Gamers get their hands on Destiny, highly anticipated successor to Halo

The aliens are out; the widely anticipated new sci-fi video game Destiny started lighting up video screens of gamers worldwide on Monday, hours ahead of its official midnight launch. It is the first installment of a new massively multi-player online video game franchise developed by game maker Bungie, creator of the hugely popular Halo franchise.

According to the official website for the game, "In Destiny you are a Guardian of the last city on Earth, able to wield incredible power. Explore the ancient ruins of our solar system, from the red dunes of Mars to the lush jungles of Venus. Defeat Earth's enemies. Reclaim all that we have lost. Become legend."

Previews of Destiny show scenery, vehicles, weaponry, and characters reminiscent of Halo, the multi-billion dollar franchise which Bungie launched in 2001. Since then, it's added 8 more installments and is planning on at least two more over the next two years.

But the new game is different. Besides having a different plot and set of characters, the new game play is more open-ended and riddled with unplanned events, making each game play a unique experience. You can meet players from all over the world and create teams in a social hub. Individuals or teams of 3 or 6 can act as "Guardians" shooting their way across the moon, Venus, Mars, and other sci-fi realms. The aim, as a Guardian, is to protect humanity from extinction at the hands (or tentacles) of various alien races. Guardians explore locations to find weapons or other hidden items. Players can earn or purchase upgrades in a variety of ways, racking up points and competing with other players for scores.

Destiny is available for Sony Playstation 3 and 4 with content exclusive to those platforms, plus Microsoft XBox One and XBox 360. The Sony Playstation bundled version is $89.99 on the Sony website. It is also a hard drive space hog, requiring 40 GB of storage.

And, in a unique melding of mobile app and gaming platforms, there's an official Destiny Companion App which lets you "inspect your Guardian, analyze player stats, and compare your Grimoire score," according to the site. "Keep in touch with your friends in the Bungie Community via forums, groups, or private messaging and track them down on the PlayStation Network or Xbox LIVE." The app is available for Android and Apple iOS.

You can check out more game trailers on the Destiny web site or on Twitch and Gamespot live play streams.