Bungie Unveils Destiny
Halo developers Bungie have officially lifted the lid on their new IP, Destiny, in a newly released video documentary.
It shows some gameplay footage of the upcoming FPS which boasts a persistent online universe where the world will be affected by the actions of other players online. It also briefly shows some of the development effort that has gone into making the universe and your gameplay synchronise with various smartphone and tablet apps.
The main setting of the game appears to be a post-apocalyptic Earth, saved by a mysterious sphere known as “The Traveler”, and the last city of humanity which you must protect. A lengthy breakdown on Kotaku also indicates that there will be other non-Earth locations for you to travel to (as hinted in the documentary above with inclusion of the spaceship) and to engage in typical MMO gameplay such as raids. The locations are bounded to our solar system, such as Mars, however these previous settlements of humanity have now been taken over by a variety (and thankfuly this appears to be a healthy variety) of different alien races that are determined to finish the job of wiping humans out.
The game is religiously referred to as a “shared world shooter” by Bungie, and NOT an MMO, but whilst a constant internet connection will be required to update the universe, there will not be a subscription fee required. Players can choose from different classes of characters to play as which cover the usual tropes (assault, stealth, magic etc) and customise them with different gear and weaponry.
Destiny marks the first release for Bungie outside of the Halo series since 2001, and without publishers Microsoft Studios. Instead Bungie have signed a ten year deal with Activision. As mentioned in the video, this could mean that the next ten year cycle of games from Bungie will focus on the Destiny franchise instead, taking it towards the end of the next generation of Microsoft and PlayStation consoles.
Destiny is now available for pre-order on PS3 and Xbox 360, and is scheduled for release on 31st December 2013. Sadly it looks as though PC gamers, despite the recent resurgence of the format, will not be getting a port.