Destiny's Sparrow Racing Doesn't Disappoint
Dec. 11, 2015Destiny’s Sparrow Racing Doesn’t Disappoint
There I am, zipping through checkpoints, gaining speed more and more with each gate I activate. Meanwhile, my brother curses over the mic as he crashes his sparrow over and over again into a ball of flame. Either way, both of us are enjoying ourselves and laughing our asses off. This is whatDestiny’snew Sparrow Racing provides – Fresh, new fun. It’s a real breath of fresh air, and although derivative, succeeds thanks to the exceptional production quality that Bungie upholds. Whether you are the guy everyone hates who has the lead by a lap, or that jackass who goes careening off the track at every turn, the Taken King’s free new mode has reinvigorated my interest in the game.
Sparrow Racing has been something that Destiny players have been hoping to see added to the game for quite sometime. I know I’m one of them. Bungie crafted a fantastic vehicle with the sparrow. The first time I leaped onto one of the speeders back when Destiny first launched, I immediately thought of the speeders fromReturn of the Jedias well as the Pods fromThe Phantom Menace, both in design and the beautiful cry of the engines. Hitting boost while flying off a hill filled me with such delight that I found myself just cruising around the Cosmodrome for fun. Imagine my delight, as well as the delight of so many like-minded fans when we heard Sparrow Racing was finally coming around.
The most intriguing thing about this new game mode is how it serves as a microcosm for many of Destiny’s issues and shortcomings. Everyone can agree on a few things about Destiny – it’s beautiful, it controls fantastically, and the systems for a truly amazing experience have always been there. This addition continues to see the transformation from a game that lacked content, to an experience with varied and interesting offerings. It also shows that Bungie has continued to listen to the fanbase, which is very reassuring for Destiny’s future. There is a downside however.
One of the greatest features of modern racing games has been the extensive evolution of tracking statistics and keeping a record book of your accomplishments. Whether it’s Need For Speed, Forza or Driveclub, one of the key aspects of the racing is being able to measure just how good you are in comparison to others, and tout your best lap times. All of this is available to Destiny players who choose to indulge in sparrow racing; for 1000 silver (9.99$). I don’t like this, charging us for emotes and skins is one thing, and something that I personally believe strikes a great balance between letting players just enjoy themselves, and spending money because they feel an investment in the product. Let players into the toy store and they will buy things, don’t charge them a cover fee.
Unfortunately Bungie as well as many other developers seem to do this game of give and take with everything now, whether it is a great new free mode with essential pieces behind a paywall, a brand new game with timed DLC that has already been finished, or letting players simply pay to win (A path I really hope Bungie does not choose to take). Either way, I don’t care for the time being, as I’m having plenty of fun racing my sparrow and collecting the coolest set of armor yet in Destiny.
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jzier
Oh heck yeah… It’s like bringing in Midnight Club 3 from ps3 and ps2 into Destiny. My opinion is, the better you are in Need for Speed, the better you are in SRL. lol
My cousin has the authority to call me a casual in SRL since I cannot beat him what so ever…. I might need to pick my old racing games on my Xbox and git gud again…
I quite enjoyed the bit that I played. As a racing fan, it succeeded in getting the adrenaline going and that laser focus you don’t often get. It has some potential for the future for sure.
