Bungie warns about rushed Destiny reviews from day one ‘tire kickers’

Destiny launches at midnight tonight, but developer Bungie says gamers shouldn’t trust early scorecards from reviewers that don’t have the “time or patience” to do the game justice.

The release of the highly anticipated, $500 million first-person shooter (PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One) is potentially the video game event of the year. However, Destiny developer Bungie only distributed review copies of the game today, explaining that it wants reviewers to experience Destiny with thousands of gamers populating its worlds.

“Typically, games receive their report cards before they become available to the public,” said Bungie community manager David Dague in a weekly update. “We don’t believe Destiny is a typical shooter.”

Destiny is a first-person shooter at heart, but it features cooperative and multiplayer elements that are deeply embedded in its build. Bungie feels that reviewers have to experience the game online, alongside thousands of other players, to get the full effect. “Without a vibrant population for the last safe city on Earth and Guardians roaming the wild frontiers, Destiny is a shadow of what it should be” said Dague. “That’s not how we wanted to submit for review.”

So Bungie has taken what it says is a risk, aware that some rushed reviews of the game will appear on day one regardless.

“We fully anticipate seeing day one reviews from folks who decide to kick the tires,” said Dague, “but don’t have the time or patience to take our ride for a nice, long road trip.”

He added that gamers might want to wait for more rounded reviews to appear before they pick up a copy of Destiny. “We’re okay with that,” said Dague. “We’ve created something we’re proud of.”

Dague noted that early Destiny gamers will be rubbing shoulders with the “pagaent judges,” saying:  “Who knows, you may end up on one of their live streams. They may end up on one of yours, too!”