We nonetheless have only a few concrete particulars about Destiny 2’s subsequent enlargement, Codename: Apollo, however Bungie has supplied some new, if obscure, seems to be at what we are able to anticipate with idea artwork and an inventory of inspirations that embrace The Doorways, Slaughterhouse 5, and Scavenger’s Reign.
Bungie talked a bit about Codename: Frontiers, the following section of Destiny 2’s content material that’ll kick off in Summer season 2025, on a current developer livestream that additionally lined Episode: Revenant, which begins on October 8. Narrative director Alison Luhrs confirmed new idea artwork for the enlargement’s vacation spot and supplied some cryptic particulars about what gamers can anticipate as Destiny 2 strikes into a brand new story.
The following 12 months of Bungie content material, which can begin after the final of its present episodes, Heresy, ends in early 2025, will embrace two main expansions as an alternative of 1 enormous tentpole launch, as has been the case all through Destiny 2’s life. These expansions are smaller and can come at a extra common cadence, Bungie says, and be concerning the dimension of the unique Destiny’s Rise of Iron enlargement. The primary, Codename: Apollo, could have a nonlinear marketing campaign construction, Bungie says, with a metroidvania gameplay strategy, permitting gamers to decide on their path by way of the content material as they unlock new talents.
We all know Apollo will embrace a brand new vacation spot, however Bungie has been extraordinarily cagey on the place it will be. However Luhrs did give a number of hints, saying throughout the stream that viewers ought to think about the thought of going into the parlor of a mansion, the place the proprietor says there is a secret door. That door can be activated by shifting a ebook or a statue–something that was in entrance of the individual’s face the entire time, however solely took on significance as soon as they knew what they had been searching for.
Luhrs additionally shared idea artwork that does not give a lot new perception however may include some hints as to what to anticipate from Apollo. The primary reveals a gaggle of individuals seemingly performing some form of ritual involving blue vitality (or probably goo). The symbols and different parts seen within the picture do not appear acquainted, however one factor that is acquainted is the background–the idea artwork makes use of a picture of the Cosmodrome location on Earth to offer a rocky, tree-dotted panorama simply past the construction. The usage of an in-game picture may simply be filler, however then once more, it would counsel that this new vacation spot is definitely a hidden location on Earth.
The second piece of idea artwork may additionally play into that idea. It seems to be like an underground location, someplace in an enormous cave the place spires of rock cling down from above. The small print listed below are sparse, but it surely’s doable to see buildings among the many rocks, like staircases, and probably extra of that blue vitality. So perhaps we’re coping with a hidden location on Earth, perhaps underground, and a gaggle of individuals we have beforehand not encountered earlier than in Destiny 2.
Builders additionally shared a number of inspirations for Apollo which might be additionally notably cryptic. These included the music of the Sixties, together with The Doorways, Jefferson Airplane, and early progressive rock bands like King Crimson.
In addition they talked about Kurt Vonnegut’s novel Slaughterhouse 5–which is notably a few man’s experiences of the firebombing of Dresden in World Struggle II and his time as a prisoner of conflict. The protagonist, Billy Pilgrim, additionally claims that he turns into unstuck in time, with the narrative leaping round to completely different factors in his life, and that he was a prisoner in an alien zoo on the planet Tralfamadore, and it is by no means made specific whether or not these parts are actual or imaginary.
Lastly, Bungie referred to as out Scavenger’s Reign, an animated collection initially on HBO and now out there on Netflix, that sees a gaggle of people marooned on an alien planet after their ship crashes. Assistant sport director Robbie Stevens talked about particularly how Scavenger’s Reign depicts the strangeness and thriller of its alien world.
All that leaves us with nothing however rampant hypothesis about Apollo, however parts like time journey are a serious a part of the Destiny 2 universe, particularly after tales like that of The Witch Queen enlargement, the place the planet Mars was seen with sections the place earlier instances break by way of into the current. However actually, as Bungie kicks off a brand new story after finishing the Light and Darkness Saga in The Ultimate Form enlargement, just about something is feasible for the way forward for Destiny 2–and it appears more likely to get bizarre.