Destiny: Bungie's new game

[Srelex]

Decided to throw this out here because why not.

Leaked materials provided to IGN by a reader have revealed story details and concept art from Destiny, Bungie’s follow-up to the Halo franchise. Bungie has confirmed to IGN that the document was prepared by an advertising agency and represents an outside look at Destiny’s plot, key values and more.

According to the document, “Our story begins seven hundred years from now in the Last City on Earth, in a Solar System littered with the ruins of man’s Golden Age. A massive, mysterious alien ship hangs overhead like a second Moon. No one knows where it came from or what it’s here for, but only that it’s our protector. Meanwhile, strange, alien monsters creep in from the edge of the universe, determined to take Earth and the Last City. We are young ‘knights’ tasked with defending the remains of humanity, discovering the source of these monsters and – eventually – overcoming it.” Elsewhere in the document, the massive alien ship is referred to as “the Traveler.”

Destiny is further described as “fun and accessible to all,” aiming “to create a universe as deep, tangible and relatable as that of the Star Wars franchise.” Based on the language in the document, it appears that Bungie aims to create a universe accessible to multiple demographics, perhaps suggesting that Destiny will be less mature than Bungie’s efforts with Halo. A quote from Bungie co-founder Jason Jones says “Destiny is designed for your inner seven year old. We want to make it feel like a mythic adventure.”

Destiny’s gameplay is described by the document as “social at its core,” offering “a world to explore with friends, both old and new.” It’s unclear whether this confirms comments from Bungie in 2011 that the game is an MMO, which Bungie later called a joke. The document also includes a Destiny logo along with Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 icons, as well as the URL Destiny.com. It’s worth noting that while Destiny.com is currently password-protected, if it is indeed a URL that’s been purchased by Bungie, it could suggest that Destiny will indeed be the game’s final name rather than a codename as previously speculated.

We reached out to Bungie regarding the information and received the following statement:

“We’re not quite ready to take the wraps off our next universe, but in light of recent events we thought we’d give fans something a little more official over at Bungie.net. Feel free to drop by and say hello! There’s much more to come.”

Shortly after, Bungie posted the following image on its official site:


It's worth noting that the agency-provided images do appear to be mock-ups for advertising purposes and are likely based on previously existing imagery. Eagle-eyed readers have pointed out that the second image appears to be based on artwork from canceled Command & Conquer game Tiberium.

The name Destiny first emerged in May when court documents revealed details on four games in the series. At the time, installments in the Destiny series were revealed to be coming in fall 2013, fall 2015, fall 2017 and fall 2019. In 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2020, downloadable expansions known as “Comet” were also said to be planned.

The contract suggested the first Destiny game would be available first on Xbox 360 as well as “the next successor console platform released by Microsoft,” which the contract referred to as Xbox 720. Releases on PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 and PC were said to be planned in the years following, though today's information suggests and more closely timed release could be a possibility.

[Stark]

Super-special heroes with special powers fight unknown aliens threatening Earth?

What a big change for Bungie.

[Mr Bean]

Leaked images per reddit
The art style feels very Half-Life 2 Combine right up until we get to the shot of the "Protector"

It's concept art of course. But I'll at least say the concept is some what interesting in at least leaning more on the Science in the Science-Fiction.

[Ford Prefect]

Leaning more on science.

In a game with actual knights in capes.

Obviously.

[CaptHawkeye]

I wonder if they'll actually be able to get to the alpha in the next 4 years.

This is the next Duke Nukem Forever folks. We'll see it in 20 years, finished by another developer. After Bungie's employees all moved on to better studios.

[Mr Bean]

Leaning more on science.

In a game with actual knights in capes.

A game about a 1980s Chicago Beat Cop who ends up President=Fiction
A game about a 1980s Chicago Beat Cop who fights vampires and ends up President=Modern Fantasy
A game about a 480s Chicago Cop who fights vampires and ends up King=Fantasy
A game about a 2480s Chicago Cop who fights Aliens and ends up Space President=Science-Fiction

The thing about Halo if you look at it is that it's Science Fiction leaning heavily on the Fiction. These people are us, their lives are not to dissimilar from our own. The Marines in Halo have a few more gadgets but their lives could be lived by us. Compare that to the recent news about The Forever War getting a movie from RS. That's a book that leans more towards the Science in Science Fiction. Not Science in the sense of realistic but Science in the sense of the Future Fantastical.

This is the Future, Look how Future it is!

[Connor MacLeod]

Destiny is further described as “fun and accessible to all,” aiming “to create a universe as deep, tangible and relatable as that of the Star Wars franchise.” Based on the language in the document, it appears that Bungie aims to create a universe accessible to multiple demographics, perhaps suggesting that Destiny will be less mature than Bungie’s efforts with Halo.

Did they just call Star Wars a 'deep' franchise (something they want to emulate) at the same time they said they want it less mature than Halo?

Why am I picturing WH40K Space Marine?

[Aaron MkII]

Stay tuned, if every background character gets a fully fleshed out backstory then we'll have reached the "deep" level of SW. Keep your eyes open for Master Chief's great, great, great, great grandson Ken the ice cream man.

[CaptHawkeye]

The fluff doesn't even matter honestly. They can write whatever horseshit they want and call it Shakespeare. Until we know anything about the gameplay I don't think there's much to talk about.

[Nieztchean Uber-Amoeba]

I wonder if they'll actually be able to get to the alpha in the next 4 years.

This is the next Duke Nukem Forever folks. We'll see it in 20 years, finished by another developer. After Bungie's employees all moved on to better studios.

Care to bet on that?

[Vendetta]

That's a book that leans more towards the Science in Science Fiction. Not Science in the sense of realistic but Science in the sense of the Future Fantastical.

The Forever War uses a particular set of science rules as a means of exaggerating the social alienation experienced by American soldiers fighting in Vietnam, not because the war was changing them, but because the social change of the rest of their generation in the 1960s was so dramatic that every time they returned from a tour they felt like they'd come back to a different country, one that wasn't quite what they thought was sending them to fight.

It's a story about people and their experiences, it doesn't lean towards science, it uses it as a convenient way of making a point. (That's largely how SF focused on social or personal change works, the science is only important for the point it allows the author to make about people).

[Tasoth]

The first thing that popped into my head when reading this is this being done as if the players are characters from The Culture but know no better, so dress themselves up as knights and run around with high tech equipment disguised as traditional fantasy items. I don't if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

[Stark]

Depends how many times you've seen it in anime shows I guess? :v

[CaptHawkeye]

I wonder if they'll actually be able to get to the alpha in the next 4 years.

This is the next Duke Nukem Forever folks. We'll see it in 20 years, finished by another developer. After Bungie's employees all moved on to better studios.

Care to bet on that?

First born sons?

If it's a shooter (and it's probably going to be) I very well might lol.

[Covenant]

This looks astoundingly generic. Some added stuff says that it's basically a cooperative FPS, and is a lot like Halo:
http://www.gamespot.com/news/bungies-de ... rt-6399620

Bungie is not straying far from where they've been with this one. At least yet. When they were talking about knights one thing I was actually holding out some hope for was an interesting first-person slasher game, since a different take on the whole Oblivion/Skyrim experience might be fun to see. I could see lots of ways to do it interestingly, but eh, in any case, they're not. While I'm pretty sure nothing they could do would penetrate the thick walls of my Halo-ambivalence defenses, I've got to say I don't see a single thread of anything in here whatsoever that seems to evoke a single emotion.

Monsters from the edge of the universe? Players as young Knights? Super soldiers defending the last of humanity? Well, shit, that just sounds about as bland as it gets.

Apparently the sense of exploration (and one would assume, wonder) is a big part of it, and I would like that. If they push it that direction, to make the game more evocative in a questing way, then I think they may be well suited to making a fun game. If they leave it as a 'wander around, sometimes see something cool, but otherwise just go shoot badguys' game then I'd probably just pass. I have a soft spot for exploration but I'm entirely unimpressed by any shooter since, like, the Half-Life 1 era started. Fun but essentially disposable and interchangeable and not the basis for what I'd call a "deep" universe.

[Connor MacLeod]

Stay tuned, if every background character gets a fully fleshed out backstory then we'll have reached the "deep" level of SW. Keep your eyes open for Master Chief's great, great, great, great grandson Ken the ice cream man.

Only if they let the fans decide the backstory. That's the BEST way to do it.

[Nieztchean Uber-Amoeba]

While I'm pretty sure nothing they could do would penetrate the thick walls of my Halo-ambivalence defenses, I've got to say I don't see a single thread of anything in here whatsoever that seems to evoke a single emotion.

You don't know what the word ambivalence means. You're looking for 'apathy'.

First born sons?

If it's a shooter (and it's probably going to be) I very well might lol.

my deep understanding of the internet leads me to believe that the accepted stakes are either a symbolic donation to charity or a video of yourself consuming some kind of garment

or your own pee

it is a new sort of honour i think

[Covenant]

No, I really am ambivalent about it, not apathetic. It's like with Mass Effect--I've got such locked opinions on it that I just can't bother. I want to like Halo, but I don't, but I can't really criticize it just because it didn't work for me, so I'm stuck spinning my wheels. I don't even know what to feel on the subject because, despite playing the first one, I just can't get over how they took something that by all right I should really get into but it just worked backwards.

Bungie, in a lot of their stuff, just gets me so annoyed and I can't form a coherent opinion on them. I know I don't want to play their games but I can't explain why. Unless they had a massive culture shift or put out something really crazy, I'm not sure I will be able to get hyped about it because I'm just worried it'll fall into the same mess.

[aieeegrunt]

I wonder if they'll actually be able to get to the alpha in the next 4 years.

This is the next Duke Nukem Forever folks. We'll see it in 20 years, finished by another developer. After Bungie's employees all moved on to better studios.

Care to bet on that?

Without Microsoft to drop the hammer and force them to get their shit together? It's absolutely going to turn into another Duke Nukem Forever.

[Vendetta]

They're working with Activision, who I'm fairly sure will be just as happy to crack the whip as Microsoft were.