It’s been four days since the beta build of Bungie’s Destiny went live and so far the beta seems to be an overall success. The genre mash-up of first person shooter, role-playing game, and massive multi-player online game has drawn a lot of attention to itself. With name like Bungie behind it, it’s no surprise that Destiny has drawn the sizable crowd that it has. When the studio responsible for Halo steps up to bat it doesn’t seem like too much to ask them to hit another home run. However, if every player had a perfect batting record, then the competition would cease to exist. So that begs the question: is the beta build of Destiny teasing something much greater down the road or is simply tossing us a small portion of the game to keep us content?
I could talk about how beautifully constructed the environments are put together. I could talk about the wealth of variety in customization that the different guns and armor offer. I COULD talk about the skill trees and how enjoyable it is to run up to an enemy and punch them right in their face with a fist full of lightning. However, there is one thing above all that I feel could make or break the beta and that’s the low level cap.
Don’t get me wrong, I wholeheartedly believe in saving the best for last. If you’re able to run through an entire game in two or three days (and we all know someone who can) during the beta then why bother purchasing the game at retail price? You could pre-order the game for $5.00, get your beta code, run through the beta, and be done with it. So I’m glad I didn’t have access to the full campaign in Destiny. That being said, I also believe that I should have more to play than just a handful of (let’s be honest here) short campaign missions and the PvP arena.
I don’t mind having a low level cap. Granted, I would have loved to have reached level 15 and been able to look at my next sub-class, but that strikes me as something I need to wait for anyway. What really gets me about having the level cap only being level 8 is that there is gear and areas in the game specifically designed to be outside of the beta participants reach. When you meet the NPC specifically designated to your class, you’ll see that they have level 20 gear available for purchase but it’s unobtainable due to the level cap. Even the common NPC merchant sell items that range from levels 10 and up. Why include unobtainable gear in the pool for common merchants? At least the level 20 gear has unique properties to tease. The common rifles and handguns aren’t anything special besides being unpurchasable.
The second inclusion of content which is far beyond the reach of beta players are a couple of areas which are hidden out of sight. The first of these areas can be found while doing the mission The Warmind. After investigating the second of two mysterious signals, a staircase can be found which leads down into the basement of the building. The basement contains multiple high level level enemies; how high of level? You don’t know.
The marker next to the name of the enemy which indicates their level is replaced by question marks. Usually, in most RPG games, this indicates that, if your smart, you’ll turn tail and run or, if you’re like me, you have the innate need to investigate and see what these over-leveled enemies are hiding. I never found out if, or what, they’re hiding. I was instantly cut down as I walked into the room. Even later, when I came back with a full fire team and we unloaded all of our supercharges onto the group of enemies, we were each cut down with no effort on the enemies’ part.
I love challenges. If I don’t feel like I’m being punished, then I don’t feel like I’m moving in the right direction in a video game. However, there’s a difference between something being challenging and inaccessibly overpowered. So then I have to ask, why bother including an area like this if it’s impossible to overcome? Why show your participants weapons they can’t have instead of filling the gear pool for more weapons that can be purchased? To me, having these overpowered areas and inaccessible gear simply serves to alienate me from the game. I’ve loved every bit of the beta so far, well, the parts I can access anyway.
So let me ask everyone a question: Does it help or hurt the early access for you when you can’t participate in all of the content that is presented to you because of the limitations the game places on you?
