'Destiny' trailer examines customization, multiplayer

The latest behind-the-scenes video for futuristic action game 'Destiny' sees staff members comment on character customization, social aspects, and multiplayer modes over a montage of footage old and new.

Bungie art director Christopher Barrett sets the scene, saying that the 'Halo' studio's number one priority was to 'make a world that people wanted to be in. Something that you want to go back to and that you want to explore, and to have enough variety where you never get bored.'

That means excursions in a variety of environments, with the Earth, the Moon, Venus and Mars all namedropped.

Meanwhile, writer and art director Joseph Staten enthused about the game's social aspect.

'What I believe is going to be most exciting for people who play 'Destiny' is the social experience of colliding with other people in this big world. It's not something that happens in most action games.'

Design lead Luke Smith chuckled about the game's three-weapon system, which lets players tote a versatile primary weapon, a specialized secondary, and a heavy weapon 'causing unrealistically large amounts of damage over a very small window of time.'

There's a story element to the weapons that players carry too, as 'you're going to understand where they came from and what they went through to get there.'

And those rendezvous with other players are 'something really magical' for community manager Eric Osborne, 'especially when you don't expect it. There he is... he just popped right in!'

Players can choose whether to team up with others or head off on their own, while Multiplayer modes encompass campaign missions, strikes, raids, public events, and the dependable staple of competitive multiplayer.

'If we can hit all those elements, we can bottle up that lightning a second time,' sums up lead designer Sage Merrill.

And if 'Destiny' ends up as impressive as Merrill's knotted beard, then we're really onto something.