Destiny: 6 Reasons To Make You Bored

There some serious hurdles standing in the way of the game's greatness for some gamers, and most of those hurdles center around the game being boring. Why and how is it boring? Well, for the most part, there are six major reasons why Destiny is really boring. 

Lack Of Social Features

I'm not really sure whose idea it was to make Destiny power leveling as restrictive as possible on the social front, but it really took a lot of the wind out of the game's social sails. It took a few months before the game received public voice chat, and most of the interactions before then were handled through character emotes and avatar gesticulation. During missions, you don't really have party options to let you customize who you're with and how you travel. Also, the all-important matchmaking still seems to be MIA. It's hard to appreciate a game centered around multiplayer when key social features are missing. Hence, emergent multiplayer experiences and the thrill of meeting people feels mundane and contained. 

Poor Competitive Modes

The Crucible... that's where you go for some good 'ole fashioned PvP. Some 6-vs-6, some 3-on-3 and some free-for-all sound like decent ways to get your game on, but the problem is that beyond the standard competitive multiplayer modes that have shaped gaming since forever, you won't find much else in the Crucible. Unique, different or radical new game modes are just no where to be seen. Instead, the multiplayer is just the typical stuff you'll find in just about any modern 3D FPS title, which takes a lot away from the thrill of the game's competitive PvP edge. Hence, gamers are left with a less feature-rich collection of non-customizable modes that were found in Bungie's own Halo: Combat Evolved. 

Repetitive Stage Designs

A real draw to a lot of games is exploration. Being able to explore unique, foreign and alien worlds can help build a sense of wonder and intrigue for players as they search the world for rare artifacts or traverse the land in search of completing the next quest. The biggest problem with Destiny is that a lot of the quests see players repeatedly going back to many of the same levels and going over terrain and through structures that will have you saying “I could have sworn I've been here two dozen times before.” Some levels are structured where you don't mind doing them over and over again, but the lifeless architecture and drab designs can get boring awfully quick. 

Lack Of Environmental Interactivity

In addition to the repetitive designs of Destiny there's also an issue with the lack of interactivity. So not only do you have environments that feel like cool looking yet static concept photos from post-apocalyptic planets in Sci-Fi Monthly, but you also have a stark lack of interactivity in those levels. Physics-based destruction and deformation is non-existent. Destructible objects or movable debris is absent aside from the token explosive barrels. Weapons that burn through structures or deal bullet penetration through walls are also no where to be seen. This creates a very static and almost displaced feeling of detachment from the level design. The environments are there to be seen and not to be disturbed. 

Shallow Gameplay Mechanics

Destiny may offer unique skill-sets for each of the playable Guardians in the game, and the game may have swappable weapons and armor that help change the stats of the Guardians, but there's little else beyond the almost superficial customization options present in the game. If you're expecting character micromanagement similar to the likes of Warframe, Borderlands or Fallout 3, your expectations are barking up the wrong tree. The game has the most basic of gunplay mechanics and the ability to utilize the Guardian's designated special abilities. 

Samey Weapons

Usually the bread and butter of a first-person shooter are the weapons. You get the intensity, the dynamic feeling of victory and a pulse of satisfaction when brandishing powerful, creative and electrifying weapons. Well, that's how it feels in some games but not really with Destiny. The game's biggest hang-up is that the weapons feel... tame. Where games like Bulletstorm, Borderlands and Metro 2033 made each weapon feel powerful and authoritative, Destiny scales the weapons back to feel like perfunctory tools of the trade.