Bungie reveals information on 'shared world shooter' Destiny

Bungie has finally given more information regarding what it has been working on since cutting the apron strings from Microsoft after Halo: Reach. The company announced the game – Destiny – last week, and has shared enough information on the game to give us a decent idea of what it will be like. According to Polygon, the game will be an FPS, as is par for the course when it comes to Bungie. The company has confirmed that the game will be out on the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360. There has been no mention of a PC version.

It is set to be what the company calls a “shared-world shooter”, which means that it will have a persistent world, much like you have in MMOs. Owing to this, though, the game will require an active Internet connection to play, even if you’re just playing single player, much like Blizzard’s Diablo III. This would be the first time that a game requires players to be online even for single player on consoles.

Again, as is usual for Bungie games, Destiny will be a sci-fi shooter where players will get to explore the solar system. As Guardians, players will fight alien species like Sandeaters, War Rhinos and Spider Pirates – which, may I add, sounds totally awesome. Other enemies sound even more awesome, and include time-travelling robots and space zombies. The game is expected to have drop-in co-op, hence the always-online requirement, and will also have a slight magical element to it.

The 'shared world shooter' looks like it will have sci-fi and magic trappings

Players can pick between one of three classes – Titans (which are the big assault guys that have big weapons), Warlocks (which use magic, presumably to hinder enemies and help friends), and Hunter (who will concentrate on sniping and stealth). There will also be player versus player, if you want to test your mettle against other players. Like any other RPG, this one will also have loot that you will have to find and with which you will have to equip your character.

The company has stressed that players will not be playing a God-like avatar like Halo’s Master Chief. Instead, the players will develop and grow their own characters, while affecting the worlds of other players. "Even in story mode, you will encounter other players on their own adventures, inhabiting and affecting the same world," said Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg.

"We're really putting players at the center of the world and giving them control of their experience," says Jason Jones, Bungie co-founder and Destiny project director. "From the ground up, we've built this game to be social and cooperative. We've learned a bunch of lessons from MMOs and Facebook games … but Destiny is a console shooter."

The company had given us our first vague look at its upcoming project back in November. Not much could be gathered from the screenshot, other than it would employ some form of mechs that have insect-like features. It is also hinted that the game will take place in some sort of winter wasteland, which we can now presume to be any number of planets from our own Solar System. The characters that can be seen on the screen are very reminiscent of the Helghast of the Killzone series, with the whole screenshot showing influences from Star Wars as well.