Bungie has finally revealed what it’s been working on since the departure from the Halo franchise in 2010. After weeks of whispered excitement stemming from a few “leaks” of some of the screenshots, Bungie and Activision recently unveiled their new game, Destiny, at an event in Washington.
Destiny is a sci-fi first-person shooter set in an open world. While boasting the vastness of Destiny‘s open-world and allegedly seamless blending of the single and multiplayer experiences, Bungie was careful to assert that this isn’t an MMO, but a “shared-world shooter.” Taking a cue from the co-op experiences of games like Journey, players encounter each other naturally in the open world, without matchmaking. Destiny requires players always have an internet connection, similar to Diablo III from last year.
Destiny takes place in the future, when mankind has finally gotten itself together enough to explore and settle the greater solar system. Unfortunately, some unspecified cataclysmic event occurs that wipes out the majority of life on Earth. One city is spared, however, by a mysterious giant orb that hovers overhead, known only as The Traveler.
Players take on the role of Guardians, protectors of Earth’s last bastion, imbued with powers from The Traveler. As a Guardian, you create your own unique characters in Destiny, with multiple classes and customization options to boot, just in case you’re getting tired of playing as Master Chief.
It seems like Destiny will incorporate plot elements from games like Borderlands (main city is last hope for humanity), Mass Effect (mankind venturing out into the greater universe), and multiplayer experiences reminiscent of Journey and Demon’s Souls. Competitive multiplayer has yet to be expanded upon, but if the first five Halo games are any indicator, it’s probably safe to say that Destiny will be solid.
Destiny has been announced as a console shooter and will come to Xbox 360 in late December and to PlayStation (3 and 4) in early 2014.
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