By Jordan Ryder
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7 out of 10
Playing “Destiny” for the last year is similar to how I imagine Stockholm Syndrome would work. I enjoyed playing it but kept thinking “there are a million things about this that are bad.” Theoretically, “The Taken King” was supposed to fix everything.
What was fixed:
One of the big promises made was a more developed, in-depth story than the shallow mess of the original games. On that promise, Bungie delivered. There are cutscenes and characters now! The narrative arc as whole is much more focused and detailed for this expansion: the Taken King is here for vengeance, and it is the player’s duty to defeat him. Compare that to the base game plot: The Vex are evil and are out to …something … something evil … go deal with it. End-game missions also have plots and feel far more involved than previously.
The missions are much more varied than the base games. They have become more evolved than the “go here, scan this, defend against enemies, repeat” model. It only took a year, but evidently Bungie remembered they used to be renowned for level design.
The new Taken enemies are also a breath of fresh air this game desperately needed. They are corrupted versions of normal enemies, but granted new abilities that makes fighting against them actually fun. They can duplicate, carpet the ground in fire, shield allies, cloak (I will say this is the best cloaking I may have seen in a game), and even completely blind the player for a few seconds.
On the whole, the fun factor has been put back in the game.
What was not fixed:
Leveling. Bungie said the leveling system was going to be redesigned to be easier. It’s pretty much the same system, just made more annoying. Instead of the base level being 20, it’s now 40, and you improve your light level by equipping better gear. The change is that light level is now tied to all your gear rather than just your armor.
This is where the annoyance comes in. Because now that weapons are included, players are forced to equip the highest level weapons they have, rather than the ones they prefer using. For example, I ran auto rifles and shotguns and, for a few missions, was forced into using hand cannons and sniper rifles, neither of which I really like.
The other negative I have found with “The Taken King” is that content from the previous expansions, Dark Below and House of Wolves, has been dropped. For example, there are no more Wolf Packs to battle to get treasure keys for the Prison of Elders. Well, the rewards one got from the Prison are now no longer worthwhile for veteran players and new players coming to “Destiny” are going to be missing out on the experience. Plus a removal of content just feels like a step back to me.
In the end, “The Taken King” is worth getting. It is a nice expansion that fixes more things then it breaks.