Yesterday Bungie finally unveiled the first details about their big new game, Destiny. Apparently it’s a sci-fi first-person shooter, and you play as the one person who stands between humanity and the hordes of angry aliens that want to wipe us out. Oh, and also there’s a huge, mysterious round alien object in space that is a core element of the plot.
Kind of a stretch for Bungie, I know, but here’s hoping they can pull it off.
It’s been a long time since I’ve cared even the slightest bit about Halo. I played through Reach with a friend, but I wasn’t excited about it, and was happy when it was over. Didn’t look twice at Halo 4. With that said, I’ll admit that Destiny looks kind of cool. My interest is piqued, and I look forward to hearing some more details about the game as it develops and gets closer to launch. I haven’t drunk the Kool-aid yet, but I’m not going to dismiss it because it looks so much like Halo.
A lot of my interest in the game will live or die on the amount of character customization they deliver on. They’re promising a lot. We’ll see.
They’re also suggesting a lot of social media tie-in with the game, that looks… interesting. In the video, they showed the game texting/messaging a player on their phone with in-game information about a new mission, etc. I’m on the fence. On the one hand, that sort of interactivity could be really neat… but on the other, I’m not sure I want my video games texting me whenever they want.
It seems to me like they’re attempting to build a better Halo. For me, since I’ve come to think Halo is pretty terrible, that’s not exactly a tall order. But it’s still a big task. There are a lot of expectations riding on this for them. I’ll admit to being excited about what they can do without Microsoft looking over their shoulder screaming “GIVE US OUR NEXT CASH COW FRANCHISE SEQUEL!”
If they deliver… it could be something really special. I’m not getting my hopes up yet though. When it comes to super customizeable, super replayably shooters that are going to change the genre, I’ve been lied to before (I’m looking at you, Brink).