Back in May, Bungie teased some kind of pseudo-crossover between its shared-world shooter Destiny 2 and Star Wars. Not another skin pack like before, but a full-on expansion subtitled Renegades that would see Guardians explore a sandy planet and wield a laser sword.
In a new livestream, the developer pulled back the curtain on Renegades, which was made in collaboration with Lucasfilm. Guardians will explore the Lawless Frontier of Mars, Europa, and Venus and meet the Jedi-like Praxis Order to fight the equally Empire-like Baron Imperium, who’ve got a superweapon that needs to be destroyed. (Naturally.)
Maps on the three planets have reconfigured to look similar to Dagobah and Hoth, and players will show up on those worlds to fulfill objectives before making their way to an extraction point and getting the hell out of dodge so they can get paid for their hard, gunslinging work.
“You’re being the bad guy to do the right thing,” explained assistant game director Robbie Stevens. While doing cooperative Frontier activities, Guardians will get access to “Renegade Abilities” (think airstrikes and calling in vehicles) and work with criminal enterprises hanging out in Mars’ Tharsis Junction, unsurprisingly a riff on Mos Eisley cantina. The three lead syndicates—the Pikers biker gang, the Imperium’s Totality Division sub-group, and the Tharsis Reformation of free-thinking Vex—will hook players up with new gear and weapons, provided they successfully complete the job.
All of this sounds very Star Wars while not betraying the vibes that Destiny 2 has worked hard to maintain since 2017. When it comes to getting the lightsaber, aka the Praxic Blade, Stevens said players could customize it on a gameplay and visual level (not unlike Respawn’s Star Wars Jedi games) and “do things with it that no other weapon can do.” We get a little bit of that in the ViDoc above, which sees a Hunter block and reflect some attacks. Hell yeah.
Destiny 2: Renegades releases December 12 for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.