Fallen lead packs of the Fallen into battle and carry themselves in such a way that they often keep a twisted sense of nobility about them.  They want what the humans took from them…Earth).

The Hive- Well we have come to The Hive…wow this is a hard one to tell you about…”Space Zombies” that is all.  This race can and will infect other species and have been known to do so since their creation.
The Hive species come in 4 varieties and all live for the soul purpose to take over and infest the Solar System, which are as follows; Thralls (The lowest form of The Hive and use their claws and teeth to rip apart their enemies.), Troopers (A typical Hive soldier that wield Energy Weapons, kind of like a master-sword.), Knights (Large elite soldiers that carry broadswords.), and the Wizards (These guys LOVE Space Magic and use it to command the lower forms of The Hive soldiers in their conquest of the Solar System.).

The Vex- Due to the lack of knowledge on The Vex there is very little in the way of knowledge so picture The Terminator with a less than human appearance.  These are time travelers that are vetted against humans.
The Vex Species come in 5 varieties all ready to travel back in time to create an infinite loop of you falling from low orbit towards Earth, which are; Goblins (A basic unit in the Vex army, these fun little tinker toys are easy to fight alone, but like wolves, they rely on overwhelming numbers to overcome their opponents.), Hobgoblins (Goblins…with tails.), Minotaur’s (Bigger, badder, stronger Hobgoblins.), Hydras (Flying segmented machines with each piece supporting an automated turret.), and Harpies (Annoying trolls that are upgraded Hydras that teleport in and out of battle.).

(The Enemy, as Rendered and Screenshot from Bungie.Net)

So all in all, with everything available it looks like this MMO is going to fuse both Halo and Borderlands into a strong drink that adds some elements from Activision’s other titles (*cough* Call of Duty *cough*) with a strong theme of survival of the human race being the direct and very serious core.  While looking through everything I cannot help but notice some very slight sleek character builds similar to that of the game "Warframe" for PS4/PC, but hey that is just me.  Anyway...with the release date of September 9th coming up over the horizon those that have pre-ordered or have got a few set of codes from Bungie/Activation’s respective Social Networking accounts, and through outlets like GameStop, Vintage Stock, etc. the Beta comes out sometime in June (perhaps an E3 reveal?), so that way players can test out and try to break the game before it comes out.  The bugs and balancing issues should be close to none due to both the insane amount of money being pumped into it (currently the largest amount ever put into the production of a game since GTAV), and the fact that the game has been in development for sometime that testers have already taken advantage of their much given time to make sure that this app will finally be a figurehead for both the PS4 and Xbox One Consoles, which they desperately need, coming into the Fall and Holiday seasons.  Finally for those of you that are out there that want to see a little bit more about the game here ya' go. Link to the Update Youtube channel

(The Titan is about to get some Free Hugs from The Hive.  Screenshot of The Devils Lair.)

All right everyone, it has been fun, but for now it is time for me to get on to another topic that I will rant about.  If you need me I will be available at PJ Gamers in Broken Arrow hanging with some of the most non-biased gamers around.   So for now I will bid you all farewell and to all of you readers out there thank you and see you out on the battlefield.


All Pictures are trademark of Bungie, and their respective artists.
Information for this article is from Bungie.Net as well as both Activision/Bungie related Social Media.
The Weekly Slice is a product of Meatloaf.


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