Bungie has been teasing information about its newest project in recent months, but yesterday marked the first official reveal of Destiny, an ambitious multiplayer first-person shooter from the creators of Halo.
Obviously the terms “multiplayer” and “first-person shooter” are synonymous with Bungie, but this time around the studio is setting its sights a bit higher. Destiny is described as a “shared world shooter” by the company, in which players cooperatively interact with each other without traditional matchmaking menus and other typical systems from the FPS genre.
The immediate thought that comes to mind upon hearing this is MMOFPS, but Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg was quick to point out that Destiny will not include a subscription fee. Nevertheless, an internet connection will be required in order to play the game.
A large portion of information revealed by Bungie pertained to the game’s post-apocalyptic world. Humanity has nearly been wiped off the face of the Earth, but one large city remains with a huge sphere hovering overhead. The sphere – called The Traveler – saved humanity from ultimate destruction and granted some individuals unique magical powers.
Alien species still threaten the sole remaining city, so special individuals called Guardians must travel the galaxy in an effort to save humanity. The player will take control of one of those Guardians and use various weapons and abilities to rid of the alien threat.
Few mechanical details were revealed and only a short clip of in-game footage was shown to videogame journalists, but Bungie did mention a class system and the inclusion of airships. This means players will be traveling to other planets such as Mars and Venus, and the possibility of space combat remains open.
At this point Destiny is only listed as a PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 release, but Bungie did mention “future-generation technology” in its presentation. Considering the fact that the game will not be coming out until 2014, it’s safe to assume that Activision and Bungie will be bringing Destiny to Microsoft and Sony’s next-generations consoles.
Further information can be found on Bungie’s official website. In the meantime, fans can take a look at Destiny‘s first ViDoc below, titled “Pathways Out of Darkness.”
[IGN]
