Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming
  3. News

This week in gaming: Your Destiny awaits…

Adam Rosenberg
By

Destiny the Game screenshot 2
Image used with permission by copyright holder
We have officially reached ground zero for the start of the 2014 holiday shopping season. There may be multiple games coming out in the next seven days, but only one of them is on the minds of most gamers: Bungie’s Destiny.

There’s other stuff too, if blasting aliens on distant-yet-familiar planets isn’t your thing. EA Sports’ annual hockey sim makes its debut in NHL 15. A few games pop up on Steam as well, both brand new and previously released on other platforms. It’s slim pickings though, as if publishers realize that one of the most hyped games of the year is due to arrive on September 9, 2014….

Recommended Videos

Destiny

PS3/PS4/Xbox 360/Xbox One (September 9)
After spending more than a decade working on the Halo franchise that it created, Bungie Studios stepped away and went into low-profile mode for a few years, before revealing Destiny. The sci-fi first-person shooter may share some of its high-speed action with Master Chief’s adventures, but its couched heavily in massively multiplayer-styled systems that are designed for long-term co-op and competitive play.

Related

The story follows a group of Guardians, protectors of a distant-future Earth’s last city. After establishing colonies all across the known solar system, humanity enjoyed a Golden Age of peace and prosperity. An event known as the Collapse brought all of that to an end, leaving extra-planetary settlements in ruins and humanity near extinction. Only the people of Earth remain, corralled into a single city and protected by a spherical alien entity known as the Traveler.

NHL 15

PS3/PS4/Xbox 360/Xbox One (September 9)
The start of September always brings a new NHL game from EA Sports, and 2014 is no exception. NHL 15 is the first in the series built specifically for the latest generation of gaming console hardware. It uses the same engine that powers the most recent version of Madden NFL (on PlayStation 4/Xbox One), and it’s meant to represent an evolution for the series. We’ll see soon enough.

The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions differ, and not just in terms of the older game engine that powers them. Last-gen versions of the game are said to be considerably more feature-packed than their current-gen counterparts, leaving longtime fans a question to consider: Do you want loads of features or considerably stepped-up playability? Wait for the reviews on this one so you can make an educated decision. Don’t worry; real hockey doesn’t start until October.

Fable Anniversary

PC (September 12)
Lionhead Studios’ first-gen Xbox-shaking RPG returned in early 2014 as a top-to-bottom remaster: Fable Anniversary, for Xbox 360. The formerly console-exclusive re-release makes its way to PC (Windows) via Steam on September 12 as a full port, complete with the Lost Chapters content that was once the original Fable‘s PC-exclusive content, before it was added into Anniversary as a bonus.

Creative director Peter Molyneux’s ambitious Fable never quite lived up to the sky-high expectations that were set for it — and it firmly established Molyneux’s tendency for hyperbolic promise-making — but it remains an inventive RPG that eschews traditional trappings of the genre in favor of more social behavior-focused engagements with the world. There continues to be nothing quite like its Final Fantasy-meets-Sims dynamic, and Fable Anniversary amounts to a fresh peek at where the series got its start.

Velocibox

Mac/PC (September 8)
Not interested in sci-fi/fantasy violence or sports simulations? Developer Shawn Beck’s Velocibox could clean up this week among fans of indies. The minimalist game is a Steam Greenlight success story that puts players in control of a bouncing cube as it careens along through an obstacle-littered tunnel. You avoid catastrophe by moving left and right, with the entire space shifting as the cube renders walls and ceilings as the new floor.

With a Steam description that reads “So addictive the developer has been called a drug dealer (I am not a drug dealer),” Velocibox has all the earmarks of a simple, straightforward effort that takes one thing and does it really well. You’ll be able to find out very soon, when the games to Steam on September 8.

Editors' Recommendations

Adam Rosenberg
Adam Rosenberg
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Previously, Adam worked in the games press as a freelance writer and critic for a range of outlets, including Digital Trends…
Destiny 2’s next season brings old and new strikes, familiar foes to the game
Destiny 2 Season of the Chosen

Destiny 2's next season is called Season of the Chosen, and it's bringing both new and old content to the game. The looter shooter's 13th season adds action-packed three strikes to the game, as well as a story centered around the Cabal.

Season of the Chosen runs from February 9 to May 11 and will stagger content throughout the season. A new trailer previews the latest chapter of the story, which features a war against Empress Caiatl, the daughter of the sequel's first major villain, Calus.

Read more
Name of Destiny 2’s next season appears in-game, hints at something ominous

The name of Destiny 2's Season 11 has apparently already appeared in-game, shortly after the destruction of the Almighty that marked the end of Season 10.

In Destiny 2's first real-time, in-game event, supercomputer Rasputin launched a barrage of missiles against the Almighty, which was hurtling towards the Last City, sending the ship crashing into the mountains beyond the Tower. The event, which was the subject of complaints due to how long it took to play out, was the culmination of all the efforts of players for the Season of the Worthy.

Read more
Destiny 2 Guardian Games guide: How to participate and earn Heir Apparent
Destiny 2 Guardian Games

Destiny 2’s Season of the Worthy has been all about competition so far, thanks to the return of Trials of Osiris. Bungie is taking that idea one step further with its latest update, the Guardian Games. The three-week event pits the game’s three classes against one another. Players can win the ultimate bragging rights by competing and even earn some new loot along the way, including a new exotic weapon. Here’s everything you need to know if you want to jump in and represent your class.
Getting started
To start the event, you’ll need to complete a quick quest on the Tower. When you load in, you’ll see a massive podium as you spawn in. Ava Levante, who returns from the Festival of the Lost event, will be standing next to it. Talk to her, and she’ll give you the quest.

Next, you’ll need to speak with Zavala. He’ll give you a Guardian Games class item. You’ll need to wear this at all times to participate in the event, so equip it right away. Go back to Eva Levante, and she’ll direct you to the Drifter. He’ll validate your entry into the event and give you a medal.

Read more