Destiny 2: Renegades Review – Somehow, Destiny Returned

In my review of The Edge of Fate, I talked about how very few Destiny experiences had so little faith going into them. Add another to that list because Renegades, the second “expansion” in this year’s storyline, had even less hype. Don’t even take my word for it – the Steam concurrent player numbers are some of the lowest ever for the looter shooter. It’s probably no exaggeration to say that Bungie is hanging on by a thread.

Which is funny because, for all intents and purposes, Renegades is decent. For all its Star Wars trappings – and the way they’re adapted is nothing less than odd – it’s a pretty straightforward experience if you’re a Destiny player. There’s nothing here that will really shock or surprise, and few gameplay mechanics that feel fresh. Even those missions that see you venturing through the Lawless Frontier, calling down vehicles and airstrikes a la Helldivers 2 before extracting, are nowhere near as exciting, compelling or involving.

That doesn’t mean it isn’t worth playing. New content is new content, after all. Even if it’s considered little more than an Episode or a paid Season, Renegades has some enjoyable moments, some interesting loot, and some notable character moments. They just don’t equate to a meaningful whole that really stands out.

"As overt and blatant as these references feel, there is no direct tie-in to the Star Wars canon. Rather, it’s the moments and setpieces, the prospect of this secret empire suddenly rising, and an enigmatic villain with temper issues, that’s leveraged to continue the Fate Saga."

If you haven’t followed The Edge of Fate, the Vanguard and its allies receive an ultimatum to bind the Nine or face extinction. Meanwhile, Drifter sees a vision of the Barant Imperium – Temu Galactic Empire, in this case, though they’re more akin to the First Order – and heads off to try and presumably deal with the problem himself. This also involves taking Eris Morn, Eido, the player, and a newcomer, Aunor of the Praxic Order, along for the ride.

Sans any text crawl, we cut to the Imperium chasing after the Derelict in a clear homage to A New Hope, right down to the hallway scene. Where is the player, the literal Eater of Worlds, in terms of power in this franchise? Apparently missing, but soon, they board the Imperium’s ship to rescue Drifter – encased in a carbonite-like Stasis block – and recover an encrypted data disc. Who wants to guess what’s on it? If you answered, “information on a space station with a massive laser,” you get a prize.

As overt and blatant as these references feel, there is no direct tie-in to the Star Wars canon. Rather, it’s the moments and setpieces, the prospect of this secret empire suddenly rising, and an enigmatic villain with temper issues, that’s leveraged to continue the Fate Saga. So if you’re wondering whether you can jump in and expect everything to make sense, I have bad news. Heck, I still have a lot of questions over why Six, a member of the Inner Nine, even helped the new big bad, Bael, in the first place.

There are other elements in play, from the lightsaber – er Praxic Blade (it’s a lightsaber, let’s be real), the blasters and the hive of scum and villainy that is Tharsis Outpost, to the camera wipes, establishing shots, iconic sound effects and even the “Star Wars-ification” of old locations. Mars has a sarlacc pit now, and Spider has a Jabba the Hutt-like barge. Europa is a poor man’s Hoth. Since when and why? Your guess is as good as mine. At least the music is excellent, flitting back and forth between familiar Destiny and Star Wars instrumentals to create this uniquely fitting symphony.

As so many have pointed out already, however, we’ve been here narrative-wise. The Vanguard hanging back to ensure the safety of The Last City (except the reasoning here is far dumber); the crew tapping into the less savory elements, namely three criminal syndicates, for assistance; the giant laser-firing space station – even the trash compactor sequence has already been done in a previous Exotic mission. Of course, so much is similar because Destiny was inspired by Star Wars, right down to the Light and Darkness.

It isn’t the biggest killjoy, but seeing the inspiree circling back to the inspiration and treating it as fresh, especially after removing the beloved campaign with so many similar elements (Forsaken), is just bizarre. Forsaken is also far better, but I digress.

"However, along with the starting mission, there are only a handful of proper campaign missions – the Legendary difficulty also feels like a joke, and that’s while playing solo. They can be enjoyable in some parts but also tend to drag and disappoint in others."

Unlike The Edge of Fate, you’re mercifully not Mattersparking around, or forced to solve puzzles with Matterweave and the Relocator. Renegades’ campaign fashions itself very much as an action-packed ride with an intriguing twist on enemy shields, where sustained damage is required to break them (though they seem more susceptible to the new blasters). However, along with the starting mission, there are only a handful of proper campaign missions – the Legendary difficulty also feels like a joke, and that’s while playing solo.

They can be enjoyable in some parts but also tend to drag and disappoint in others. Much as I like the finale, the actual final boss is a complete non-entity with the most basic mechanics. While it’s fun to traipse around in an AT-ST-like Walker, blowing everything up for as long as it can survive, fighting against some Strand-hardened variants on a modified Pike is tedious. Fire and Ice, the Exotic mission that grants the Praxic Blade, is a big stand-out – it can be frustrating at first, but once figured out, the mix of platforming, puzzle-solving, and combat is well-paced.

In between all these missions, you’ll be heading to the Lawless Frontier, and this is where Renegades truly begins to feel like the usual tired Destiny. Charging mining drills with charges gathered from slain enemies, dunking orbs, escorting the payload, just plain slaying waves of enemies, standing in spots to fill a defense progress bar – nothing you haven’t seen before, though the cargo carrying objective is terrible. It just works, I suppose, and the new Renegade Abilities, those airstrikes and deployable vehicles, are a nice addition, even if they’re more impactful in the post-campaign Territory War.

Lawless Frontier tends to break up the pacing of the more important story beats with busy work, but not as much as menial tasks like heading to Zavala’s office to speak to him, and then returning to Tharsis to answer a call on my Ghost. It’s one string of “this could have been an email” after another with some of these characters, and the fact that this has been an issue since seasons were a thing is mind-boggling.

As for the loot, the new blaster archetypes are surprisingly well-executed with some fun perks – like increased damage and exploding enemies at high heat levels. These put a nice spin on the otherwise risk/reward element of the archetype, where venting heat periodically is advised instead of overheating. I’m not the biggest fan of the new heavy sniper rifle, but it’s a neat addition all the same.

"Rack up enough contracts, rank up with a syndicate, and you’ll unlock unique rewards, from more Renegade Abilities to specific weapon archetypes and shaders. Again, nothing that hasn’t been seen in Destiny 2 before, but the syndicates and their rewards are varied enough to make it work."

And yes, the Praxic Blade is fun to use, offering some strong combos and good reflect damage alongside extensive customization from the blade color to the frame and stats. The throwing mechanic could be better – as satisfying as it can feel to take down a group of foes, it sometimes whiffs entirely, especially on the way back. I didn’t spend much time with Service of Luzaku, the new Strand machine gun, but Deimosuffusion, the Warlock Exotic, felt like a fun time, with its rift-induced suspensions and Threadlings going wild, even with unoptimized stats.

Once you’ve beaten the story, the post-campaign consists of allying with a specific syndicate and completing Contracts. They’re seamless enough, though my hopes of sandboxes where my team could endlessly chain objectives together on a single map before extracting were swiftly dashed. Instead, like the story versions, you’re completing a handful of tasks and then extracting when told to do so. The fact that there isn’t much to discover in these missions outside of the occasional optional objective and chest with Enhancement Cores is a bummer.

But they’re more challenging at this point, pairing well with the already excellent enemy density and Invasions, where a lone player enters your instance to try and rack up some kills. Some occasional bugs may occur from cargo defense pads not materializing immediately, or an asset becoming invulnerable, effectively blocking you from destroying it and completing the objective. I was also sent back quite a ways during some deaths for reasons I can’t quite fathom.

Anyway, rack up enough contracts, rank up with a syndicate, and you’ll unlock unique rewards, from more Renegade Abilities to specific weapon archetypes and shaders. Again, nothing that hasn’t been seen in Destiny 2 before, but the syndicates and their rewards are varied enough to make it work.

"While never meant to be this giant momentum shift for the franchise that would finally steer it in the right direction, I find myself, as always, yearning for more."

With a new dungeon out this week, there will be other content for fans to burn through, and Bungie’s various changes to leveling – including the removal of Unstable Cores – make for a smoother grind (and the new Vault filters are a long, long time coming). Even the Orders, automatically restocked and serving as an alternative to Pathfinder and Bounties, offer a consistent flow of XP and Bright Dust.

However, I’m still on the fence about all this. For $40, the content that Renegades lacks – no Strikes or Crucible maps, only one Exotic gear piece per class, no new region (unless you count Tharsis Outpost, which you shouldn’t) – cuts a little too deep. I probably wouldn’t mind it so much if there were tons of fresh ideas – instead, a good portion feels very “Been there, done that,” except those times had better characters and mission design.

If The Edge of Fate dissuaded you from ever engaging with Destiny 2 again, then Renegades is at least worth a try. It may pleasantly surprise the most jaded fans, offer some enjoyable loot for the most hardcore, and maybe remind you of the good times in the Star Wars universe. While never meant to be this giant momentum shift for the franchise that would finally steer it in the right direction, I find myself, as always, yearning for more.

This game was reviewed on PC.