When Destiny was first announced, many people were skeptical of the game’s massively multiplayer aspects. After taking a look at the E3 demonstration, the game is definitely shaping up to be one of 2014’s best titles.
The demo was the same one Bungie showed off at Sony’s pre-E3 press briefing. Since this was a private demonstration, we got a few extras out of the demo that you may have missed the first time around. Like in most MMO titles, you can physically go almost anywhere your eyes can see. The E3 demo started off outside an installation in Russia, but instead of heading straight into the fray, the Bungie staff member turned around and moved toward the edge of the canyon. He then explained that once the game releases, we’ll be able to go into the canyon and explore the area below.
After a quick look at the scenery with promises of things to come, the Bungie staff member joined up with another player who was airdropped from a passing ship. Then they headed into the building to meet their objective. A big thing to note here is that the Bungie staff members were taking this mission on with only two people. That bodes very well for the MMO content Bungie has planned. If you can handle most average missions with only two players, Destiny won’t feel group dependent.
The two players took out a few enemies before a boss-like character emerged. It killed one of the players, which then prompted the surviving person to revive his fallen comrade. Once the boss was down, the player was revived. It took a few seconds, so it wasn’t something that could have happened while the boss was still alive, but if a larger group was taking on the mission, it seems likely that the fallen player could have been revived mid-battle. Also of note, it appeared as though there was a time limit for the revival, which is consistent with most other MMO titles. If you die and are not revived within a set period of time (generally around an hour), you are taken back to a home point of some sort. That appears to be the case with Destiny as well.
Once the boss was down, it was time to collect the loot. Two new weapons were obtained and equipped for the battle ahead. As the two players emerged from the installation, an epic event took place. An alien ship warped into the area, dropped a few dozen troops (including a heavy tank-like enemy) and a big open world instance began. Several more players joined the battle, which makes it clear that this is something that will randomly happen throughout the world of Destiny, in which anyone in the area will be able to join in and help with the battle. Even with all of the extra help, it still took several minutes to defeat all of the enemies.
Destiny will release on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One next year. We’ll have more on the promising title in the months to come.
