Halo 4 might be out right now and Bungie didn't have anything to do with it, but they are making some headlines in the news lately for their next project. The game is codenamed Destiny and it's their first title under a publishing agreement with Activision. Bungie has been working on the game since it split with Microsoft two years ago, and many thought it was going to be some sort of MMO hybrid. But that doesn't seem to be the case, the game is still a shooter, though it does expand on some concepts Bungie explored at the end of their Halo life-cycle.
The details about Destiny have been leaked by an employee of the Vancouver studio Demonware, which have since been removed. Apparently Bungie was there to demo the game and recruit some help in development. What was shown was both hands off and on with a "huge atmospheric world." Best of all, it showcased actual co-op gameplay.
"This is not a dedicated server game, but there is some simulation and coordination running in their server infrastructure. The game was up and down a lot, playing in a team of 3 we did manage to experience entering a zone to find other players already taking on the bad guys, it's cooperative so we helped out (mostly [name removed], I just died) before both groups went their separate ways. Which is a pretty cool experience, making you feel you are part of a much larger populated world.
At the end of the day I was excited about the game, I like the feel of being in a large world with different destinations and the interactions along the way. It actually brought back a sense of exploration I recall from playing [Elite] many years ago, although there was no opportunity to shoot aliens in the face in Elite. I'm not fully sold on the appeal of being able to change the colour of a weapon, but I guess it works in China, and customization and individual identity is a big theme for the game.
While many thought we'd see the game at this past E3, it's still MIA. From the sounds of the demo Bungie is getting close to having something they can show off. Perhaps the title is going to be a launch game on new consoles coming in 2013?
Source: Kotaku.com