Bungie and Activision (developers of the Halo and Call of Duty series, respectively) made way for their newest project which was hyped up to be the biggest game of the year prior to its release date in September of 2014. Destiny is a First Person Shooting game (FPS) with a “shared world” where players can meet and engage in missions with elements of a role-playing game (RPG).

The release of the game was met with harsh criticism due to a blatant lack of storyline and any form of intellectual concept. Joe Staten, lead writer for the story of the infamous Halo series and now Destiny, announced his departure from the company (Bungie) a year before the release date; stating, “After fifteen great years at Bungie, from the battlefields of Myth to the mysteries of Halo and beyond, I’m leaving to tackle new creative challenges.”

This announcement was somewhat surprising, as it would seem to be the peak of his career; not to mention the fact that Staten spent the last four years creating the back story for Destiny. The sudden departure was seen by skeptics to be Staten’s way of getting back at the companies’ supposed last minute rejection of his storyline or basic concept for Destiny.

The official trailers for the game hinted at much more than what the game delivered as a whole, featuring several excerpts from cut-scenes that were never actually in the game. The loads of missing content that were touched on in gameplay trailers and official trailers are widely believed to be a part of a business scheme to be sold as downloadable content (DLC) or expansions which can be bought online from upwards of $40 each, potentially doubling game sales. This is a slap in the face to millions of loyal Bungie and Activision fans.

Conversely, the monotonous game play and redundant skeleton of a role-playing storyline wields a highly addictive platform reminiscent to Call of Duty and Borderlands in that the player can feel like a “bad-ass” in front of newer players (newbs) with his/her fully upgradeable armor and weapons which are delivered at random through awards and mission completion.

From a publishing standpoint, Activision may have rejected Staten’s story only so it would appeal to a wider audience. The maturity level of the story may have been a bit out of reach for the younger players to grasp. If this was the intention, it could mean bad news for gamers everywhere. This move completely removes the chance for any sort of positive brain activity. Once again, another facet of the entertainment industry is taken by big business and consumerism.

Long story short, if you enjoy repetitive yet satisfactory games that are littered with anti-climactic, unintellectual moments of narcissistic “I’m better than you” achievements (every gamer’s guilty pleasure), than this is your game. Maybe the DLC/ expansions will improve on the story and/or overall concept; but if that’s the case, then this is a shady business move and consumers should react accordingly.