[quote]Make no mistake: Destiny's mechanical basics are, for the most part, superb. Interacting with this online-only shooter is a delight. The confident shooting model, the intuitive menus, the unblemished frame rate--all of these elements make for a fantastic foundation to build a worthy dynamic multiplayer shooter upon. Pulse rifles shoot their rhythmic barrages with great power, and charging up a fusion rifle and releasing its payload is akin to holding your breath and then expelling it in one rewarding sigh.[/quote] Accurate. Destiny really shines in the mechanics department. Especially replayability and progression. [quote]The disappointment of Destiny is that it fails to capitalize on the possibilities. Story missions and strike missions have you taking to Destiny's broad and beautiful settings with a friend or two at your side, but breadth isn't the games primary calling card: it's repetition. Excellent basics are betrayed by half-baked ideas stretched into hours of slow-paced and redundant tasks that have you asking yourself, "Hey, isn't this the same canyon I just raced through on my handy speeder a few moments ago? Hey, didn't I just cross this hill 10 minutes ago, and 20 minutes ago, and an hour ago?" It's tempting to compare Destiny to full-fledged massively multiplayer role-playing games, but doing so reveals how much more diverse typical MMOGs really are.[/quote] Also accurate. As much as we are avoiding the issue, Destiny is very comparable to an MMO. It's tasks and grinding are incredibly repetitive. However, I think this particular issue can be solved rather quickly as more content is added to the game. I have the innate feeling we've only begun to scratch the surface of the lore potential. If anyone is bothering to read the Grimoire cards, you'll see Destiny's writing really begin to shine. I know it's not a good excuse to have a rather pathetic vehicle for the story in this first installment, but I feel it'll be easy to improve upon. As I mentioned, the issue is not really with the world/lore/story itself. It's with the vehicle by which we, the players, are introduced. Gone is the linearity of Halo with it's very flowing and strong campaign progression. Instead, we find a game more sandbox in nature. Which certainly has it's perks, but something fell by the wayside. I'm hoping BUNGiE realizes this and changes the way it's story missions are formatted/presented. :)