Easily one of the most anticipated games of this year, Destiny is the first new game from Bungie, the developer that created the Halo series, since the studio stepped away from Microsoft. Set to be published by Activision, Interest has been high ever since May of last year, when court documents made public shows that Bungie was developing four new "sci-fi action shooter games" set to come out in 2013, 2015, 2017, and 2019. Destiny was also initially slated by industry analysts to be an MMO, but a recent reveal on games website IGN has thrown expectations up into the air.

Destiny: Environments & Graphics

The first concrete details about the game were leaked online last year to gaming website IGN. The leak included story details and concept art in a document, which Bungie confirmed to IGN was being prepared by an advertising agency.

The document said: "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.” The massive alien ship is referred to elsewhere in the document as “the Traveler.”

Bungie's stated intention with Destiny is to "create a universe as deep, tangible and relatable as that of the Star Wars franchise".

“Destiny is designed for your inner seven year old,” says Bungie co-founder Jason Jones. “We want to make it feel like a mythic adventure.”

Destiny: Gameplay

There haven't been very many hints offered about Detiny's gameplay, although the document made mention that it would be "fun and accessible to all" and "social at its core". While this hints that Destiny will involve multiplayer capability at some level - co-op or player-vs-player (PVP) - it doesn't necessarily mean that Bungie's new game is confirmed as an MMO.

The document also includes a logo for the game as well as icons for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, so it's likely Destiny will appear on both of those platforms. Whether or not the game is going to be made available for PC or next-gen machines is unclear at this stage.