Lunchtime, so I thought I'd expound more on my experience with Destiny.
The gameplay elements are already far too familiar. This is Halo, only with a new skin set and a Borderlands-esq loot and gear/inventory system. The current endgame gear is clearly presented at the various venders within the Tower. All level 20 gear, all with what appear to be rather steep prices to purchase.
Enemy AI between levels 1-3 is simple, use the environment and shoot from cover, you'll be fine. Enemy AI between 5-8 starts to perk up, flanking you if you're in cover or throwing grenades to get you out from it. Enemy drops are fair. You'll receive primary ammo from trash mobs, secondary or special ammo from elites, glimmer (currency) from special units, and then blueprints from captains/leaders/bosses.
Like an MMO, enemy squads are placed at specific locations on each mission. These squads, once eliminate, are replaced with similiar enemy units after about 30 seconds. Droppped from a warship rather than spawned into the level, which I think is a classy touch. I'm still not sure what the conditions are for special units to spawn, which appear to be the best source of monies.
The first enemy type you fight, The Fallen, have the typical "head shot for max damage" weak point. This makes starting the game with a semi-auto rifle or burst rifle important. The accuracy on the beginning auto rifles is too poor to score easy headshots with, seriously hampering your offensive capability. Then there're the interesting choices of physics for the other weapons I tried.
The shotgun, a favorite of mine from Halo, suffers greatly from extreme recoil. A squeeze of the trigger will result in the targeting reticle jumping up a couple or few inches. Realistic...sure, but it makes the shotgun unwieldy up close; forget trying to use them at medium range. At the other end are sniper rifles, which of course are difficult to use at close range and are best served to thin out enemy groups before approaching with your primary weapon.
The loot system is bit odd at first. Your best loot is found in chests, however chest are randomly spawned everytime you start a mission. Never in the same place twice. It's easier to farm enemy units for gear than it is to go looking around, but enemy drops are usually less exotic than chest rewards and the glimmer payout is much worse.
I'm looking forward to playing more over the weekend.
Anybody got questions?