Destiny The Taken King
“The next great adventure continues with Destiny: The Taken King
A dark shadow has fallen over our worlds. Oryx, The Taken King, is hell-bent on vengeance and is raising an army of corrupted “Taken” forces by manipulating the Darkness itself. You must find a way into his impenetrable Dreadnaught ship to defeat The Taken King before he and his dark army consume our civilization and bring our solar system to ruin.
Destiny: The Taken King, the next great adventure in the first person shooter Destiny universe, introduces a new story campaign and quests, new enemies to fight, new locations to explore, new Strikes and Crucible maps, a new Raid that will put players to the ultimate test, and more. To stand up to the challenge, players will have access to three new devastating Guardian subclasses, and a massive arsenal of weapons, armor, and gear.”
The Taken King is more than just an expansion; it’s the shot in the arm revival Destiny needed. Bungie has proven that they can build a better game. The Taken King is the third expansion for Destiny, following The Dark Below last December and House of Wolves last May. It marks the start of Destiny’s second year. The improvements address many of the issues we’ve had with the old game. There’s an expanded arsenal, new mechanics, new mission designs, the character interactions are way better, the loot system drops, and enhanced shooting are just scratching the surface of the revamp Bungie has given this expansion.
The Loot and the Gear:
The previous Destiny installments had such, what I would call a stingy loot system. It made going through some of the missions almost pointless. Bungie has heard our woes and now gives us a scaling loot system. With constant movement, mission completions, and enemy battles, the promise of better gear and more rewards are always just a step away. At the end of the battles you are now showered with loot, and useful rewards. It makes moving forward throughout the game more encouraging. Even better, gear upgrades are now spread throughout the solar system waiting for you to discover them. A really cool feature is you can melt down new items to reinforce your old favorite items, keeping them in play much longer.
The quest interface has had a revamp too, thankfully. It is now much easier to keep track of the immense number of tasks and bounties. You can track major quests, and check your progress on various missions by pulling up your Ghost.
Enemies and Defenses:
In the previous Destiny installments most battles felt like you were endlessly shooting at cookie cutter enemies. Destiny as a first person shooter game needed more dynamic enemies, and interactions. They definitely upped the ante with The Taken King. The enemies you will face now are way more interactive, and have a wider range of ability. You’re going to have to work harder to defeat them: Thralls teleport side to side as they march toward you, Phalanxes blast you backwards with their shields, Cabal scions split into triplets, Goblins shield their allies giving your enemies stronger defense capabilities, and the boss fights are more aggressive. It’s much more challenging offering lots of surprises, and keeping you on the edge of your seat.
There are three new subclasses: Nightstalker lets you pin enemies down, Sunbreaker lets you create empowering zones on the fly, and Stormcaller allows you to punish grouped foes, among so many other abilities. The challenge is figuring out the right moment to use them, and which enemies to use them on. The decision making process becomes more complex when playing with others. Using some of the defenses in tandem can really give you an edge you didn’t have before. It seems The Taken King leans way more toward cooperative play. Having two or three people helping complete a mission is the way to go. In Kings Fall there is a strict 6 player rule as well.
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Characters Interactions and Scenes:
Destiny brought some actually life into this installment. Their improvements have made the story line way more compelling. They are starting to make sense of the nonsense. Cayde 6 has LOL witty one liners. Even the vendors and guest givers have way better dialogue, and are even amusing. The Vanguard leaders are more than talking mannequins. The characters take on new life with personalities, fears, and motivations unique to them.
The scenes in this installment are cinematic; I’m way more convinced the scenes are depicting a star system under siege. The worlds are expanded and you’re given more backstory that was missing from the other installments. The platform sequences, the raids, the level designs are more intelligent this time around.
The Taken King has moved Destiny up the ladder in leap and bounds. As we played everyone kept saying, “ Wow, this is so much better!” And it is! I’m excited about the development Bungie has put into The Taken King. It really shows they are listening to the fans and invested in making Destiny an even more amazing first person shooter game.