After years of speculation, teases and hints, "Halo" creator Bungie Studios lifted the veil off its ambitious new 10-year project, "Destiny."
Kicking off a massive media onslaught, the notoriously reclusive developer released a vidoc, "Pathways to Destiny," on its website Sunday afternoon. The four-minute video gives backstory into the new universe that the men and women of Bungie are creating. In this unknown future, humanity experienced a golden age in which it spread to the stars, expanding a massive empire before being attacked by some unknown entity. Humans were pushed to the brink of extinction before the Traveler -- a massive white sphere -- sacrificed itself to save what was left. Many years later, humans have built Future City beneath the traveler in the ruins of the old world. Feeling confident in its superiority once again, humans begin to explore their former world, but find it inhabited with aliens that ultimately want to end the human race once and for all. The player will control a guardian of the city, whose ultimate goal is to save humanity and bring stability back once and for all.
The game is designed as a MMO shooter, but breaks the conventions of modern massively-multiplayer games. It will require an Internet connection, so Xbox Live Silver and offline users won't be able to access the game. Bungie said this design choice was made to ensure players get the most out of "Destiny." However, there will be no subscription base required. Once the game is purchased, it will be free to play.
Players can choose one of several classes to customize their guardian. The studio revealed three in its unveiling -- Hunter, Warlock and Titan. They promise many more, but did not go into specifics on how each class differentiates from the other. The Warlock has magical abilities to use in combat, and could play similarly -- at the most basic level -- to the Siren class in the "Borderlands" series.
Customization and personalization are major aspects of "Destiny," alongside its new social interaction. With the sheer amount of content available in the game, no player will be truly like the other.
The HUB world of "Destiny" will be Future City, where players can meet up with friends and others to engage in various activities, go on missions or engage in competitive multiplayer. At this moment, up to six players can engage in co-op missions to other worlds, including a demonstrated mission to Mars to begin a push against The Cabal -- a race of rhino-like aliens that have occupied the angry red planet. There are many other alien factions, each with their own visual identities and technology.
Bungie Studios head writer Joseph Staten described each mission series as its own book to be read and explored. The game is a massive undertaking, and there is yet no word on how much content will be packed in on opening day. The studio promises this is their greatest undertaking yet, and will ultimately be "bigger" than "Halo."
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