Do Destiny reviews make sense relative to Titanfall? (Destiny)

by CINCL, Saturday, September 13, 2014, 20:49 (3523 days ago) @ ireallylovelists

I thought I'd stop lurking and put my $0.02 in here.

Having played both Destiny PVP and Titanfall, it is unfair to equate the quality of the two. Destiny PVP is competent but nothing I would write home about. It has limited mobility, low time to kill, and its defining features are the presence of Heavy Weapons and Supers. Titanfall has high mobility (wall-running, wall-hanging, double jumping etc.), low time to kill and its defining features are Titans and AI.

It is my opinion that Titanfall is superior not only to Destiny PVP but also the entire package of Destiny combined. Why? Because Titanfall builds a game around its amazing mechanics instead of building a game around investment systems. Don't get me wrong, I am enjoying Destiny and it has some really good mechanics, but it has major issues with how it hides those mechanics behind MMO conceits such as grinding and loot.

Mind you, many people criticize Titanfall for not having much in the way of unlockables. However, it is a supremely well-balanced game with a high skill-cap and its mechanics alone have kept me coming back for more.

I think that Destiny's mechanics lend themselves best towards a PvE CoOp experience where you feel like you truly are legend, mowing down enemy after enemy. The problem is that becoming "legend" ultimately less to do with your own skills and more to do with how good your gear is. When Destiny hits that sweet spot where the enemies are just challenging enough to pose a threat but not impervious to your weaponry then the experience is great. Otherwise you have enemies that pose no threat or preposterous bullet sponge that punish your every attempt to do something neat.

Ultimately, Titanfall's "end game" is about its mechanics (wall-running, shooting on the move etc.,) and Destiny "end game" is about its system (knowing how to get the best gear, how to farm.) You advance in Titanfall primarily through increasing your understanding of the games mechanics while you progress in Destiny by finding ways to more efficiently advance through its systems to make yourself powerful enough to fight tough but dumb enemies. I think Destiny's problem is that it led people to believe they were going to get a game that focused on mechanics and a huge open world, with loot as a side bonus, and instead got a game where learning to work your way through its systems is the primary focus. This likely comes as a shock to many reviewers hence the lower scores. Remember, disappointment is valid reason to score something less highly than you would otherwise (and vice versa, i.e. sleeper hits). Bungie hyped this game a certain way, so expectations are what they are.

(Disclaimer: I love Titanfall, I played months (literally) of WoW, and I find Destiny to be an enjoyable but flawed experience. Not trying to bash Destiny here, but it's an experience that really needs some tuning up.)