The first Strike Mission I played in Destiny presented a familiar feel from previous first-person shooters made by Bungie, but with a dash of something new. For all intents and purposes, Destiny sounds massive: It's a world filled with strife and opportunity to craft a legendary hero. Distinct focus paths and special abilities distinguished the different character classes of Hunter, Titan, and Warlock. But the slice of gameplay I played on a PS4 only filled in a small part of a much bigger picture. And though I enjoyed it, there's still so much more to see.

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Here's the control layout we used for Destiny. Check out <a href="http://www.ign.com/wikis/destiny">IGN's wiki</a> for more details.

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Our three-man team spawned inside what appeared to be an instance or campaign-like space. This wasn't one of Destiny's proclaimed Patrol areas, a public space where players can stumble into other wandering Guardians, fire teams, and shared events. Our mission was to explore a dilapidated ship refinery within Old Russia (the same area we saw at E3 2013) and locate the Devils' Lair, a name that hinted at potentially ominous possibilities. As we wandered into this dusty facility during broad daylight, I couldn't help but notice how it quietly conveyed the broken state of affairs on Earth. But we didn't have much time to take it all in: Enemy patrols outside of the refinery welcomed us with rounds of weapon fire.In line with Bungie's previous work on the Halo series, both The Fallen and Hive behave in interesting and often believable movement patterns. The scavenger-like Fallen slinked back and forth behind cover and tried to flush us out with coordinated fire. The heavily armored Hive Knights were much more aggressive and, combined with support from smaller ranks, displayed a much more up-close-and-personal attack preference. Fallen and Hive Captains posed the biggest potential threats, with extended health and stronger weapons that made them formidable foes.I played through this Strike Mission five times during my hands-on time with Destiny, and special abilities were the standout part of this experience, allowing me to unleash potent powers that disrupted foes on the battlefield. Every time I used my Guardian’s special ability, I couldn’t help but feel showered by its alluring waves of strength. In one area of the Devils' Lair, my three-person fire team was outnumbered. Members of The Fallen and the Hive quickly encroached on my squad, as an AI companion tried to quickly hack intelligence from some Fallen equipment.With few options left, I decided it was time to tap in and unleash this beastly special move. In a flash, my female Hunter summoned a purple-colored Arc Blade and the camera switched to a third-person view. From that point, I ran around in this new perspective and sliced up the competition with satisfying swings of my energy blade.My teammates unleashed equally impressive special abilities of their own. The Titan threw up a purple shield called the Ward of Dawn, and it soaked up enemy shots and provided emergency cover for our squad. The Warlock jumped up and unleashed a Nova Bomb, a bolt of energy that exploded and sent enemies skyward.Even though none were quite on the same scale as a towering Titan’s electric smoke ability in Titanfall, the spectacle and payoff for using these rewarding, Street-Fighter-esque move felt incredibly distinct. My favorite one had to be The Golden Gun, a Hunter-specific special ability that summoned a powerful golden-hued pistol, which caused enemies to disintegrate into a shower of particles.From what I could tell, none of these abilities fit the MMO mold of a standard healer role or something akin to shared fire team buffs. But I believe that could be by design, since Bungie lead investment designer Tyson Green characterized the three classes as more akin to hybrid DPS. However, that doesn't mean there isn't a shared advantage to this ability: In moments where specials are used efficiently, Orbs of Light – glowing particles that refill your teammates’ special meters faster – were a helpful way to keep my squad charged and ready.Destiny revels in empowered character choices; decisions that let players inevitably build a fully customized legendary hero. Distinct character focuses gave me to access to a variety of different special moves as well as both active and passive abilities. Regardless of the primary race or class, each Guardian sported multiple slots for armor, a three-weapon limit, and grenades to round out the arsenal. My team and I rolled through Old Russia with rifles, pistols, futuristic large machine guns, rocket launchers, and multiple grenade types.One gun that stood out during my brief time with Destiny was the hand cannon, a precision magnum-like pistol ripped from the pages of a spacefaring Western. This loud companion dropped alien threats quickly, and captured the essence of Halo’s DMR into a different portable form. Sadly, I wasn't as impressed with the selection of automatic, burst, and single shot rifles I had access to -- they felt weaker than I expected. But, given all the possible weapon permutations, including the ability to acquire weapons at the Tower's marketplace, I'm not convinced I won't eventually find some worthy successor to Halo's Battle Rifle.Strike Missions have an obvious combat focus, but there is a funnier side of the world in Destiny. I toyed around with emotes that were mapped to the d-pad. Naturally, I participated in a few dance-offs after we cleared out a section of the room. One of my squadmates wondered if other forms of entertainment, including a space disco, could possibly be a part of the Tower. Unfortunately, we still haven't seen this shared and important space.Strike Missions in Destiny looked great, but they presented a familiar campaign-meets-Firefight vibe that we already knew Bungie was capable of. However, the Patrol Mission alluded to an even bigger picture. Sadly, we didn’t get to play these yet. But with so many elements like competitive multiplayer and other features to explore, there’s a lot more to Destiny, and we should finally get the whole picture of just how big it is soon enough.

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Jose Otero is an Associate Editor at IGN and host of Nintendo Voice Chat . You can follow him on twitter