This post is sponsored by Activision
Fifty-year-olds Ulrika and Micke live in an apartment in suburban Stockholm. It’s Sunday afternoon and they’re pumped up in the couch in their front room. Ulrika and Micke are about to play a video game together for the first time ever. And it’s not any game – like bowling or tennis on Wii, or Super Mario on Nintendo 64. Ulrika and Micke are about to embark on Destiny: Rise of Iron on PlayStation 4. It’s the latest add-on to the Destiny universe, which is included in The Destiny Collection box.
Videos by VICE
Ulrika and Micke are pretty much the last people on earth you’d come to think of when you think about space war games on PlayStation. Which is why they’ve been asked to give the game a shot. With them in the room, is the couple’s 14-year-old son Hampus. He’s playing another video game. But it’s difficult to focus when his parents are doing something he’s never seen them do before.
Considering that the couple’s previous gaming experience is limited to a few runs of Wii, and Ulrika’s occasional Candy Crushing, it’s pretty surprising how eager the couple are to kill futuristic space monsters.
Destiny is a pretty famous first-person shooter intergalactic war video game. It’s set within the Plaguelands, which is a mythic sci-fi location on Earth, 700 years in the future. Lord Saladin, the last remaining Iron lord guides players in a quest to annihilate all evil and to eventually become a new generation of Iron lords.
Contrary to popular belief, Micke and Ulrika doubt kids turn violent from playing video games too much. They think that opinion is an excuse for bad parenting. This couple – although in their 50s – are cool, curious, and ready for whatever Destiny may bring.
Supplied with brand new gear, Ulrika and Micke’s journey begins. It’s time to meet new bosses and conquer foreign worlds. Ulrika starts out by exploring a future fantasy world with a handy guidance from a tiny robot friend. She masters the basics of how to navigate and use a controller – a thing she’s never held in her hands before. Although she’s not a huge fan of sci-fi, Ulrika finds the graphics and scenery quite appealing. She thinks the visuals are similar to watching a movie, except that she’s the main character now, with plenty of tools she can use to level up. The Collection includes a level 40 Character boost, allowing Ulrika’s avatar to dive straight into new content on the highest level. Entertained by the excitement of running around with a weapon of mass destruction, Ulrika gets a hang of the game pretty fast. She delivers a satisfied chuckle every time she strikes a monster hard enough to wipe him out. Hampus smiles and seems to approve of his mother’s initial achievements.
Although Micke has heard about the game from the guys at work, it’s his first time with Destiny, too. He thinks it’s easy to navigate and shoot. The coordination of moving and aiming while simultaneously using several buttons doesn’t seem to be a problem.
The couple says they sometimes spend Sundays in bed watching TV-series, which they don’t consider to be much different from playing this game. However, this requires more brain activity, which they find more rewarding.
They didn’t expect to get sucked in so fast. But the authenticity and realistic visuals absorbed them without a warning. “It’s a little bit like an outlet for aggressions,” Micke says. He smiles and jokingly admits he felt like he blew off some steam while pretending the monsters he shot were colleagues at work. “You can allow yourself to completely escape into a well designed sci-fi world like Destiny.”
“I’d easily get addicted to this game,” Ulrika says, although she says she isn’t very good at loosing. Due to the game’s complexity, multiple elements, and levels, there’s a possibility the gamer will get lost for hours, losing track of time and space. “The outfit changes and style alternatives is a nice ingredient. It’s just like exercising, simply more fun when you’re wearing designated clothing,” Ulrika says. To her, the adrenalin-rush from running around shooting monsters while desperately trying to survive weighs more than the sci-fi aspect of the game.
Ulrika and Micke think a game of Destiny could be a worthy Friday night alternative to a sleepy dinner date with the neighbours. By the end of their gaming session, it seems as if the couple is ready to spice up their social activities with a splash of gaming.
When asked if they’ll ever consider buying a PS4, Ulrika says she wouldn’t be surprised if one arrived in the post tomorrow. The room is foggy with adrenalin and the fact that Ulrika and her man are inexperienced gamers in their 50s doesn’t seem to matter in the slightest. “We might just invite the neighbours to play!” they joke.
Destiny: The Rise of Iron is out today, September 20. For a chance to win Destiny – The Collection Box, get your game on and tag your face and your friends’ faces of Destiny with #facesofdestiny on Instagram.
