- Destiny: Rising will be in its own alternate universe
- A brand new weapon class and rarity
- Controller or touchscreen support to match any playstyle
In a piece of wildly exciting news, we have learned that NetEase has landed the opportunity to develop and publish a title in Bungies’ epic sci-fi shooter franchise, Destiny. It will be called Destiny: Rising, and whilst there isn’t a wealth of information out for it right now, we have rounded up what there is. You can also check out our hopes and dreams for Destiny: Rising.
When and where it will take place in Destiny history
Destiny: Rising will be set in an alternate timeline after the Collapse, and will focus on humanity trying to drive back an alien invasion on Earth. As you might expect there will be a few new areas to explore, starting with Haven. This seems to be the hub area for this entry, where the Lightbearers will plan their attacks.
Just to try and pinpoint where this will take place in this alternate timeline, the use of Lightbearers suggests this will be in a world where the Traveler has already intervened against the Collapse and sent out Ghosts to serve the people fighting back. In the story, we will receive assistance from the Iron Lords, a group of legendary Guardians that protected humanity before the Vanguard and the City rose, so we are possibly right in the aftermath of the Collapse.
Besides Haven, you will also experience such biomes as the frigid metro of Jiangshi and the arid expanse of the Red Sea Rift. It is great to get some new areas to run around in, but to be fair, how much of the current maps do you recall? Most of my memories are of simply mowing down dozens of enemies.
Custom weapons and pre-defined characters
One of my favourite parts of Destiny 2 was the Deepsight Weapon Crafting, and it sounds like we might have that here too, in a fashion. Exotic weapons are available to customize according to your combat style, which does suggest some level of stat control or the like. There will also be different weapon and trait combinations to experiment with, to really finetune the playstyle. NetEase has also confirmed a whole new class of weapon which looks to be a full-sized crossbow, so that will be fun to try out. On top of this, a Mythic rarity class will be added.
Whilst weapons seem like they may be up for tinkering with, I worry our character won’t be. Or more specifically, we might not have one. It appears that Destiny: Rising will be opting for the playable hero character route, making us pick from a pre-defined roster to adventure as. Each of these choices is said to have their own ‘unique’ personality, story, and skills, so it feels like a Baldurs Gate 3 situation with the Origin characters. It is a divergence from the usual Destiny where we create our own persona, but hopefully, this indicates that NetEase is focusing on crafting a solid narrative around each option, which could be interesting.
Destiny: Rising will have controller support
Now onto the meat of it; gameplay. You will be able to play Destiny: Rising in pretty much any form you enjoy in your mobile gaming. It will be both touchscreen and controller-compatible for that classic Destiny feel, and you can choose between first-person, or fully third-person which is pretty cool. Usually, you only see that when you run around with certain Super moves.
There will be a variety of modes to enjoy, much like its older siblings. You can, of course, dive into the campaign and engage in 6-player co-op strikes, a staple of the franchise. It will be interesting to see if NetEase introduce a few strikes that only take five minutes to complete to cater to the mobile gaming lifestyle. Not that the existing ones last too long as it is, but a few dedicated busy schedule-friendly ones would be appreciated. Besides this, NetEase has said there will be all-new and replayable PVE and PVP modes, so we can still wail on other players.
Co-op and multiplayer options
Speaking of others, if you don’t desire to shoot people, then you might enjoy forming a clan. This will open you up to take part in casual party game modes, which sound pretty intriguing. More fascinating though is the customisable shared spaces you can unlock. If you have seen anything of Once Human then you know NetEase can do base building well, so it could be a pretty exciting addition here. Just for fun, if not for anything else.
Destiny: Rising release date
There are two other interesting tidbits that we can share. First; pre-registrations are available from the Destiny: Rising homepage so you can make sure you don’t miss any further developments. Although as you might expect since the build is still pre-alpha, there is no news on a release timeframe right now. Second; on that website, you can also register for a limited access closed alpha test set for November 1st, and this is perhaps the most exciting part of all. If you are in the US and Canada that is, the rest of us will be crying in our corners of jealousy. Maybe that’s just me. There is no official word on the Destiny: Rising release date just yet but we’ll let you know when that changes.
