Granted, support is still ongoing for many of these titles, and they could improve significantly in the coming months and/or years. As of now, however, they’re still underwhelming. Without further ado, here are our picks for the 15 most disappointing games of the year.

Bounty Star

A combination of bounty hunting with mechs and farming on the side in a lawless frontier, where redemption is only really the start? Sign me up, but in the case of Bounty Star, its reach severely exceeds its grasp. Repetitive combat and objectives, surface-level base-building, iffy storytelling – it just didn’t come together as I’d hoped. Which is a shame because, for all her faults, Clementine deserved better.

Battlefield: RedSec

Between desync issues and the lack of solo play, EA’s free-to-play Battlefield royale didn’t launch in the best circumstances. The fact that it arrived alongside the core monetization for Battlefield 6 and required playing to complete Battle Pass challenges rubbed people the wrong way (as did the fact that it included naval combat, which is missing in the base game). RedSec still has room to grow and offer a fun experience, but for now, it’s got a long way to go.

Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion

I had my doubts about Titanic Scion when it was revealed that the Arsenals were now power armor instead of mechs, which could now ride on horses and whatnot. That was the least of the game’s problems, however, as the open world approach gave way to some truly bland-looking improvements. As nice as the customization and weapon variety could be, the amount of frustration from actual combat just undercut everything else.

Destiny 2: The Edge of Fate

How do you follow up the climactic finale to a ten-year-long Light and Darkness saga? In Bungie’s case, you start a brand new story, one focused on another intriguing subject in The Nine. Unfortunately, it also sought to anger players by ripping out whole systems, increasing the grind tenfold, recycling old content and introducing gameplay mechanics that no one wanted, like Matterspark. Destiny 2 has since experienced the lowest player numbers since the Curse of Osiris days, and as much as I like lightsabers, it doesn’t look like Renegades will completely right the ship.

TRON: Catalyst

Bithell Games’ titles can be hit or miss, but at least there’s this style, this panache that sticks out. Not TRON: Catalyst, though. The lackluster visuals make exploration dull, and the story, which attempted a time-travelling spin, often fell flat when it didn’t feel mundane. Then again, we did get TRON: Ares this year, so things can indeed be worse for the franchise.

Rennsport

Who says Teyon of RoboCop: Rogue City fame can’t make a racing game? Most people who bought Rennsport on Steam, apparently. While it had several problems throughout early access, you would think these would be addressed when it was time for 1.0, but you’d be wrong. Underwhelming physics, optimization issues, livery microtransactions and terrible multiplayer are just some of its shortcomings. All in all, a lackluster outcome.

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment

A canon entry in the Hyrule Warriors series – we did it. It’s just a shame then that the story as a whole feels completely perfunctory. Even if you can look past that, Age of Imprisonment doesn’t really do all that much interesting with its missions. The combat and performance are the series’s best yet, which is no small praise, but it really could have been so much more.

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection

Packing every single classic Mortal Kombat title into one retro package, complete with interviews from the development team, sounds great for long-time fans (and whoever enjoyed Mythologies and Special Forces). The problem, as always, is the execution. Input, sound issues, lack of lobbies and more at launch – not to mention the price – put a real damper on the celebrations.

Yooka-Replaylee

It’s Yooka-Laylee, but with better graphics, improved controls, all moves unlocked from the outset, etc. So what’s the problem? Well, it’s still Yooka-Laylee at its core, which means the levels don’t always flow in the best ways or offer the most enjoyable challenges. Dr Quack’s quizzes are gone, which is great, but for those expecting any further overhauls beyond this should temper their expectations.

FBC: Firebreak

Why is Remedy, a developer known for its story-focused single-player titles, delving into the co-op shooter genre? Good question, but it did so anyway, and the results were mixed to say the least. While the developer included numerous improvements and even completely overhauled core systems, it wasn’t enough to proclaim Firebreak as anything less than a disappointment with an uncertain long-term future.

The Precinct

If you can get around the cheesy writing and characters, The Precinct may scratch that itch for old-school GTA with its overhead perspective. Its design choices fumble more often than not, though, whether it’s in the chases, how terrible the allied AI can be or the lackluster aiming. In other words, it may have been a neat spin on GTA, but with cops instead of gangsters, but not this one.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7

Remember when I said that most of the entries in this list are titles that fell short in various ways and may not be outright bad? Black Ops 7 is the exception to the latter. Its campaign is simply awful in almost every way, and while multiplayer is an improvement over last year, it has more than its share of issues. But it’s the sheer soullessness of this year’s entry that gets to me, even more so than 2023’s Modern Warfare 3.

Synduality: Echo of Ada

Amid all the hype for ARC Raiders and even Escape from Tarkov, it’s worth looking back on Bandai Namco’s failed attempt at an extraction shooter – Synduality: Echo of Ada. Support is still ongoing, for what it’s worth, but with forced PvP (that too with a lackluster player base), a laughable grind for blueprints and more, it’s no wonder that player counts continue to decline on Steam.

NASCAR 25

Remember when new NASCAR titles were a big deal, alongside the likes of Need for Speed and F1? NASCAR 25, unfortunately, doesn’t return to those days of thunder. Between Career Mode looking lackluster and multiplayer’s flailing, it’s easy to ignore the mostly fun handling. Not the worst package for the brand, but certainly nowhere close to capturing its brilliance either.

Killing Floor 3

Good news – after the Rearmament update, all Specialists can now equip any perk they desire. Bad news – Killing Floor 3 is still very lackluster. Server issues, iffy movement, no mod support, no text chat, no server browser – the list goes on, and that’s before even getting to how the futuristic premise falls flat. Tripwire continues to update and improve it, but for now, it’s little more than dead weight on the Killing Floor name.

While the development team has made several changes, game director Tyson Green told IGN that there was a plan after The Final Shape. “We looked at the problem that we had, and we said, ‘We think there’s a route here,’ which is leaning into more systems of pursuit, getting new tiers of gear, armor sets, and power progression, and things like challenge customization.

“These things that can allow a core audience of players to really say, like, ‘I’m really gonna take this game and put it through its paces, and get good rewards for it.’

Things didn’t work out as planned, but Green says the team is committed to responding to feedback and not being a “dead live game.” “It sounds great on paper, but it didn’t work. I think we’ve been taught a bunch of hard lessons about what our players want, and there are really two kinds of live games: those that listen to the players and respond, and those that don’t.

“And we don’t want to be a dead live game, we want to keep building Destiny. So we’re listening to our players, and what our players are telling us is that they don’t want to chase a simple number that goes up, they want real rewards.”

Destiny 2: Renegades launches on December 2nd for Xbox, PlayStation and PC. Though Star Wars-themed and created in collaboration with LucasArts, it’s more of a Destiny-flavored interpretation of the IP, complete with Praxic Blades as lightsabers and the Barant Imperium in place of the Empire. There’s even Bael, a Sith-like antagonist who gives major Kylo Ren vibes with his voice (complete with a Revan-like mask).

Check out some of the new Exotics, including a Titan jetpack, and weapons, here. You can also find out more about the gameplay, which looks very Helldivers 2 inspired.

Other new content in this update includes Dungeon Lairs for Pinnacle Ops with Pit of Heresy, Duality, and Warlord’s Ruin showcased. A new Exotic mission, “Warsat Heist,” will also be added with what looks to be a new bubble mechanic and hordes of Vex. Call to Arms returns with some new weapons, including a lever-action slug shotgun, and players can seemingly focus them.

And for those who enjoyed the axe from Rise of Iron, a new variant is seemingly introduced, perfect for smashing through enemies. The Ash and Iron update goes live tomorrow, likely after the reveal stream, so stay tuned for additional details on the new activities and weapons.

Destiny 2: Renegades will also be showcased ahead of its December launch. Head here for more details.

How it ties into the Destiny universe is unknown, but it features many elements from the sci-fi universe, such as the Empire, the underworld, Blasters and Lightsabers. A new Dredgen is also seemingly lurking, and while there won’t be a new raid, players can venture into a brand-new Dungeon (with a World’s First race on Contest Mode expected).

Renegades arrives on December 2nd, but in the interim, players can venture into the latest upcoming update, Ash and Iron. Going live on the day of the reveal stream, it promises new gear, Artifact mods, modifiers, events, and sandbox changes. The Desert Perpetual will also receive a new Epic difficulty.

Stay tuned for more details and check out our review for The Edge of Fate here. Player numbers on Steam have dwindled significantly since its release, so hopefully Ash and Iron offers a significant shot in the arm.

Having finished the Legendary Campaign solo, some side quests and more than a few runs of the new three-player activity, The Edge of Fate is above-average; “fine” in the most charitable sense possible. There are some surprising standouts, and I am excited for where the narrative goes next, but its new mechanics, lack of content in some vital areas, and more really drag it down. If Episodes felt like glorified Seasons, then this is just shy of a glorified Episode, and even then, I’m divided.

The story of The Edge of Fate sees the Guardian sent to Kepler in response to an SOS, they encounter a fanatic portion of the Eliksni House of Exile, led by the Archon Levazsk; a singularity that’s seemingly on the verge of collapsing and wiping out the Sol system; and the Aionions, a group of human researchers who effectively avoided the collapse (but aren’t combat savvy like, say, the Neomunians).

"It’s not irredeemably bad and doesn’t make me question my existence like Curse of Osiris or Warmind. And despite the comparisons to Rise of Iron with regards to length, the campaign is sizable and packed with plenty of side quests. However, Kepler as a destination doesn’t feel exciting enough."

There’s also Lodi, who’s completely out of their depth and trying to make sense of his presence. A lot is going on, but credit where it’s due to the narrative team, who keep everything intriguing and slowly peel back the mysteries surrounding the singularity. Making players care after The Final Shape, especially when you’re trying to kickstart a new saga, isn’t easy – the Episodes are a testament to this, even if returning to the Dreadnaught offered some great plot points. And yet, I was eager to know what happens next; to see if the moniker “Guardians make their own fate” really holds (Spoilers: It’s complicated).

Strong characterisation goes hand in hand with excellent voice performances, and across the board, everyone knocks it out of the park. Debra Wilson, filling in as Ikora, does take some getting used to, but her performance at one point in the final mission is some of the franchise’s best. Maggie Robertson is also great as Orin, who oscillates between loquacious (scrambled eggs) and unintentionally abrasive as she attempts to readjust to reality. Todd Haberkorn is, as always, fantastic as The Drifter.

And yet all of them pale in comparison to Brian Villalobos as Lodi. Without getting into spoilers, he masterfully navigates from official-sounding, lovably nerdy, and friendly to having full-on crashouts as anyone in his situation would. He’s the only one who can get away with saying that Guardians – and everyone else in the future, for that matter – have terrible fashion sense.

So, with all this admiration for what the narrative and voice actors have accomplished, it saddens me that the gameplay doesn’t hold up. It’s not irredeemably bad and doesn’t make me question my existence like Curse of Osiris or Warmind. And despite the comparisons to Rise of Iron with regards to length, the campaign is sizable and packed with plenty of side quests.

However, Kepler as a destination doesn’t feel exciting enough. You don’t need to give me massive environments to traverse like in Encore (Encore gave me enough of that as is) or The Pale Heart, and the art team’s prowess is still on display where it counts. That establishing shot of the navy carrier on the plains in the distance? The singularity in all its glory? Top marks. But the environment itself feels cramped and ultimately dull. I’ve seen comparisons to the Tangled Shore, Titan, and Venus, and make no mistake, they’re perfectly valid, but even with a decent flow, Kepler does little to really draw me in on a gameplay level.

"The Sieve is the new three-player activity, and fortunately, it is enjoyable. Despite encompassing a small reused section of Kepler, it offers some neat boss fights, decent objective variety, and strong usage of Matterspark. Best of all, it’s repeatable…until the time runs out."

With that in mind, the campaign missions have their work cut out in trying to impress me. This brings me to my new mortal enemy – Matterspark. Oh, there’s the Relocator, a Void Cannon which teleports you after connecting all the nodes (sometimes you have to shoot one to correctly orient it) and Mattermorph, which creates platforms from the environment and can also suspend enemies. But Matterspark really drove me up the wall, and not just when navigating environments. Initially feeling a little clunky, sometimes a bit too sensitive and causing overcorrections which resulted in plummeting to my death, its on-screen effects are annoyingly egregious. I also wasn’t a fan of the odd clipping that occurred while navigating Kepler or the nauseous spinning if I touched my mouse while interacting with a Matterspark node.

Its inclusion in some puzzles and boss fights is fine, less so when it’s added to every single aspect of the game, like Bungie is trying to one-up the Batmobile from Arkham Knight. By the finale, where I have more Matterspark shenanigans while the veritable end of the Sol system is at stake, I wanted Bungie to simply read the room and give me a regular boss fight. Without these gimmicks, the encounters on Legendary difficulty with their enemy density and Banes felt solid.

Nothing you haven’t seen before when it comes to destroying shield generators, inserting balls, depositing Motes, “dismantle mines, yes?”, but decent overall with the action. The missions and side quests involve revisiting many of the same locations, which did nothing to help my fatigue with Kepler as a whole. And while I don’t despise the Relocator or Mattermorph, their usage along with Matterspark only results in exploration in the post-game, to the point where I wonder why Bungie even bothered.

And that’s the expansion, more or less. No new Strikes or Crucible maps, and though this is the Season of Reclamation, there isn’t even a new six-person seasonal activity. The Exotics are also fairly minimal – three weapons (four, counting the raid) and three armor pieces aren’t quite enough. I quite like Third Iteration’s gimmick, and Helion is decent for lower World Tiers and difficulties, though far from remarkable. Build-crafting has received an overhaul, which I’ll discuss, but that’s part of the free update. Intertwined as it may be with The Edge of Fate’s launch, it isn’t available exclusively to expansion owners.

The Sieve is the new three-player activity, and fortunately, it is enjoyable. Despite encompassing a small reused section of Kepler, it offers some neat boss fights, decent objective variety, and strong usage of Matterspark. Best of all, it’s repeatable…until the time runs out. Yes, it’s time-limited, and I’m unsure whether Bungie thought to replicate the Destiny 1 feel of Public Events or get on my nerves with the infrequency of its availability. It’s 2025. It’s The Edge of Fate, and I have far more interesting games wasting away on Steam. Let me play it with randoms whenever I want, for crying out loud.

"I can’t outright recommend against The Edge of Fate, but unless you like the characters and lore, only the most hardcore of Destiny 2 players need apply. The amount of content, some presentation elements, performances and raid may provide enough sustenance for some, but for others, it only just edges above average."

Regarding Armor 3.0 and loot Tiers – I don’t outright hate it, but its impact on build-crafting isn’t the min-maxing bonanza that I expected. The new set bonuses also feel woefully boring, except for the Bushido armor, which grants damage resistance on shotgun, sword, and bow kills while healing on freshly drawn weapon kills (and looks the sickest). Everything else is straight-up infusion fuel. I like The Portal offering more granular options for difficulty, balancing negative and positive modifiers to obtain higher Power drops.

But if I can raise the Power of activities beyond my current level, why is there a permanent minus 50 delta between me and enemy combatants at the highest difficulty? Why would I grind for Tier 5 armor to get all these bonuses earned from surpassing 100 on the new stats when I’m at a permanent disadvantage? I’m all for this seasonal Power grind, even with how RNG-heavy it is to get the set bonus with the desired armor archetype and stats at your Tier of choice. So why, especially with all the other modifiers in place?

I’m also not a fan of the Pinnacle section being so narrow in terms of activities. Also, why is much of the really exciting loot like the Rocket Pulse Rifle dependent on grinding out these old Exotic missions instead of the Legendary campaign? Where is the Heavy Crossbow, Bungie? The Spread Shot Handcannon and Precision Bow frames? I didn’t even know Ribbontail, a Strand Trace Rifle, was a thing until looking it up. Where is Ribbontail, Bungie?!

On the bright side, the raid, The Desert Perpetual, is good, which, outside of Root of Nightmares, seems a given for Bungie at this point. I enjoyed the nonlinear nature and focus on bosses, even if it felt lacking in terms of other encounters or puzzles. Thankfully, there’s no Matterspark nonsense, so I can’t be too mad. Suffice it to say, though, that if you’re not a fan of DPS checks, it will feel more like the Damage Perpetual.

I can’t outright recommend against The Edge of Fate, but unless you like the characters and lore, only the most hardcore of Destiny 2 players need apply. The amount of content, some presentation elements, performances and raid may provide enough sustenance for some, but for others, it only just edges above average.

This game was reviewed on PC.

Launching on July 15th for Xbox, PlayStation and PC, the $40 expansion ventures to a new destination with new abilities and loot to earn. However, its arrival also marks a suite of overhauls and changes for Destiny 2 as a whole. Here are 15 things you need to know before jumping in.

New Planet

Kepler marks the first time that players will travel outside of the Solar System. For reasons unknown, they’ll discover the House of Exile (with some new unit types that’ll make you go, “They fly now!”), which houses humans who survived the Golden Age (known as Aionions) and a mysterious new NPC named Lodi. The latter is a “fish out of water” who is described as a “long, long way from home.” What role he’ll play is ultimately unknown but for now, Kepler has an aesthetic that’s more akin to Venus than The Pale Heart or Savathun’s Throne World.

Sequence-Breaking Missions

In fact, Bungie describes it as being similar to Rise of Iron from Destiny 1 in terms of depth, which means you’ll discover different secrets and solve puzzles. However, perhaps the most intriguing aspect of Kepler is how players can effectively sequence-break the desired progression. Whether this means completing the campaign earlier than intended, tackling missions in a different order or going places that you weren’t supposed to explore so early, Bungie confirms it’s intentional.

New Traversal Mechanics

There’s no new class or subclasses in The Edge of Fate. Instead, players get three new traversal abilities – Matterspark, Mattermorph and the Relocator. Matterspark turns you into a ball of Arc energy to discover new areas, while Mattermorph can create platforms in mid-air. The Relocator is a cannon that lets you access the Fallen’s teleportation network to get around. Each of these can be upgraded for use in combat or even to facilitate better travel around Kepler (like infinite use of Matterspark).

New Three-Player Activity

A new three-player activity also awaits, similar to Vex Incursions and Wellspring, with players battling waves of enemies and bosses around Kepler. You can utilize the new abilities for different mechanics, and completing it grants the chance to earn new Exotic armor. However, for some reason, it’s “technically time-limited,” which means it may not be around all the time.

Power Changes

Proud of your 2020 loadout, especially with the added Power from the seasonal Artifact? Well, great news – it’s all going away. Or rather, Bungie is resetting the Power grind. Every player will start at 10 Power, and the new Power Band or Soft Cap is 200 (with the max being 450). However, playing at tougher difficulties provides gear with 200+ Power, but that’s not all. Seasonal Power is no longer tied to the Artifact – instead, you need to progress through challenges across all modes (and yes, that includes PvP) to earn gear with Seasonal Bonus Power, which lets you go beyond the Soft Cap.

This may sound fairly annoying, but the best part is that you can grind Power without any limits each week. The Seasonal Bonus Power resets every season. However, the good news is that using a new currency, Unstable Cores, will allow for infusing gear with it into your current set-up, meaning you won’t have to grind out a completely new optimized set.

Armor 3.0

But that’s not all – Armor is getting a massive overhaul when The Edge of Fate launches. New armor sets will now drop with Set Bonuses depending on the number of corresponding equipped pieces. For example, TecSec’s two-piece bonus grants “significantly increased Kinetic damage to overshields, combatant shields and constructs.” However, its four-piece bonus will unleash a disorienting Kinetic shockwave if you break an enemy’s shield or kill them with Kinetic damage. There are also six armor archetypes. Each prioritizes a Primary and Secondary stat (while the remaining four – which we’ll get to – are much lower). If you’re all about grenades, then get the Grenadier set; if it’s about melee damage, then the Brawler set. Archetypes are randomly assigned so you may get the right set bonus but not the desired archetype.

But wait, there’s more. Armor will also have tiers affecting the total stat range when factoring in Masterworking. By taking on increasingly challenging activities, you can get Tier 4 and 5 armor. The former offers extra mod energy while the latter lets you “Tune” the armor, which means taking numbers from other stats and pouring them into another or granting +1 to the three lower stats. And while you can still stick with your previous armor set-up, the new gear will grant 10 percent bonus weapon damage and 15 percent bonus damage resistance, so it’s well worth shifting over.

Stats Revamp

With the change in Power, damage numbers are going down significantly, dropping from the hundreds of thousands to the dozens or hundreds (though it wouldn’t be surprising if they ventured into the thousand at higher Power). However, the stats revamp is easily a bigger deal. Mobility, Resilience and Recovery are being turned into Weapons, Health, and Class while Discipline, Intellect and Strength will be renamed to Grenade, Super and Melee. Health increases the health grained per Orb of Light and your Flinch Resistance; Class reduces your Class Ability cooldown and increases energy earned for the same from all sources; and Weapons improves reload speed, handling and damage for weapons.

Stats cap at 200 and there are no more stat tiers that you need to reach to get specific benefits, with each point providing some benefit. While this means having to focus on a handful of stats instead, crossing the 100 threshold unlocks additional benefits. For example, if your Health stat is over 100, you get increases to Shield Health and Recharge Rate. For something like Melee, the damage dealt is increased in both PvE and PvP.

The Portal

The Director – and Destiny 2 in general – has been a bane for new and old players, especially when it comes to choosing what to play. The Portal aims to streamline all that with sections for Solo Ops, Fireteam Ops, Pinnacles and Crucible. You’ll be able to matchmake into playlists based on different difficulties, see the rewards, and even how many bonus drops are available. This is where you’ll spend time increasing your Power with a range of activities available, including some previously released content like the Coil and Savathun’s Spire. Of course, there’s also a Seasonal Hub which will keep track of challenges, weekly ranks, and more.

Difficulty Modifiers

The other new addition is difficulty modifiers for each activity. When selecting an activity, you can specify a difficulty – from Normal being the lowest to Ultimate being the highest. Each has a corresponding Power for combatants, and while you could run the activity as normal (or even add positive modifiers), difficulty modifiers can increase the challenge and thus the rewards. Some of these modifiers include Avante Garde, which restricts you to new gear and weapons only, and as you add more, the Challenge Modifier goes up (while positive modifiers reduce it). The more difficult the activity, the more rewarding it is, including dropping higher-Tier weapons. Higher Tiers equals things like a fully enhanced Adept weapon at Tier 3, an enhanced Origin Trait on top of that at Tier 4 and, at Tier 5, enhanced perks on top of those.

Shooting Range

After years and years of requests, especially after it took away the Tribute Hall, Bungie is finally adding a shooting range in the Tower. You can spawn in different enemy types or Champions, have them remain stationary or attacking you, and effectively test our different weapons with damage numbers that should correspond to the actual activities. And yes, if you want to test out Supers and abilities, that’s also possible.

New Exotic Weapons

Thus far, only two new Exotic weapons have been revealed, but each is intriguing in its own way. Graviton Spike is a new hand cannon with two modes – one firing Arc shots and the other Stasis shots. With precision hits and final blows, you can overcharge the other mode, which can either unleash a lightning strike or a Stasis explosion and crystal generation. Third Iteration is a scout rifle, which fires a spread of void projectiles from the hip. Aiming down sights not only reduces it, but after a short period, they’ll condense into a single Amalgamation Round, which marks damaged enemies, which then receive additional damage from the gun. Landing precision final blows with the round or even slaying marked targets provides Truesight and invisibility. Also, instead of reloading, you essentially vent its core to recharge it, though it also recharges when not fired or stowed.

There’s also New Land Beyond, which is available right now for Ultimate Edition owners, and it’s…No Land Beyond from Destiny. The same bolt action firing, the same animation cancelling for cutting down the time between shots. The biggest difference is its intrinsic perk, The Master, which increases the weapon’s damage as you score precision hits until your death.

New Exotic Gear

As for Exotic gear, only three pieces have been unveiled, one for each class. Melas Panoplia is for Solar Titans, specifically, the Throwing Hammer mains, where rapidly slaying targets with Solar damage or collecting a Firesprite will grant the Forge Master buff. This lets you recall a Throwing Hammer, and executing a Perfect Recall creates an explosion while extending the timer of Forge Master. Eunoia is essentially Getaway Artist for Song of Flame Warlocks, where Helion deals more damage with greater distance and explodes into shrapnel that scorches enemies. Finally, there’s Moirai for Strand Hunters, where you throw a Threaded Spike at a Tangle, detonating and returning it in your hands immediately alongside the Spike, which should pair well with Whirling Maelstrom.

New Artifact Perks

This season’s Artifact focuses on Solar, Strand and Stasis, like Frost Renewal, where taking critical damage with Frost Armor active will release a freezing burst that also provides Frost Armor to you and any allies close by. You also have Fever and Chill, where rapidly hitting precision shots with a Solar weapon grants Radiant (and Frost Armor if you’re using a Stasis weapon). Tangled Web lets you suspend nearby enemies if you defeat a Strand debuffed target and make a Tangle. Personally, there are too many worthwhile Solar perks to ignore as a Warlock, like Radiant Shrapnel where dealing damage while Radiant or slaying a scorched enemy with a weapon causes it to release damaging Solar projectiles that also Scorch. But even if you’re rocking Sunshot – which you should, and no, I don’t care how old it is – there is a lot to choose from.

New Weapon Frames

Rocket Sidearms remain one of the most fun archetypes in Destiny 2, so naturally, Bungie’s weapons team took it even further with…Rocket Pulse Rifles. Yes, they eat through Special Ammo like crazy, but the damage, based on a livestream, looks solid. You also have Longbows, which can over-penetrate and deal more damage but have longer draw times, and Spread Hand Cannons, which are essentially shotguns (and deal the most damage up close). However, perhaps the most exciting new addition is the Crossbow. It’s a Legendary Heavy weapon frame, and while it deals substantial damage (that too in an area after colliding with a target), you can pick up the bolt afterwards. As an alternative to Leviathan’s Breath, it looks and sounds amazing.

New Raid

Of course, it wouldn’t be a new Destiny 2 expansion without a new raid (please don’t pay too much attention to Renegades potentially not having one). Nothing is known about it except that it goes live on July 19th – four days after the expansion’s launch. Bungie has noted that completing the Legendary Campaign will be enough to get your Power ready, but whether your gear is ready or not, especially for Contest Mode, is up to you.

The first two are available immediately, while the latter require finishing the campaign. As with The Portal, higher tiers grant better rewards, though you need to contend with modifiers (like heavily shielded and more aggressive combatants). You’ll have to contend with higher-power enemies and even Banes, but better rewards and new secrets are revealed.

For example, Fabled grants Tier 2 Engrams, while Mythic offers Tier 3 Engrams and the maximum reward multiplier. However, the difficulty is akin to an Exotic mission or Master Nightfall. Whether that’s up to your speed or not, it allows for optimizing the Patrol experience to better transition into the endgame.

Destiny 2: The Edge of Fate launches on July 15th for consoles and PC.

This scene will be familiar to players from the expansion’s cinematic reveal trailer, but as Lührs notes, it carries massive implications. How will The Nine react? What if something happens and The Emissary isn’t around? Does Xûr know that there are other career options?

Orin will seemingly mentor a replacement, but it seems The Nine could be searching for their own, which raises even more questions (and could be related to inviting the player to Kepler). Regardless of what role Orin will play and how this impacts the overarching narrative, we won’t have to wait long to find out.

Destiny 2: The Edge of Fate launches on July 15th for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PS4, and PC with its raid going live on July 19th. Check out the launch trailer and learn more about the new three-player activity, which is “Horde Mode-inspired” here.

Assistant game director Robbie Stevens said that it’s “Horde Mode-inspired” and similar to the likes of The Witch Queen’s Wellspring and Lightfall’s Vex Incursion. You can still expect bosses and situations where utilizing Kepler’s new abilities – Matterspark, the Relocator, and Mattermorph – will be essential.

Oddly enough, however, it’s “technically time-limited” – a pretty big deviation from the above-mentioned activities, which are available permanently to players after meeting certain conditions in The Witch Queen and Lightfall campaigns. Stevens didn’t indicate how long it would be available or how often it would return, so stay tuned for more updates.

Destiny 2: The Edge of Fate will be available for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, and PC. It’s the first expansion of the current content year, with the next, the Star Wars-based Renegades, coming in December.

However, in terms of gear, the sky’s the limit for the player. Contest Mode caps the player’s Power and usually features higher-Power enemies in later encounters. Alongside figuring out the mechanics of the raid, you also need to coordinate and flawlessly execute them without dying. Whether it will be as harsh and demanding as Salvation’s Edge in The Final Shape remains to be seen.

Those who complete it can look forward to an Epic version launching in September with the major update, Ash and Iron. In an interesting twist, it will “expand on the story of the raid,” serving as new content in the process.

Destiny 2: The Edge of Fate launches on July 15th, which means players will only have four days to prep for the raid. Stay tuned and check out the previous Developer Insights video for more details.