Destiny 2: Renegades review – Live-service fan-service

Destiny 2: Renegades feels misguided. When I first saw that Destiny 2’s next expansion was going to be Star Wars-themed, I was really bummed out. How could a franchise as rich and unique as Destiny have to rely on Star Wars, an infinitely more mainstream IP, to get people to return to the game? While I’m happy to report that what’s actually in this expansion feels more Destiny than Star Wars, there’s an overtness clouding the experience as a whole. Renegades adds some fun ideas to the formula, but whether through its nature as a crossover or sheer franchise monotony, most of them can’t help but feel derivative.  

For full transparency, in comparison to past Destiny 2 expansions, I must admit that I probably spent the least amount of time with Renegades. I tried (almost) everything once or twice, and played through the story in its entirety. I didn’t touch PvP, Gambit, or the new dungeon, so this review will focus mainly on the campaign, new faction missions, and related aspects of the expansion.

The story of Destiny 2: Renegades takes place not in a galaxy far, far away but in our own solar system. The Barant Imperium, the re-skinned Red Legio – I mean, the new enemy Cabal faction, has arrived in full force, led by villain-of-the-week Premier Lume (essentially Grand Moff Tarkin) and the intriguing Dredgen Bael (essentially Kylo Ren). They want to use a new superweapon, Nightfall Station (essentially the Death Star), and must be stopped by The Guardian, Drifter, and Aunor Mahal, a new Jedi-like guardian (essentially Ashoka Tano). Much of the story takes place in the new social space, Tharsis Outpost (essentially Mos Eisley Cantina), inhabited by the criminal syndicates: three new factions of Vex, Cabal, and Fallen who are neither friend nor foe to the Guardians. Keep in mind, this isn’t just some throwaway crossover adventure – the Nine are also a part of the story, carrying out their machinations and moving the overarching narrative of The Fate Saga forward.

The story, while an entertaining popcorn romp, doesn’t feel particularly fresh or new to Destiny. Realistically, you’ve seen all of this before (except for the Vex wearing clothes now… does that mean they’ve been naked this whole time?). There are a lot, and I mean a lot, of in-your-face references and ‘memberberries strewn throughout this campaign that were endearing at first but became exhausting by the end. I will say that the final mission of the campaign was super cool as a fan of the original Star Wars trilogy, but honestly, I just wanted to return to the standalone Destiny universe we know and love by the time I finished.

Renegades’ campaign takes place via a combination of classic story missions and syndicate-centered jobs in the Lawless Frontier, a new type of mission unique to the expansion. The story missions are what you’ve come to expect from the post-Witch Queen campaign overhaul (that’s a good thing, by the way), full of challenge and decent mission variety. The main gameplay loop for Renegades comes in the form of the Lawless Frontier: three new mission spaces centered on Helldivers 2-style gameplay objectives (think wave defense, resource extraction, powerful enemy hunts, etc.) culminating in a high-intensity extraction. You can choose to align with one of the three factions, earning syndicate reputation and gaining access to better loot and resources in the process. There are also new faction abilities available for use only in the Frontier, like airstrikes and healing drones, similar to Helldivers 2’s stratagems in their functionalities.

The Lawless Frontier is an enjoyable experience that, similar to the rest of the expansion, feels very derivative. The syndicate missions lend themselves well to the Destiny 2 sandbox, feature plenty of enemy density, and have just enough objective variety to justify one or two runs in a session. But when push comes to shove, if you’re craving an experience like Helldivers 2, you should really just go play Helldivers 2. Nothing in the Lawless Frontier is better than what’s on offer in that game. Also, automatic healing is turned off in this mode for some reason, which never feels justified and ends up becoming more frustrating than challenging.

Easily the most impressive things in Renegades are the new weapons. Each one of them feels carefully borrowed from Star Wars, from scoped hand cannons to high-powered rifles to a crossbow blaster, they all feel memorable, authentic, and fun to use. The real centerpiece, however, is the Praxic Blade. Obtained via the excellent exotic story mission “Fire and Ice”, the Praxic Blade is a tried-and-true Lightsaber available to use within Destiny 2. The blade is a special ammo kinetic sword, able to perform Jedi-like light attacks, deflect laser fire, and be thrown/returned like Thor’s hammer. At this point, new weapons are a dime a dozen, and I typically only use them a handful of times before banishing them to my vault, but the Renegades weapons are now a part of my normal rotation.

Renegades also introduces the new “season”, Lawless. Don’t think of Lawless like Destiny 2’s old seasons; this is more just a title for the current update, awkwardly separated from the titular expansion. Lawless offers the usual season pass full of currency, upgrade materials, and gear. The Portal menu is also in full effect now, serving as the main hub for expansion, single-player, and group activities. I think the jury is still out on the Portal. While it’s a nice way to blast through expansion content, other areas of Destiny 2 feel completely forgotten. It does offer its own daily/weekly reward tracks, though, which is a great way to earn extra loot.

Here’s the short answer on why this expansion feels misguided. Star Wars is more fable than IP at this point. Every piece of modern science fiction takes at least some inspiration from it, Destiny included. So, instead of simply retelling Episode VII of Star Wars, which itself was a retelling of Episode IV, why didn’t Bungie use some of the overarching themes, atmosphere, and lore from its own rich sci-fi universe? In a lot of ways, 2018’s Forsaken expansion already told this exact story in a more original and engaging manner that only Destiny could. In this way, Renegades feels like it’s not only retracing the steps of a legendary franchise, but of one of its own expansions that was released seven years ago. Though I had some fun with Renegades and enjoyed most of its content, it lacks the originality and memorability that make previous Destiny expansions stand out.