Destiny and Virtual Reality
Gaming has come a seriously long way in the last 20 years and what better way would there be to analyse one of the most recognisable games around to this day against a system that effectively pioneered VR, without accepting the notoriety that came along with it!
Destiny as we should all know by now is the MMOFPS developed by Bungie; whether you love it or you hate it, you can’t deny just how much of an impact it has had on the gaming scene. After all, it was one of the extremely few console-exclusive MMO’s that were actually a success. Game developers and game studios had tried beforehand to create a decent console-exclusive MMO, but it wasn’t really considered a success until Destiny finally came out and you can’t really blame them for that. Bungie simply took the Halo-style of gameplay that fans already knew and love, and then put it into a new IP; an idea that appeared to have panned out perfectly well.
Yes, the game may have a few problems here and there, but what game doesn’t? Over the years the game has slowly but surely getting improved more and more, until it’s finally reached the stable and entertaining state that it’s finally gotten to.
Reverse to around 20 years prior, at the unknown origins of VR and the games surrounding it, we have a VR system (not a home-console, however) with a number of extra peripherals that was one of the very first systems to try and give VR a chance. In regards to today’s standards it isn’t anywhere near the same level of immersion or entertainment, but with the history that came with the name Virtual Reality is a part of gaming history we simply can’t ignore.
On top of all of this, for the system was a certain game by the name of Dactyl Nightmare – not the greatest name I’ve ever head of – it’s one of the first multiplayer games to be released and almost undisputable as the first VR multiplayer title. The game is a small FPS that allows you to pick up a couple of weapons, such as a crossbow or a grenade launcher and then proceed to blow away your nearby friend into a million pieces! Even at its age, it made use of a small level of cover mechanics to implement a little bit more skill and tactics to increase the longevity in this game.
With a game at the age that it is currently at, it’s understandable to think that Destiny won’t have stolen any inspiration from it directly; yet might have done it indirectly instead. After all, if you realise that every new game, regardless of genre will look back on previous versions of the genre that worked well or didn’t work well will put those ideas in their new game. Just because Destiny didn’t take it straight from the Virtual Reality system and its game – however, other game developers will have done exactly that; taking inspiration from every FPS game that came beforehand until we as an industry finally were given access to Destiny.
Initially the two games may not gel all that well together in this day and age, but whether Bungie know it or not, the Virtual Reality system will have implemented some mechanics and systems into their games without even realising. If Bungie ever decide to jump the shark and finally make a game that follows on the VR route or something along those lines, Virtual Reality will play an even wider role in the VR-spectrum that I don’t think anyone to begin with would have expected; yet won’t be disappointed to see nowadays.
