When Destiny 2’s Forsaken expansion launches in just a few months, it will kill off one of the game’s most beloved characters, the wisecracking Hunter Cayde-6, ensuring that players are hell-bent on revenge right from the start. Now, in a recent video that was published exclusively by Game Informer as part of its upcoming August coverage of the expansion, Bungie has delved more into how it came up with such a dark story and how it will affect Forsaken’s gameplay.
Naturally there are plenty of fans who are speculating that Bungie will find some way to bring Cayde-6 back, and that his death is merely being played out for shock value even though it won’t be a permanent occurrence. However, according to Bungie’s head of community Eric Osborne, that’s far from the case:
“It feels like it’s just done for shock value at the start, but it’s not. It makes the world feel rich. You start to see the way characters are reacting to that death and the vacuum that leaves in the universe.”
The video also touches on how the entire theme of Forsaken will be a twisted sci-fi take on the classic Western. The various Scorn Barons who players must track down and kill (in any order they wish apparently) will each embody a different Western archetype, both in their visual style and how they approach combat. If you look at the Grenadier Baron (a Baron with a sling of void grenades draped over his shoulder), for example, it’s not too hard to imagine a bandito with a bandoleer of dynamite.
Lastly, the video mentions the Forsaken expansion’s central antagonist: the traitorous Awoken prince Uldren Sov (brother to Queen Mara Sov). Uldren’s presence as a smaller, humanoid antagonist (as opposed to the larger monsters players have confronted like Oryx and Crota) helps to reinforce the more personal stakes that drive the expansion. Players aren’t out to save the universe this time around, they’re out to avenge the death of a beloved friend.
Destiny 2’s Forsaken expansion will launch on September 4 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.