In the somewhat chaotic lead-up to Destiny’s monolithic Taken King expansion, amid the furious gnashings of long-term players desperate to buy expensive dance emotes, and the game’s Red Bull promo looking devastated by, ironically, a player-made random number generator, Bungie is trying to maintain some semblance of order and decorum, by delivering a full, clear run-down of said expansion’s full content and worth. At least, the base content that will be available to all, before you take into account PlayStation-exclusive stuff and the aforementioned, taurine-locked content.
A lot of it, we knew already, but if you fine-tooth your way through the list below, as published on Bungie-net, there are a couple of very interesting new details to be gleaned. Though actually, you don’t need to bother with the fine-toothing at all, because I’ve done it for you. Scroll on.
•New story missions and an array of sidequests that conspire to tell the story of our battle to defend our Solar System against Oryx and his Taken armyNew narrative driven by cinematic cutscenes starring an engaging cast of characters
•New Exotic Weapons, Exotic Armor, and Exotic Questlines
•The Dreadnaught, a full new destination, with unique secrets, rituals, and treasures to uncover
•A new breed of enemy combatants, The Taken, armed with new abilities and weapons
•An increased Level Cap, and new ways for your Guardian to grow more powerful
•The most substantial injection of new, unique, and redesigned weapons, armor, and talents to date
•New subclasses with all new Supers and abilities
•New cooperative Strikes with unique and dynamic new Boss battles
•Redesigned and reimagined Strikes – Dust Palace, Undying Mind, and Cerberus Vae III – are now overrun by the Taken
•New Crucible multiplayer maps with new Crucible modes, including the previously revealed Rift and Mayhem
•And, of course, last but not least, our biggest six-player Raid yet
The aforementioned interesting bits? First up, the increase in narrative content, ‘driven by cinematic cutscenes’, implies a hefty move to redress Destiny’s lack of explicit story. After all, while the game has fathoms of lore hidden away for dedicated story hunters (and warlocks and titans), even the last two add-ons, The Dark Below and House of Wolves, told their new, mini-narratives only through voiceover. We haven’t seen real, cinematic story-telling since the base game was released last September.
That reference to ‘new ways for your Guardian to grow more powerful’ is rather exciting too. After House of Wolves finally smoothed the sharp edges off Destiny’s grind-heavy gear levelling system, the game now has a solid, accessible base for further development. Looks like, with the core game now simplified, The Taken King could be a real reboot moment.
Lastly, it looks like the evolution of Crucible PvP is going to go further than we initially thought. ‘New Crucible modes, including the previously revealed Rift and Mayhem’? The Taken King’s new modes, taking in basketball-style capture-the-flag and all-out carnage respectively, already looked like a mighty addition (even if the latter feels a little more like a – welcome – quarantine for all of the Crucible’s lazy Super-move spammers), but it seems we’ll be getting more. Personally, I’m still holding out for a Halo SWAT-style thing, with tighter maps, radars equipped, and no Supers whatsoever. A bit like a version of Trials of Orisis that doesn’t totally hate me.
But that’s just me. What are you hoping to be surprised with, as we find out more?
