T.A.O. of Destiny – Law of the Jungle Trailer

For awhile now, the gaming community has been anticipating the newest project from Bungie. In a previous announcement, we learned that their new project, Destiny, is to be something massive and immersive. From the initial details, it seems that Bungie will be sticking close to the concept of Halo, being a Sci Fi Space Combat FPS. The thing that struck me the most regarding it’s announcement trailer was that it suggested that the story would unfold over the 10 years. That’s quite an ambitious goal! Not only are you certain that this game will be amazing, but it will be so amazing that it will warrant additional games to be made after it and that these additional iterations of the game will be continue to be so alluring that the franchise will persist for a full decade! Ok Bungie, show me what you’ve got!

THE ANALYSIS

Opening scene, we see 3 figures, each with a distinctively different garb. On the left seems a stockier man, with a sash sporting a military style chevron. In the center, there is a cloaked person, with some kind of faded symbol printed between its shoulders, and to the bottom right is another figure in blue/grey. All 3 are standing on the cratered surface of what I assume is the moon with a half lit Earth in the distance. The camera whips around to see the face mask of the hooded figure and we hear a voice say “Pay attention son, this is the part of the story that’s really important.”

SCIENCE FACT: There is virtually no atmosphere on the moon. Earth = 10×10^18 molecules per cubic centimeter, Moon = 1,000,000. No atmosphere means no wind. Unfortunately, no wind would mean no blowing cape, and thus no dramatic effect. VERDICT: Not enough atmosphere for that much cape flapping, but for the sake of theater, I’ll allow it!

About halfway through that speech, we see the screen go from Masked-Hooded Man to a real-life actor, Giancarlo Esposito, reading to his son. Given the softness of this voice combing with the expressionlessness of his face, we can see that he is absolutely serious about what it is he is about to say next.

At 0:11, we zoom out, and the man opens the book and continues reading. Other things worth noting in this are the plainness of his shirt, and the few space travel toys set on the window behind him. Looking of that window, we can see a night sky and a picturesque overlook of the city. Also, we see a corner of a MASSIVE ORB hanging in the sky and a slow moving air craft traveling across. From other releases and announcements, we know that that orb is somehow integral to the Destiny universe. So we know that we’re in the city of humans, and these guys have quite the view of the city.

“Now, THIS is the Law of the Jungle”. Jungle’s are not known for being very forgiving environments, rather quite the opposites. They’re also known for being home to many beasts who will kill you both for food and defense, but ultimately survival. Being that this is the main theme of this trailer, I’m sure the concept of survival will be a central idea.

“As old and as true as the sky”. At last, we see the man crack a smirk. An interesting bit to point out, he’s reading from an actual paper text with yellowing pages, not some futuristic tablet or holodeck display. This man believes in the old traditions, and possibly resistant to the direction that the society is moving.

“The wolf that may keep, shall prosper. But the wolf that shall break it must die”. Clearly, this is crucial to the survival for any society. Keep peace, and you shall be peaceful. Demonstrate animosity and malice, and all shall fall apart. Along with these words, we begin to see what our inevitable foe will look like. First through a scope, and then raising a sword from one of its 4 arms as it beckons its troops to battle.

The next flash of cinematics we see all three figures opening fire, back to back to back. Being that they are now the ones who are facing the impossible odds and seem to be the focal point of this trailer, I’m going to assume they are human and thus who we will be playing as. Aside from the fully automatic laser blasts, we are also shown one of the hero throw up his hand and unleash some form of kinetic blast from his palm. So, will this ability be more akin “The Force” or “Biotics“?

“As the creeper that girdles the tree trunk, the law runneth forward and back”. In the midst of these words, we also see Bungie’s equivalent to the Star Wars “Speeder Bikes“, with the 3 heroes regrouping and pushing forward at great speeds.

0:39 in the trailer, and we see our trio pushing and advance in a desert environment (Red sands…Mars?) and being held off by some opposing soldiers hefting thick metal shields in the shape of scarabs, crouching behind them as bullets ricochet around.

“For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack” This line suggests an idea of “We’re all in this together”. As the trio pushes on, they rely on each other for support. Essentially, If someone doesn’t hold up their end of the battle, all will die. Therefore, I must ensure that that someone isn’t ME!

0:44, we see our cloaked hero reach to his belt and pull out a pistol. Seems a bit under powered, until he’s pulls off a series of shot. One shot for each enemy, and after a momentary delay we see each detonate in sequence.

Once those foes are dispatched and a glorified bad-ass pose for emptying the explosive revolver, the earth (Mars? Do we still call it “earth” if we’re on a different planet?) begins to shake, and a massive super-soldier behemoth of a marine stands up, red sand cascading down it’s armor, and a Gatling gun with barrels longer than their speeder bikes begins warming up.

Final hero pose: One conjures up another force ball, one reloads the explosive revolver with some additional static charge dancing around it, and the last cocks back the action on his own heavy rifle.

In the final credits, we see that this game will be developed by the creators of Halo (as previously mentioned) and the company behind Call Of Duty, with the respective “Bungie” and “Activision” logos faded towards the bottom of the screen. Above the text we see that massive orb hanging just above the Earth. The trailer closes with announcing that the Worldwide Gameplay Reveal will be at E3 on June 10th, 2013.

WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR

The main definite thing we know is that it’s going to be a Space Marine FPS. Why not? Halo was hugely successful for Bungie and Activision has been doing quite well with the Call Of Duty franchise.
Apparently, that massive orb is referred to as “The Traveler“
It will be on Next Gen Consoles.
The humans have been pushed back by alien races, and we’re fighting to reclaim what was ours.
We will be doing it by force.

WHAT TO EXPECT

The highest emphasis of the 4 lines spoken was centered around the wolf and its pack. Expect this to be heavily geared for multi-player, as you gather your “pack” for combat!
Battling on vastly different environments, including Earth, the Moon, and possibly Mars.
Based on this trailer, it looks like we’ll have the option of 3 playable classes. Based on Bungie’s Destiny page, they will be Warlock (guy with the “force ball”), Titan (Big ol’ heavy rifle), and Hunter (Explosive Pistol).
Since the voice over narrator read the first few lines of “The Law for the Wolves” by Rudyard Kipling, expect to see plenty of “survival of the fittest” scenarios.

So who’s ready to reclaim their Destiny!?!?