As promised, Bungie (the creators of the Halo franchise) officially revealed Destiny today, a new first-person shooter where players take part in an always-on persistent-world.
Destiny‘s story is set on a future version of Earth long after an unknown enemy destroyed most of human civilization. Prior to the attack, humans had managed to spread out over the entire system in a “bright and hopeful time” known as the “Golden-Age”. No one remembers what exactly happened or who attacked us, but they do know that those who survived “own their lives to the Traveler” — a mysterious sphere that continues to orbit low over the Earth “keeping silent watch”.
In the years that followed “the collapse of the Golden-Age” humans built the last remaining city on Earth in the shadow of the Traveler. Now they have “begun to venture back into the wilds, only to find that [they] are not alone.” Strange and dangerous creatures now occupy the rest of the world, “and they are pressing hard against the city, probing for a weakness” in an attempt to kill off all that remains of human civilization.
It’s at this moment that Destiny takes place. Players choose one of three announced classes, customize their character, and take the on the role of a “guardian of the city” who is able to “wield some of the Travelers’ incredible power”.
“If you can find a way to save the city, to reclaim all that we have lost, you will become legend. If you fail, the last light of civilization will go.”
We certainly don’t know everything there is to know about Destiny at this point, however, we do have some details about how the game will work and what Activision and Bungie have planned for it over their 10-year publishing deal.
Destiny can be played as a multiplayer game in a traditional single-player style, however, in order to “realize the vision of the game” players will be required to maintain a constant Internet connection to run the software. The requirement for an always-on Internet connection holds true regardless of platform.
As players roam around the world Destiny‘s servers will constantly work to match them with other players who are in close proximity. The game will also feature several other MMO-type concepts (towns, quests, etc.), however, Bungie is stressing that it is not an MMO and players will not find areas filled with countless other players standing around. Bungie’s COO, Pete Parsons, stated “The amount of players you see is design controlled… [it’s] not about stuffing as many people in there as possible.”
Adding to the “not-an-MMO” theme, Activision has confirmed that is “absolutely no plans to charge a subscription fee.”
So far, Destiny has only been confirmed for both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, however, the game is not expected to launch before the next generation Microsoft and Sony consoles are released. Neither Bungie or Activision would comment on a possible split-generation launch for Destiny, but the company’s 10-year-plan certainly makes it a possibility. Additionally, Eurogamer is reporting that Bungie has stated that they would “love to be on the PC”, however, they made no announcements towards that end in today’s reveal.
Check out Destiny‘s “Pathways Out of Darkness” video documentary and some of the game’s first screenshots/concept art in the gallery below. Let us know your thoughts on Bungie’s latest project, and will we be sure to keep you updated as additional information is announced.
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