After leaving their mark on the sci-fi genre with the Halo franchise, developer Bungie is looking to duplicate that success with Destiny. Although there are several key differences between Bungie's latest endeavor and the exploits of Master Chief, there are also many similarities.

One way that Destiny differs greatly from Halo is in its multiplayer component, which allows players to group together MMO-style and take on larger enemies or groups of enemies. In Destiny, these "instances" will be called events, and have been further detailed by Bungie.

As explained in a Q&A session with Community Manager DeeJ, Destiny's events are purely opt-in experiences. Players, if they so choose, can completely ignore them and go about their business, but those who choose to group with other online players will be justly rewarded…with loot of course.

Loot in Destiny will be fully customizable, helping players differentiate themselves within the game's three main classes. Those classes being the Rogue, the Mage, and the Warrior.

As one of those three classes, players can group together into what are called Fireteams and take on any number of missions. Fireteams consist of up to three players, grouped together like a clan.

However, although Fireteams are limited to three players, events are not. Once a player encounters an event they might see other Fireteams pop into their game, helping even the odds against the enemy. This will all be seamless, no loading screens or lobbies. As DeeJ explains, "All you have to do is get within range, and fire."

Solo players shouldn't be discouraged by Destiny's communal aspects, though, as the game doesn't force anybody to team up. Obviously, the benefits from working together, even with unknown players, are greater, but there is no forced grouping.

DeeJ's Q&A also touched upon PvP, which the Community Manager says is in studio-wide playtesting at the moment. He wouldn't provide any concrete details, but said that the rewards/loot earned in competitive multiplayer can be taken into other modes.

Speaking of modes, DeeJ concluded the Destiny session by teasing "as-of-yet-unrevealed game type." That's all they could say, but it has us intrigued.

At a glance, Destiny appears to be doing some interesting things with cooperative multiplayer — putting incentives in the periphery, but never forcing it on the player. Fireteams make it so players can group up and quest with friends, and events bring other Fireteams and solo players together to tackle a goal. Sounds ambitious, and has us very interested to see more.

What do you think of Destiny's public events? Will you try to play cooperatively or fly solo?

Destiny is targeting a Spring 2014 release on the PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.

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Source: PlayStation Blog