Destiny 2 just revealed a whole lot about its upcoming Renegades expansion, ranging from a stream to a vidoc to a trailer to about 50 videos from Destiny 2 creators. But there is one question that keeps coming up all the time. Does the Star Wars stuff work or not?
This is a very weird set-up, given that this is probably the first time we’ve seen something that’s an officially licensed Star Wars season but without literal Star Wars content. Just “heavily influenced” Star Wars content, making a canon Destiny storyline integrated with its Prophecy Era plot, but in a way that utilizes absolutely recognizable aspects from Star Wars. Some are excited for this, others think it can come off as lame and desperate.
So, what exactly has Destiny 2 done with this idea? At this point, we can rank the most 1:1 comparisons all the way to ones that aren’t as heavy-handed. Let’s go through what we know:
1) Lightsabers – Easily the most obvious thing that Destiny has taken from Star Wars here, as if you’re doing a Star Wars season, you’re not going to avoid this. These are called “Praxic Blades” (nothing shares literal names with Star Wars) and is the game’s first kinetic sword, one with new combo moves, the ability to boomerang throw it and reflect enemy gunfire, exactly how it functions in the films.
2) AT-STs – They’re called “Behemoths,” but I’m just going to call them AT-STs as that’s what they are. Just 100%. They’re modified a bit, but they function nearly identically. Eventually they get some non-Star Wars upgrades like an icy depth charge, but yes, hilariously Star Wars.
3) Bowcaster – It is literally Chewbacca’s bowcaster in every single way. Like the literal design from the movie. It shoots explosive bolts. It’s fun! But yeah.
4) Carbonite – The first mission has you transporting Drifter, frozen in stasis, which obviously just looks like blue carbonite. An “homage,” sure, but about as 1:1 as you get.
5) Blasters – These are pretty similar as well, namely because Bungie has been able to get many of the exact sound effects from Star Wars, including the blaster sounds that will instantly remind you, every time you fire, that this is, in fact, a Star Wars thing, as you can actually forget.
6) Kylo Ren – The main villain of the expansion is a red lightsaber, I mean Praxic Blade-wielding Dredgen who has been designed to look like Star Wars’ Revan (see the top image) with the personality and voice of Kylo Ren, to the point where many fans thought he was actually voiced by Adam Driver (he isn’t). He’s a little on the nose.
7) Tatooine, Hoth, Endor, Death Star – We’re now getting to the point in the list where I actually think they did an okay job blending Star Wars and Destiny. These are fun zones to play and while sometimes it is extremely Star Wars, like an egregore Sarlaac pit and a Spider Jabba Barge, it is genuinely fun to play in places like Imperial-style hangars or the Ewok tree huts. It’s a good blend of existing zones with a Star Wars twist.
8) Stormtroopers – The Cabal are different enough from humans that giving them Stormtrooper armor mainly just looks cool rather than a cheesy rip-off. There’s also a giant wall-like Cabal that is the main bad guy of that faction, who isn’t a direct rip on any specific character.
9) The Cantina – I really like the new social space, which is obviously meant to echo the Cantina from Star Wars, but whatever, it’s fun. There’s a giant servitor in the middle and a bunch of crime factions around, including redesigned Fallen, Cabal and Vex wearing ponchos and playing poker. It’s goofy, but fun.
I am probably forgetting a few more (we don’t know what Eververse cosmetics they’re going to throw in here, as those have been 100% actual Star Wars before), but that’s most of it. I think it works more than it doesn’t, but we’ll have to see at actual release.
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