Destiny has always been a Star Wars shooter at home, and with Destiny 2: Renegades, Bungie decided to build directly on that with a crossover expansion. Oddly enough, this decision seems to have been quite okay so far! Renegades doesn’t solve many of Destiny 2’s long-standing problems, including the fact that it’s been awkwardly spinning its wheels for over a year now (reminiscent of the post-Endgame MCU), but embracing the cheesiness and overdramatic nature of Star Wars is at least a surprisingly nice change of pace in what has become a fairly predictable universe. The story is certainly silly, but it introduces some modern mechanics and weapons that are a welcome change, and there’s an impressive level of enemy density in virtually all of the action, which keeps the action engaging. I still have a lot more quests and loot to do before my final review, but so far this expansion has been a pretty compelling breath of fresh air in a game that would otherwise be much less hyped than usual.
If you have read any of my previous expansion reviews (With Which There If AND plot), then you already know that I’m one of those weird Destiny fans who has stuck with the game through hefty and slim – so it should mean something when I say that saying I’m also a Star Wars fan would be such a huge understatement that I’m actually embarrassed to describe it publicly. But even with my undying love for space wizards, I was initially horrified when I learned that Destiny 2 was planning a crossover with her. To me, it was the final sign that Destiny had run out of ideas, gone “full Fortnite” in a way that felt budget-friendly and cheesy, and made one last desperate play in a ponderous death that has been suffering for many years. And yes, it all largely turned out to be true. But when I found myself watching two lightsaber-wielding enemies fight in an epic cutscene while listening to the John Williams-esque music that this expansion makes weighty employ of, I admit it convinced me… at least a little.
Renegades goes out of its way to include every little Star Wars reference to a degree that can feel a bit forced – a crutch it constantly relies on in lieu of any original ideas. For example, in the very first mission you get trapped in a garbage compactor, save someone from freezing another brand of coal, and jump at the speed of featherlight while a grim, masked villain angrily watches you escape his grasp. This is extremely unpleasant to the nose and I was as likely to experience a full-body spasm as I was to smile because of it. But all this “fuck it” energy that fully embraces all the banality and drama that Star Wars is known for has a kind of refreshing charm that at least provides a clear direction for Destiny 2. My complaint is that this game has felt dated for at least five years, so I have to give Bungie some credit for trying something modern here.
There are also quite a few modern mechanics that I wasn’t expecting, like a cover system for certain enemies that forces you to deal a whole lot of damage in a miniature amount of time before you can actually hurt them, AT-ST inspired walkers that have unique attacks that I wasn’t expecting, and even a few modern weapon types like battery-powered guns that you can fire until they overheat and need to frosty down. None of these things change the game significantly, but they are decent little sandbox tweaks that are a welcome addition. Of course, there’s also plenty of stuff that hasn’t changed at all, and even though you’re theoretically facing a modern type of enemy, you’ll still be fighting the same armored Cabal warriors and bony Thrall monsters you’ve been shooting at for over a decade, which makes it feel like a budget-friendly redesign at times.
I’m still pretty early in my space opera journey (I haven’t even created a lightsaber yet!), so I have a lot more to play before I can definitively say where Renegades will land. But so far this expansion seems to be much better than I expected… though that’s partly because I expected very little. I’ll have a lot more to say once I finish the campaign and start delving into the endgame. For Light and Life!
