When I think of how to describe Destiny’s performance since release, I imagine a massive, gorgeous cruise ship riddled with holes in the hull. After setting sail, the ship started sinking and everyone aboard chipped in to help shovel water out because they loved the boat and wanted to save it.
For a while, that worked great. But eventually people start to getting tired of keeping the boat afloat and they jumped overboard. As more and more people left, the ship started sinking deeper and deeper into the ocean. Eventually, so many people seemed fed up that if the ship’s designers didn’t fix the holes soon, enough people would leave that the ship would sink.
Of course, in realistic terms, Destiny will never completely sink as a game. There will always be a decent number of players who will come back to grind through the same content over and over. But considering what developer Bungie and publisher Activision were trying to achieve, Destiny might end up looking like a pretty substantial failure.
That isn’t to say there was nothing redeemable about the game or that no one will remember it fondly. Destiny, regardless of all its problems, still has some of the best shooting mechanics of all time. Also, it’s breathtaking to look at. But that luster has been fading since release, and if Bungie doesn’t give the game a nice shinning, it’ll turn into a relic.
During the next few months, Destiny will be in a very pivotal moment of its lifecycle. All the content for the first DLC expansion, “The Dark Below,” has been released and sentiments are mixed. For all the improvements Bungie dished out, it seems they made just as many mistakes.
Now it’s up to Destiny’s next expansion, “House of Wolves,” to keep players on the hook for a number of reasons. Many players are tired of the grind — but more importantly, “House of Wolves” is the last piece of content anyone preordered. Once that comes out, no one playing Destiny will have any more money in the game. If they’re fed up, they wouldn’t be losing out on any content by not sticking around.
That’s bad news for Bungie, which is planning to release an even bigger expansion than “House of Wolves” later in the year. If enough money has been sunk into “Comet” and sales aren’t great, I’m not so sure Activision is going to keep funneling truck-loads of money into the project.
Once the money goes so does everything else. And forget about a sequel that fixes all the first game’s problems. Why wouldn’t Activision rather pay for another Call of Duty game instead, especially when they know it’ll sell more copies than any other game that year?
The good news is designer Luke Smith recently made some encouraging comments on the popular gaming forum NeoGAF. From what he wrote, the development team is actively listening to feedback and learning from their past mistakes. “House of Wolves” might actually be the fix Destiny fans have been waiting for.
Even still, Destiny has dug itself such a hole that Bungie has no slack. “House of Wolves” could be an amazing success, but there could be mass exodus if Bungie slips up one more time after that. People wouldn’t see “House of Wolves” as a step in the right direction in that case — only a one-time fluke.
Hell, the damage might already be done. The coming spring and summer will offer dozens of new and exciting games that haven’t already let down the people playing it. Many will jump ship regardless of what Bungie does simply because Destiny created too many memories of frustration and disappointment. And even if “Comet” turns out to be the pinnacle of all games ever made, fans will still be skeptical of whether a sequel might be good.
So if you’re reading this, Bungie, don’t fuck it up. We know you have the talent and potential to create something lasting and satisfying. It’s been a steep learning curve, but you should know enough by now to right the ship.
Fill those holes and you’ll be fine. Patch them over with flimsy content and Destiny sinks. It’s as simple as that.
Jason Krell 