After months of rumors and leaks, Halo creator Bungie finally pulled the covers off Destiny, their next epic game franchise yesterday in a grand reveal on the franchise Facebook page.
The Destiny Bungie revealed is only the first part of a massive undertaking: According to documents released last year, the series will span four games over the next ten years: The first Destiny will be released on both current and next-gen platforms, with parts two coming to the next PlayStation and Xbox.
At it's core, Destiny is an first-person shooter set in a massive always-online world. Though players will recieve quests on their own, players on similar missions will be matched to "meet" across the galaxy on the way to accomplishing similar objectives. The goal: a first-person shooter like Halo that feels truly populated with a wide array of human characters. Of course to do this Destiny will require a constant internet connection whether players want to play alone or with friends.
The description of Destiny brings off the feeling of the game being a MMO shooter similar to PlanetSide 2, but that might not be the case. According to Rev3Games' Adam Sessler, Destiny may have a large multiplayer component, but, it is not a MMO. Case in point, Destiny will not require a subscription.
Destiny takes place hundreds of years in the future, across our solar system. The once-great human race has been struck down, with only one remaining sanctuary left on Earth. Players will play as humanity's "guardians," who are tasked with protecting what's left of humanity from alien creatures, along with finding out what almost wiped out humanity and why.
Every player will make and control their own guardian in Destiny, customizing their character and equipping them with weapons and armor. Based on the description, it seems the game will feature some kind of loot system simialar to dungeon-crawlers and traditional MMOs. Bungie revealed three seperate character classes–Warlock, Titan, and Hunter–but did not disclose whether or not they will be the game's only options.
Interestingly, Bungie officials repeatedly referred to the game as a "console shooter" and, while they did confirm that Destiny is being developed for the PS3 and Xbox 360, said nothing about bringing the game to PC.
