"We explored several options to populate the world for reviewers"
Usually, it'd be a cause for panic: Destiny launches tonight at midnight, and yet we don't yet have a review of it live on our site. That isn't because Ed is kicking his heels (although of course he is as usual, the slacker), but because Activision and Bungie have chosen not to make the game and its servers available to reviewers ahead of time. And for good reason, they say.
"We explored several options to populate the world for reviewers," says
a blog post on Bungie's official site. "Our team estimates it would take thousands of gamers to ensure each potential public space in Destiny would be populated - that every activity would be accessible at all hours of the day and night. Where on Earth would we be able to find thousands of gamers? The answer is you.
"So, reviews of Destiny will wait for your arrival. On day one, you'll be rubbing elbows with the pageant judges, so look sharp. Who knows, you may end up on one of their live streams. They may end up on one of yours, too!" Essentially, Bungie reckons that reviewers won't get an accurate impression of Destiny's huge shared world unless there's enough people to fill it with - probably a fair assessment, I'd say.
"For us, this is a first - a new experience," the post continues. "It's a bit of a risk, too. We fully anticipate seeing day one reviews from folks who decide to kick the tires, but don't have the time or patience to take our ride for a nice, long road trip. Some of you might wait to pick up a copy until you read the final verdict from your most trusted review house. We're okay with that. We've created something we're proud of."
Will you be picking up a copy of Destiny at midnight? The game will be available for digital pre-loading ahead of time, so you can be on, helping Ed out with his review, from 12:01am onwards.
"We've created something we’re proud of."
With the
Destiny launch just around the corner, you might be eager to read the first reviews as soon as they're published, but Bungie warns that these might not serve as the best appraisals of its "shared-world" first-person shooter.
According to Bungie community manager David "Deej" Dague, Destiny isn't a typical shooter. You could play through the story and some competitive multiplayer matches without too much interaction, but the best way to experience it is when the world is fully populated, with many players roaming about. Dague said that Bungie considered populating the game somehow for reviewers before the game's release, but decided that nothing was a suitable substitute to the live, public version of the game.
"We fully anticipate seeing day one reviews from folks who decide to kick the tires, but don’t have the time or patience to take our ride for a nice, long road trip," Dague said in the
most recent Bungie Weekly Update. "Some of you might wait to pick up a copy until you read the final verdict from your most trusted review house. We’re okay with that. We’ve created something we’re proud of."
Dague also said that Destiny "really begins" at the level cap of 20, which is something you often hear about massively multiplayer online games like
World of Warcraft. At that point, you can keep improving your Guardian by getting better gear and taking on the
endgame raids with your friends. In fact,
Dague recently said that you're not likely to "finish" the game anytime soon, if you ever do.
You can pre-load Destiny now before it launches on Tuesday,
September 9 for
Xbox 360,
Xbox One,
PlayStation 3, and
PlayStation 4.