The new Moon destination in Destiny 2‘s upcoming Destiny 2: Shadowkeep expansion reimagines many locations from the original Destiny‘s Moon, giving players about double the amount of space to explore. Much of the Destiny 2: Shadowkeep Moon will likely feel similar to longtime Destiny players, but there will be brand new places to tinker around in, as well.
Bungie detailed some of the changes it’s made to the original Destiny‘s Moon environments in a new Bungie Developer Insights video. According to Destiny 2: Shadowkeep Design Lead Ben Wommack, the expansion’s redesigned Moon has “about double the amount of space” as in the first Destiny, meaning there will be “more than twice as many places” players can go. These include new Lost Sectors that allow players to go inside places that were previously inaccessible in the first Destiny.
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It seems a major location in the expansion will be the giant red Hive castle on the Moon’s surface, which we first got a glimpse of in Shadowkeep‘s 14-minute reveal ViDoc and subsequent GuardianCon trailer. Josh Markham, an art lead at Bungie, said in the Developer Insights video that the Hive castle was a driving idea for the art team. This gives the aesthetic of the expansion’s Moon an overall darker, scarier, and more mysterious vibe than in the first Destiny — something the developers are expressing largely through new lighting and color.
The video also showed off an early build preview of Destiny 2: Shadowkeep‘s opening story cinematic, which showed Eris Morn discovering “hidden Darkness” under the surface of the Moon. As far as other story elements of the expansion go, Bungie said players will be able to explore the Moon’s history, learning more about the humans who built structures on the Moon before the Collapse. Art Lead Mike Poe added that the team wants to pay homage to the humanity’s first real-life Moon landing, which occurred exactly 50 years ago as of this coming Saturday.
For more on Destiny 2‘s newest expansion, check out our Shadowkeep pre-order guide.
