Destiny 2: Renegades isn't just a Star Wars spinoff adventure, it's "Destiny with a Star Wars lens"

After Destiny 2: The Final Shape arrived in mid-2024, I reached a turning point in my time with Bungie's long-running shooter. Perhaps it was partly down to the fatigue of the countless live-service games on the market, but once The Final Shape landed and the Light and Darkness Saga came to a close after around a decade of storytelling, I saw an opportunity to step back from Destiny 2. I'm not talking about completely dropping the game, but moving away from the weekly login cycle and the desire to find items that were granularly better than others, essentially chasing a conclusion that had no actual ending. I became more of a "filthy casual" you could say for Destiny 2, retiring from the big leagues and transitioning into being a more of a distant admirer that clocked in for the major moments and events.

This meant that after sparingly playing the game post The Final Shape, I found myself booting Destiny 2 up once more in the summer to experience the beginning of The Fate Saga with The Edge of Fate expansion. I wouldn't say that I was massively upset with what this content delivered, but it wasn't as good as Destiny 2 had and can be, and it made me question whether I could ever properly get back into this live-service behemoth. The upcoming Renegades expansion might just pull me back in...

The reason I say this is because it's combining Destiny 2 with perhaps my favourite sci-fi universe, Star Wars. We're talking about an entirely dedicated expansion built around Star Wars themes and this means it's chock-full of references and nods, ultimately being designed to be a love letter to George Lucas' epic world. But it's not a Star Wars expansion. You won't be heading to Tatooine or Endor, you won't be battling Stormtroopers or Super Battle Droids, you don't need to blow up a Death Star or defeat Emperor Palpatine. This is a Destiny 2 expansion "with a Star Wars lens" as Bungie explains in the recent ViDoc.

In a manner that is very unlike Lucasfilm, this expansion is set in the Destiny 2 galaxy, meaning it's not a galaxy far, far away or even during a time period a long time ago. That itself brings all kinds of complications about how Star Wars is included, but the key thing to understand is that while there are blasters, lightsaber-like weapons, and enemies and allies made to resemble Jedi/Sith and Rebels/Empire, you won't run into Darth Vader or Obi-Wan Kenobi in this story. It's completely separate from the wider Star Wars world, so don't worry too much about lore tie-ins and such.

Described as a continuation of The Fate Saga and building on the events of The Edge of Fate a few months after that expansion's narrative wrapped up, the premise in this story is to team up with the Drifter and a few outcast-like characters to deal with a new and rising threat. Essentially, Dredgen Bael has arrived (Dredgens are essentially naughty Guardians, for all those not up to date on their Destiny lore) and he has a simple goal to enact. He wants to free humanity from the oversight of the Vanguard, for the simple reason that as it is, an immortal gang of heroes are maintaining complete control over the future and protection of the inhabitants of Earth. It's Star Wars through-and-through already as it's quite an admirable plot in some ways, even if Bael's plans are vicious enough that they need to be quashed. But that's not all, as while Bael is a Kylo Ren-like villain, elsewhere a new Cabal Imperium has risen, with this headed up by a stoic and cruel commander that feels as imposing as Grand Moff Tarkin, and controlling a superweapon that sounds a fair bit like Starkiller Base (with it going by the moniker of Nightfall Station). So, with heroes who somewhat reflect Star Wars characters too (i.e. the Han Solo-like Drifter and a Praxic Warlock meant to be similar to a Jedi), you'll have plenty to overcome in this next part to the wider story.

Looking at where the action then takes the story, for the most part we're talking about familiar locations as Mars, Europa, and Venus take centre stage. Each has new areas and points of interest that have a Star Wars theme, be it cantinas and gambling dens or even (as Family Guy's parody so delightfully put it) giant boob cannons first seen during the siege of Hoth. We're told that these areas are also littered with references and Easter eggs that have been given a thumbs-up from Lucasfilm, so keep your eyes peeled for secrets. Plus, inhabiting these zones are new Syndicates, gangs that fight and tussle for control of territory. Again, it's all familiar factions here, but instead of Vex hellbent on universal domination, now we have trenchcoat-wearing Vex who spend their days gambling away Credits... I mean Glimmer.

As per the new weapons and items, it's all the same story as what we have been talking about already. There are blasters to find and acquire that come in two variants. The first are Dynamic Blasters that are harder-hitting and slower firing and designed for brute force damage and attacks. The second are Balanced Blasters that introduce a new heat mechanic to the game that acts a bit like a Gears of War reload system, where when the weapon overheats, you'll need to time your reload input to get a perfect 'reload' and continue firing away. Stacking up to this is the thing you have all been looking forward to: the Lightsa... Praxic Blade.

Remember, we're not on Tatooine anymore and the key Star Wars terms have been lost to the annals of time, hence the new Destiny 2-geared glossary fans will need to adapt to. The Praxic Blade is an Exotic Kinetic weapon that acts like a sword, and according to Bungie, you will earn/craft your own sword by following the main story. We're not talking crafting in the traditional Destiny 2 sense, but rather crafting like in Star Wars, by finding the right core items and then making your own personal blade imbued and enhanced to you as a hero. And to this end, these blades will be widely-customisable in a cosmetic sense. You can use Ornaments to change the appearance of the hilt while certain challenges and questlines in game will reward the items necessary to adjust the colour of the light-beam blade itself. For those wondering, you will be able to get a red blade, and in a Star Wars-like manner, only through causing grief and misery to other players...

This brings me to Lawless Frontier, the new mode being introduced with Renegades. This will be a solo or three-person fireteam activity that includes a slate of different mission options and activities with a Star Wars theme. You could have to smuggle something or sabotage a different thing, and all on behalf of the aforementioned Syndicates to increase your standing and reputation with them. For the malicious solo players out there, expect a Gambit-styled invasion mechanic to be present too, with this being the way to earn the red Praxic Blade colour. On the topic of Gambit, Lawless Frontier even has class/ability kits and sets that enable players to spec into more specialised playstyles to improve how they go about completing the missions.

As a final note, it's worth talking about the music and soundtrack for Renegades, which while all completely new and utilising the excellent Destiny 2 audio team, has very clear inspirations from John Williams' iconic score and soundtrack. The vibes and the feelings are all the same, and again, coming full circle, it's "Destiny 2 with a Star Wars lens".

I can't tell you whether or not Destiny 2: Renegades will be enough to make up the damage that The Edge of Fate dealt, but from what Bungie has shown me so far (again, only shown and not yet played), it does look to be a very compelling and promising expansion, especially for those who can't get enough of the Star Wars universe. Expect to be able to dive in as soon as next week, when Renegades launches on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox on December 2.