Vrain Matari wrote:
DUST has failed dismally as a shooter. The core mechanics are disfunctional on so many levels that it's embarrassing. DUST failed so hard as a shooter that it never even had a chance to implement itself as an MMO set in New Eden. The challenge CCP set themselves was beyond CCP's capabilities/resources/ability to deliver.
Destiny, in it's current state, has failed, even as a semi-MMO. They have not created the right combination of tools/systems to bring their playerbase together and thereby give some meaning to their shooter. As things stand now, what is left after the level grind? Even with great mechanics, we've all been to the Crucible, or something like it, before - it was meaningless then and it's meaningless now. On the core FPS mechanics, however, Bungie has executed flawlessly.
I wouldn't go so far. With either game. Both in terms of their failings and Destiny's flawless execution. But yeah, in general, Bungie gets a free pass because they know how to make a shooter and CCP? Not so much.
There are a lot of core FPS mechanics in Destiny that were present in Dust 514 that caused endless howling an gnashing of teeth here on the Dust forums. There isn't anything like stamina management in Destiny and you can jump all you want but here in the world of Dust 514/ Project Legion we are still getting our knickers in a twist over "bunny hopping." Destiny has that weird acceleration curve / dead zone on a lot of the guns (at least for me) where the reticle won't budge, won't budge, then goes flying. Destiny has stunlock! But it all still works. The guns are more satisfying to shoot, character movement is never insanely frustrating (you can even see your feet) and even the special abilities (though they looked out of place for an fps in all the vids I watched before actually playing, especially with the shift to 3rd person pov) are a blast and seamlessly integrated into combat.
Finally, in the last few days especially, organized fire teams in the Crucible have been rolling randoms and totally curb stomping players who aren't on fire teams or playing with mics. The fire teams will get an early lead and players on the opposing team will start quitting out of matches. You get 6 v 4 or even 6 v 3 for a while and the matchmaking will start dropping in new players on the losing, undermanned teams toward the end of the match when there is not even a slight chance that they can make up the point deficit. A multiplayer experience we here should all be intimately familiar with.
In the end, though, when it comes to core FPS mechanics, Dust 514 is ok, with occasional gratifying moments that lift the game far above its usual drudgery. And Destiny is just a great game with a few minor imperfections. Destiny's flaws could go either way. They could all be easily ironed out by full release, or the may become more glaring as people play the game over the course of weeks and months.
Which brings us to "Even with great mechanics, we've all been to the Crucible, or something like it, before - it was meaningless then and it's meaningless now."
Even if CCP had been able to release Dust 514 with flawless core FPS mechanics, the game never stood a chance. Dust 514 is nothing more or less than the Crucible. From the Academy to Planetary Conquest. There are minor embellishments: more than twice the number of players in a given match, timers, voice chat channels, but at its core Dust 514 is the Crucible, all the way down.
It is encouraging that with legion CCP seems to be (hopefully?) taking a slightly different approach. Instead of taking that most well worn aspect of the FPS genre, point control multiplayer, and attempting to build an entire game world out of it, they are instead attempting to build a game world first. One that allows for player v. player conflict, sure. But I believe that if CCP can build a great game world first and foremost, that will give them some breathing room to continue to refine and improve the FPS core.
And I guess part of why I am still here, and still hopeful, despite the last 2 years, is that very few developers are even talking about making anything close to "that game." Heck, most of the time CCP aren't even talking about making "that game", the one in my fevered imaginings that I have dreamed about possibly playing since seeing the Dust 514 reveal trailer in 2009. But when CCP talk about Legion, they still somehow manage to get closer than anyone else. For a half a second it looked like Destiny was going to be "that game" but it isn't even close. Don't get me wrong, it is a blast, so far in Beta. Basically Destiny is Phantasy Star Online with more guns, less multiplayer and a PvP arena. And that's fine by me.
But "that game" is something else entirely.