Destiny is one of the most anticipated games this year, mainly because it is coming from former Halo creators and developers, Bungie. Now that they are with Activision, they were free to create a new IP and that IP is Destiny. Not much was really known about the game since it was announced a year ago, but this year, we know a lot more thanks to the fact that the game is set to release this summer. Not only that, Bungie released a special alpha build exclusive to PS4 owners and I was lucky enough to have received one. This first look into Destiny is still an alpha build but despite this, it is very polished and beautiful.

GRAPHICS

The first thing I said to myself as I started up the game was how beautiful this game looks. This is the most gorgeous looking game Bungie has ever made and it surpasses anything they ever did on Halo. The environments are highly detailed with much higher resolution texture maps and the environment seems to stretch for miles. You can actually see enemies very far on the map which helps if you want to play as a sniper.

This is definitely a game that shows off the power of the PS4 and there were times where I literally just stood there marveling at what was in front of me.

As for character animations, movement is very fluid for both the enemies and your companions. I like the fact that everyone looks different in the game based on how they customized their character. You’ll pretty much never run into someone who looks exactly like you.

GAMEPLAY

Destiny plays very much like Halo. That’s to be expected and honestly, I’m glad it does because Halo was very solid and so is Destiny. If you played a lot of Halo before, the way the game feels and controls will be quite familiar.

The controls are very fluid and feel very accurate when aiming down the sights as well as no-scoping. It’s easy to lock on to targets and the controls never feel twitchy or laggy. Again, very Halo-like and in terms of first person shooters, that one was very good.

MULTIPLAYER

Of course one of the main features of Destiny is the multiplayer aspect. You can actually go through the story itself with 2-3 friends and complete missions and objectives. What’s neat is that while playing, you’ll also see other teams joining in. It seems like up to 8 people can be with you at once, though you can only have 2-3 on your team. If you head to the Tower, which is the main social meeting place for all players, you’ll actually see a ton of random players just walking around, shopping for goods, and conversing with each other.

You can also join in good old fashion MP matches at The Crucible. You can form squads of more people. This mode was good too, but matchmaking seems a bit off as you get paired up against other players who levels may be much higher than yours and they will literally just destroy your team as it’s based more on the level of you character and what items they have and less on your actual skill level. Hopefully Bungie figures out a way to balance this out better.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Overall, everything I’ve seen to far has been totally awesome. The graphics are amazing, the gameplay is solid, and it’s still hard to believe that this is an alpha build. So far, this little alpha play test has got me hyped about the full game and I honestly now can’t wait until it comes out this September. This is a game that all PS4 owners should own this year.

I’ll of course have more of Destiny when the beta is available later in July and then when the full game is released in September.