It’s been a rough first year for Destiny 2. Despite a strong launch, its first two expansion packs — Curse of Osiris and last month’s Warmind — mostly failed to impress the community. Bungie has some work to do if they want to restore player confidence and, if the trailer for the September expac, Forsaken, is any indicator, they’re aware of the uphill battle that lies ahead.
From this morning’s announcement stream and new ViDoc on the expansion, Bungie’s focus seams to be twofold — More New Stuff and More Of What Players Want Back From Destiny 1. Forsaken brings back the loadout flex, random rolls and weapon customisation that fans enjoyed in the original game along with a host of new supers. It also brings a range of new weapons to the table, bows being among the most notable new kit featured in the trailer. There’s a new PvPvE mode called Gambit. You can find out about all of these things in greater detail in the trailer embedded below.
Forsaken‘s story will send players back to the asteroid belt and the Prison of Elders, but Bungie are staying tight-lipped on plot particulars until E3. All that’s known so far is that it will involve the Fallen, Cayde-6 and the Awoken. Here’s Bungie’s short blurb on the game so far:
Following years of strife, what remains of the Reef has fallen to lawlessness. You and Cayde-6 are sent to personally investigate the recent unrest. Upon arrival, you soon discover the most-wanted criminals in the Prison of Elders have organized an escape. Beyond the Vanguard’s authority, you’ll pursue these fugitives deep into the Reef. Explore new regions, awaken new powers, earn powerful weapons, and uncover long lost Awoken secrets. The hunt is on.
Forsaken will also mark the first time a Destiny expac has launched with an Annual Pass. This is ultimately a fancy way of saying 12 Month Season Pass because it nets the player all of the premium content released for Destiny 2 from Winter (US) 2018 through Summer (US) 2019. But it does mean you’ll get all three expansions planned over that 12 month period the moment they launch. My personal take right now is that this seems to be asking a lot of a community that hasn’t had a reason to be excited about new Destiny 2 content for a while. If your plan is to put your hand out for payment on three future expansions in one fell swoop, I imagine the community’s going to take a bit of convincing.
The final interesting fact we have on Forsaken right now is that it’s a collaboration between Bungie and Transformers: Fall of Cybertron developer High Moon Studios. We’ll be interested to see how High Moon’s influence shapes the expac’s fortunes.
Destiny 2: Forsaken launches on September 4 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows PC.
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