Destiny: The Taken King Review | IGN

Jose:

It was 4 a.m., and though my Fireteam should have stepped away from Destiny: The Taken King's fantastic endgame raid hours ago, the six-player assault kept us awake to try and stomp our way to the final boss. But a challenging co-op gauntlet isn't the only thing fueling our lust for better loot drops and great shooting – there are plenty of changes, big and small, that make Destiny a much better game. The short-but-sweet campaign, menacing Taken enemies, clever bosses, and rewarding loot system, combined with another inventive raid, have made these late-night play sessions a regular thing. This expansion is the shot in the arm that Destiny needed.

[Rimeskeem]

8-10s across the board, pretty surprised tbh.

[-Foxtrot]

I'm not

It's Destiny. If the main game got such high reviews despite the product we actually got, then I don't see why an expansion going into it's second year would be any different.

We'll probably see the "Why Taken King was a letdown" or "The Taken King: Was it Enough?" articles popping up from the same people giving it such a good score in a month or so

[Allsystemgamer]

It didn't get high reviews. It got decent reviews. A lot of 7s

[SnotyTheRocket]

So cynical, literally all the time. It's a damn good expansion. Deal with it.

[Gazondaily]

Well I gave the last one a 4/10 so you can trust me on the review score. This one actually does do a lot of things right. Hey, the paid beta is finally over!

[bryank75]

The main game had excellent gameplay. Some things were unbalanced and other things were missing... like story. Bosses were bullet sponges etc.

They have patched many of the problems they could through the year and now they have addressed a lot of the other problems like story and 1 manning raids etc.

The game is brilliant, deal with it. It is sad that people have to hate on this game to feel good about themselves....
You won't see those articles, cause it is genuinely excellent.

[BiggerBoss]

"Such high reviews"

IGN gave the base game a 7.8....

[JeffGUNZ]

@ Foxtrot.

Have you even played it?

It is completely different in a good way. The quest lines (which I am surprised how many their are, it seems never ending with new quests), are a really nice addition. Their is actually a story this time which helps things out. The ranking system makes sense now and is much more enjoyable then previously. It is really an excellent expansion and actually FEELS like one this time. I grew so tired of this game by House Of Wolves and didn't even think I was going to get this content anytime soon. After reading all the reviews and player feedback, I gave it a shot and am absolutely impressed.

Also, Destiny never got real high reveiws, it averaged in the 7's.

[maybelovehate]

IGN gave vanilla Destiny a 7

[WildArmed]

Destiny year 1 was a 6/10.

Destiny year 2 is (surprisingly) a strong 8/10.

So yeah, not surprising that the game is getting much better scores.

It manages to scratch that odd co-op game itch as well as improve on the abysmal mess that was Destiny on launch.

[RpgSama]

Wish I had time to sink in this game, too much time commitment for grinding and looting, that's why i'd never got into MMORPG neither, even if I always wanted to do it.

[Jughead3416]

It's not an MMO

[nosferatuzodd]

Am I missing something this game got a 9 out of 10 wow

[JeffGUNZ]

The expansion the taken king got a 9 out of 10 and it deserves it. FINALLY this game feels like Bungie has their game here. I am actually shocked how good this content is right now and how they changed so many things and did it right. Really surprised.

[ABizzel1]

It's a much better game I can attest to that. The first game for me was a 7/10 after they added the free updates (launch was a 6), this one is a strong 8.5 - 9.0 / 10.

There's a lot of stuff to do (TONS if this would be your first time playing), more weapons, rebalanced, more modes, crucible is fun again, some nice boss fights (Taken King content at least, love the DarkKnight fight), and finally a bit of story (though still not top quality).

This is the game Destiny should have been at launch and a Year ago it would have been earning 9's across the board, and won GOTY 2014.

But here we are in 2015, those of us who've played since Day 1 had to suffer through a year of ups and downs, and so it gets a slight knock.

I still have gripes with a few things. Specifically:

*Loot drops (beat the S.A.B.E.R Nightfall and got 2 motes of light as a rewards....COMPLETE AND UTTER BS), at least offer 30 Legendary Marks for Nightfalls if you have rewards like that.

*Lack of Year 2 versions for all exotics (IMO they need another reason to sell the next seasonal DLC)

*Raid armor should always be upgradable (but they need a reason to sell that next seasonal DLC)

*Cutting content from the original game (can't prove it factually, but a lot of areas miraculously opened up with prior DLC's (Resputain's bunker, Skolis behind Vex on Venus, Saturn shown and playable in dev diaries), and now seeing the Crota missions only Rank 12 tells me all that stuff was part of the original game, but taken out to be sold)

*Still no matchmaking for Raids (at least give players the choice, it's hard finding 5 friends to raid with, and it sucks waiting sometimes hours to find a Raid group on the forums, hopefully PS & Xbox Communities fix this, though Xbox doesn't seem to be what PS is offering, but we'll see).

*How Bungie handles Year 1 players (we pay max price ($140) to keep the game up and running while struggling for levels / weapons / good armors, and all that gets taken away from us while newcomers wait a year pay $40 and get everything handed to them)

[3-4-5]

* The controls and mechanics in Destiny are the best I've ever played with probably, it was just all the other stuff that needed some tweaking.

I'm taking a long break from Destiny, but I still like it.

I'll come back for year 3 once a lot more noticeable improvements have been made and then I'll have like 2 years of Destiny to catch up on.

I'm glad it's getting good reviews though, as that is good for Destiny's future.

[warczar]

For a whole years worth of destiny content you would need to wait at least two years. Maybe you'll even be able to get it at half price, but I doubt it.

[bryank75]

Why? The mechanics were excellent... best on the market. They just added what fans wanted.

[PrinterMan]

Why must I spend another 80 dollars though!? I already own Destiny but the Taken King is another 80 dollars?? I think I'm being taken. :(

[TheDrunkenJester]

It is only $40 for the expansion...

[Benchm4rk]

@TheDrunkenJester

Not in Australia. I paid $70 for it here

[Horyzon]

A Masterpiece.

[Omnisonne]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media...

[Tankbusta40]

Apparently it only took a year and over 100 bucks for the early adopters!!! What a fantastic masterpiece!!!!

[ALowlyRock]

Yep. So glad to be a year 1 beta tester. And it only cost me $100.... -_-

[n1kki6]

I got my 100 worth.

[n4rc]

my xbox says 904 hours played... id say it was well worth it lol

[Kenshin_BATT0USAI]

Given the hours I put into this game and the amount of game time I have with friends. I don't mind. Hell, it's call of duty all over again for me. I'm actually playing a game with friends for a change lol

[AngelicIceDiamond]

Clearly a paid review either that or IGN is simply cheerleading Bungie.

[G20WLY]

Have you not seen the other reviews? This is a pretty standard score for this game. It's reviewing better than the original and they fully explain in the text what makes it better, so I don't know why you would doubt the truth in it.

...Other than the fact that IGN are often full of crap, of course! ;^P

[JWiLL552]

Why is anyone surprised Bungie made something really good?

The surprising part was how lackluster it was at launch.

[Eejanaika]

Well said. I don't believe it deserves a 9/10.
Glad im not the only one thinking this.

[Yui_Suzumiya]

I just did the intelligent thing and waited because I saw this happening after I played the beta. Once I get it after I play Fallout 4 it'll likely be $40 for the whole thing :3

[PickAShoe]

Yeah, I was a beta tester too. Thankfully I know what this game was going to be before throwing money at it. I'll save that money for Fallout 4. :D

[TheDrunkenJester]

I wish they would have had some fan service for all the people who sunk a ton of hours in the vanilla game... Or at least gave us a discount or something.

[Benchm4rk]

What are you talking about. We all got a new sparrow, emblem and shader....what more could you want /s

[PizzaSteve]

I respect other people taste in games but Destiny is one game I just can't play.

[Yui_Suzumiya]

Kinda like me with the GTA series.

[G20WLY]

You'll get better, just practice. :)

[MysticStrummer]

@Pizza - That's a great way to put it. +bub

[cell989]

The story is a million times better than the original destiny game. It actually made sense and had me interested through out the short run. Made me get more interested on the lore of the game

[JWiLL552]

The lore is actually really good stuff, the story about Dredgen Yor (Thorn) and Shin Malphur (The Last Word) is awesome. It's like something out of a western...a space western.

Loved the different mission structures in the campaign this time. Having Cayde (or one of the others) and Ghost narrate stuff as you play is the best way to get story across in this type of game, with occasional cutscenes. They found a good balance.

"Cayde's Stash" was a standout mission for me. Nathan Fillion is awesome.

[ninsigma]

Nathan Fillion has a standout performance, he's too funny lol

[n4rc]

yeah.. super big fan of his new-found attention in the game.. had me laughing more then a couple times

[cell989]

Cayde is definitely my fave character in the game, followed by Toland

[OutcastMosquito]

The taken king TOTALLY invigorates destiny. It's a much better game now by far. Believe it or not but there was a time where I actually despised this game. Not anymore.

[nosferatuzodd]

I still despised it and I use to be a level 34warlock 34hunter 34titan

[ninsigma]

I never despised the game but I did get fed up with the crappy rng and quit. The game is just incredible now. On it every free moment I have!

[Benchm4rk]

Yeah i had a bad run when it first came out. All my friends were getting good drops and i got crap non stop for months straight. I quit for 2 months then picked it up again after dark below came out. Finally got some good stuff then took another 2 month break from it. Picked it up again 2 weeks before House of Wolves came out and i finally got my gally and vex and vision id been chasing for months. After that i had nothing to play for. Stopped playing again until Taken King came out. Now im hooked again and really enjoying it. Quests are great amd the new level system is heaps better. 289 light now should hit 290+ by friday and will be jumping into the raid.

[CKPan]

Sure, keep encouraging this kind of business method.

[nosferatuzodd]

Indeed

[BlackWolf12]

The consumers are the ones who are encouraging it by still paying money for it.

And honestly, I don't really care what business model they use, so long as the price is fair and the content is good.

So far, Destiny has checked both those boxes for me, and I have enjoyed it all so far.

[nosferatuzodd]

what? so you're saying a 40 dollar dlc is fare after they sold us a demo for 60 bucks last year oh ok if you say so

[BiggerBoss]

So im confused. Are you saying that review sites should give lower scores based on the publishers business practices? So all EA games like Mirrors Edge and Battlefront should be given low scores right? Who cares if the game is good or not... /s

[JWiLL552]

Destiny has 0 microtransactions.

The issue isn't the business model, it's that the base game was lacking and the first 2 DLCs weren't great. If they had been nobody would have cared about cost. The Taken King is well worth the $40 I spent on it.

As long as the content is good going forward having this sort of "content drip" where something drops every 4 months or so is important for a game who's player base is so rabid.

[maybelovehate]

Would you rather they charge a monthly fee and make it cost more?

[lildudexst]

No it 7/10 not even close to 9/10 improve my ass it same shit with new weapons and raid that it starting questions the value destiny.

[Allsystemgamer]

^ clearly has not played TTK

[lildudexst]

Year one player and I own taken king.

[bryank75]

If you cannot form proper sentences, then you need to learn how. I doubt you could coordinate much in Destiny with your level of education...would all be a bit too much for you.

[ninsigma]

I hate ign. I despise them and don't trust their reviews. Haven't read the review so don't know if they're praising it because it's been great or there's some agenda behind it but this once agree with their score. It's definitely a 9 out of 10. There's an explosion of content and everything has been improved. You should check it out before spreading vitriol on the Web without actually knowing anything about it.

[JWiLL552]

If you owned it you'd know there's a lot more than "new weapons and a raid".

Also, that raid is the best content to date.

[nosferatuzodd]

i feel the same way dude im not just an average player
watch my clan videos on youtube you'll see i use to roll with freak hoppers on twitch has well.. I was a super warlock in trials iron banner i be a nightmare for other players..
One of the first to beat vault of glass got the vex early in the game i remember ppl sending messages asking me what kind of gun is that
but its the principle the guy said ppl are buying the 60 dollar bundle for just a new dance they can sell them water and theyll buy it no respect for their fans and lagendary players like me buying this dlc hell NO

To the guy under me NAYSAYERS who don't play the game crying oh.... ok lets go play crucible right now and we'll see who can play from who don't or any of the the 3 raid and see who die first a lot of you guys are just casual players who know nothing about mmorpgs elder scroll online I'm vet rank 16 dc universe tear 7 final fantasy highest level has well even though destiny is far from a mmo its still has mmo elements

[Kenshin_BATT0USAI]

So many naysers And so many of them haven't played it either...hmmm interesting correlation, the people who don't play destiny, hate destiny, but the people who like it, play it...there was a term for this sort of thing...what was it? Oh yeah, different tastes.

[superterabyte]

Part of the problem was arguably the false advertising. A lot of people bought into the game expecting a story experience surrounding the traveller and the different alien races however it was more like an grindy MMO with something like 4 cut scenes which contained very little substance to them.

[Taero]

I'll admit, I bought into it expecting more of a traditional MMORPG feel with quests etc. I knew it wouldn't be WoW levels with open maps and hundreds of people running around cities (though tbh I hoped having seen the city below the tower) as that would blow up the consoles I imagine :p

But even watching early previews etc. it seemed to sell itself as something grander than the 12 person instanced maps that we got, and ENDLESS REPETITIVE PATROL BOUNTIES OMG. Or just bounties in general, they remind me of Dailies in other online games, the difference being those were supposed to be minor quests, not the only quests.

[BEASELY]

It's their own fault for having such lofty expectations. People act like Bungie said it was an open world RPG when they never once hyped it as such.

[sAVAge_bEaST]

I'm at level 29. I started last night and warped to lvl 27. - This is kind of comical to me.

I prob have 6 hrs in (max). from 24hrs. ago.

I like the concept. -it just seems weird coming in this late to the party. and i am able to hold down 40's in the crucible. -Blade Dancer, Pulse-Head Shots.

[SourtreeDing]

ummm but your level and Light dont mean anything in the Crucible...lol so whats your point? what matters is your Armor, Recovery, and Speed you can check those when you go into your Subclass.. ;)

the only time it matters is in the Ironbanner (light & Level)..

[cr33ping_death]

Wait for the iron banner, youll be singing a different tune when it comes to "holding down" a lvl 40. Better reach for better gear.

[bryank75]

Stats are normalised in bog standard crucible. But by all means try your hand at Trials of Osiris or Iron Banner when it arrives.... That is when the fun begins. :D

[FN4GM]

Pretty much what everybody else said.

[Taero]

Well yeah, you're a year behind, not going to keep many new players if they had to play A)All story missions B)All strikes C)Raids D) DLC equivalents, before they can play with TTK players. It's obvious however that you haven't played all of the above so you've missed out on a LOT of content so I'm not sure why it's weird that you did that in 6 hours, I'd be hard pressed to complete all the base story missions in that time.

[TrollHard4Life]

Daww this comment is cute, Another Kindergaurdian. Someone please explain how the crucible differs from PVE with stats then give him a sucker and send him back out to learn some more.

[sAVAge_bEaST]

oh TrollHard.. YOusooo.phunny.

OT. I am enjoying the game. -just glad I waited a year, and got full content.

Patience is a virtue.

[franwex]

Like, do people buy this game and the expansion to complain about it later?

[FN4GM]

Most of the people complaining actually haven't ever played Destiny and never will but they're damaged people and complaining about it fills a big hole they have in their life. Also its the super cool hipster thing to do this generation, just hate on everything for the sake of it apparently.

[CaptainPunch]

So obvious this review was bought, just look at all the Destiny advertisements and articles on IGN.

[BiggerBoss]

Alot of the IGN crew plays Destiny daily, so its obvious they like it. When Halo 5 comes out the advertisements will be EVERYWHERE. Will that make its reviews fake as well?

[Allsystemgamer]

I guess they bought most reviewers on the web right? Because it's scoring fairly high? Just get over it. They fixed the majority of the issues with the taken king. There's a story. Platforming. Puzzles. Cutscenes. New weapons and armour. New voice acting. New maps. Bosses are my bullet sponges. New enemies behave differently. They made variants of old missions so when you play them it doesn't feel the same.

But I guess none of that happened because it's a bought review.

[JWiLL552]

It's the most played game on consoles, they'd be stupid not to cover it. That's their job.

Guess what...when Halo, Black Ops 3 and Battlefront come out, Destiny is still going to be the most played game on consoles.

So, uh, get used to it?

[superterabyte]

This was the last game I pre-ordered and it will be the last game I ever pre-order. I'll give the game credit for that at the very least. I honestly bought the game expecting a Mass Effect-esque experience.

The way they showed this traveller object and the different planets and the spaceships made it seem so appealing. The developer also had previous reputation for quality games. However upon completion of the 'story' I've yet to return and for good reason.

[BEASELY]

That's your fault for expecting Mass Effect.

[superterabyte]

My expectations were based on rhetoric and advertisements/coverage.

[BEASELY]

Show me the adverisemts and coverage that promised a Mass Effect-like experience. I'll wait.

[BEASELY]

Show me the advertisements and coverage that promised a Mass Effect-like experience. I'll wait.

[Rooted_Dust]

Their only negative point is matchmaking for raids...I played with 5 guys that I teamed up with a year ago and we spent nearly 6 hours raiding last night, and we only cleared two sections. A match-made team would never stand a chance.

[MysticStrummer]

"A match-made team would never stand a chance."

The option should still be there. Over the course of several attempts you could meet enough new friends to make it an actual team effort and be successful.

[corroios]

With taken king is Just the best fps on the Market. I know Many hate bungie but the game is much better.

[TheLoCoRaven]

I just couldn't take anymore once the house of wolves came out. I didn't care enough to learn all the new systems and what not and now they changed them all anyway.

I feel like this game takes too much thought process alone to keep up with all their changes.

That said, I might get this when its cheaper.

[TrollHard4Life]

It's well deserved. I have played from day one and this expansion is what I feel the game was suppose to be. I along with many others liked the grind but it was lacking up until around "The House Of Wolves" which show some major and minor improvements but then the 2.0 update can out and the interface was adjusted to make the game better and easier to play. 1 Week later TTK dropped and boom. The game now feels like a full game. The new questing system along with story line.. yes story line believe it or not patches the holes that were left to be desired and adds the TTK story line which left off from the HOW.

I love this game now. I always did but now it's awesome.

[Dragonopolis]

First I want everyone to know I still play destiny, but I don't run around shouting its the best thing since slice cheese. There is a lot of balancing problems this game still has.

An example(This is just one example) is a titan? What's the point? Titan is slower/less agility, doesn't really have a significant Armor advantage (other classes can one shot/kill a titan just as easy). Other classes Should be gimped in other areas due to their class type but it doesn't seem/feel that way (even in Iron Banner/Trials of Osiris). Titan's Arc grenades are useless and storm fist is a joke. Titan's Void Shield really isn't a shield (easily taken out by a super or walk through by a player).... It seems that Bungie knows this and tried to appease titan fans with the new Solar subclass.. Which a lot of players using Titans are just using Solar now; with some titans still clinging to Arc because they are very comfortable with some of its abilities (here's looking at you Shoulder Charge). There are other areas of concern such as the weapon system still unbalanced...And if Bungie really was listening to their fan base they would put in a match making for all events. Not all of us have friends that play Destiny can play at the same time and a match making system would allow more people to meet who want to play that event find people who want to play that event. I loved to go on raids... I didn't buy a console to expect to have joined a forum on a PC just to find some people to play... Yes, people run around the game can ask you to join/play but often times are asking players to do other events while players on in a different event.... It almost seems like begging for game play.... Much like a Beggar begging on the street corners for money.

Despite the Criticism, Destiny is Still fun and fundamentally a sound game. Especially on the PS3 as there isn't a FPS on PS3 that I know of with all this content, plays really smooth, has a great graphics engine... as people have said.... Destiny really does have great overall play mechanics

Remember this is just criticism. If Bungie or its players can't take it the game will just stagnate and become a thing of the past.... Taken King really has improve on the original game but there are still many things that need to be ironed out/ fixed to become the game of the century......

[kabala]

Watch AGGarbreil play as a titan. His speed as he moves around the field is unmatched!

[captainexplosion]

I wouldn't give Destiny or any of its' expansions a very high score at their price, but Destiny Legendary Edition at $60 is potentially my GOTY.

[_LarZen_]

Do you want to see grown babies cry? Just say Destiny.

[theFAYEsorceress]

one of the biggest mistakes bungie did was combining pve and pvp gear stats. they make it hell for themselves to balance because of it and there's zero reason why it's like this. they should be completely separate things, but instead you have a horrible attempt to balance one while screwing over the other for no reason other than to cater to either pvp or pve. just bad.

[Manubiggs]

I left destiny in October last year and thought I'd never play it again. Friends convinced me to try taken king, and I'm hooked. Never thought I'd be the daily heroic guy, but I am now and can't wait to finally try a raid.

[ThatIrishGamer]

Regular late night play sessions. . .

Oh to be a gaming reviewer bum with no responsibilities or proper job.

[IamTylerDurden1]

The Taken King is legit, it's getting phenomenal reviews.