It’s not a good time for Bungie. This year’s Destiny 2 expansion, The Edge of Fate, is widely regarded as one of the worst expansions the game has ever seen – a big feat to achieve when you’re 11 years old. As intriguing as some of the new story developments in the expanding world of Destiny are, little could soften the impact of some atrocious decision-making from the sandbox and gear teams within the studio: the grind in Destiny has rarely been worse, and fans’ patience for the MMOFPS is becoming increasingly thin.
Even the blowout reveal of what should have been a slam dunk for Bungie – a Star Wars collab that was initially announced back in May – has been met with apathy and disinterest. Renegades (to give the event its proper name) will be the first ever crossover-themed campaign in Destiny’s complicated history, and operates in a muddy middle ground between full crossover and vague skin-based collab.
“Renegades merges Destiny’s distinctive storytelling and gameplay with themes and elements drawn from the iconic sci-fi franchise,” Bungie enthuses in its own press release. In the expansion, we “will defy the Vanguard” to pursue Drifter across Sol, navigating a world of shadows and syndicates in the new social hub, Tharsis Outpost, as we work across story missions to build a crew and resist a rising faction tied to the Nine.
As you can see from the video above, Renegades positions an activity called the Lawless Frontier front and center: per Bungie, it’s “a chaotic, cooperative new game mode, where players take on a variety of high-risk jobs and contracts to earn reputation, unlock all-new Renegade abilities that change the tide of battle, and wield weapons that include the iconic Praxic Blade and an energy-based arsenal from the new Blaster archetype.” A new dungeon is also promised to land after the expansion’s launch on 2nd December.