We nonetheless have only a few concrete particulars about Future 2’s subsequent growth, Codename: Apollo, however Bungie has supplied some new, if imprecise, appears to be like at what we will anticipate with idea artwork and a listing of inspirations that embrace The Doorways, Slaughterhouse 5, and Scavenger’s Reign.
Bungie talked a bit about Codename: Frontiers, the following section of Future 2’s content material that’ll kick off in Summer season 2025, on a current developer livestream that additionally coated Episode: Revenant, which begins on October 8. Narrative director Alison Luhrs confirmed new idea artwork for the growth’s vacation spot and supplied some cryptic particulars about what gamers can anticipate as Future 2 strikes into a brand new story.
The subsequent yr of Bungie content material, which is able to begin after the final of its present episodes, Heresy, ends in early 2025, will embrace two main expansions as a substitute of 1 enormous tentpole launch, as has been the case all through Future 2’s life. These expansions are smaller and can come at a extra common cadence, Bungie says, and be in regards to the measurement of the unique Future’s Rise of Iron growth. The primary, Codename: Apollo, can have a nonlinear marketing campaign construction, Bungie says, with a metroidvania gameplay method, permitting gamers to decide on their path by means 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’s going to be. However Luhrs did give just a few hints, saying in the course of the stream that viewers ought to think about the concept of going into the parlor of a mansion, the place the proprietor says there is a secret door. That door could be activated by transferring a e-book or a statue–something that was in entrance of the particular person’s face the entire time, however solely took on significance as soon as they knew what they had been in search of.
Luhrs additionally shared idea artwork that does not give a lot new perception however may comprise some hints as to what to anticipate from Apollo. The primary exhibits a gaggle of individuals seemingly performing some type of ritual involving blue vitality (or probably goo). The symbols and different components 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’d recommend that this new vacation spot is definitely a hidden location on Earth.
The second piece of idea artwork may additionally play into that principle. It appears to be like like an underground location, someplace in an enormous cave the place spires of rock hold down from above. The small print listed below are sparse, nevertheless it’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 Future 2.
Builders additionally shared just a few inspirations for Apollo which can be additionally notably cryptic. These included the music of the Nineteen 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 couple of man’s experiences of the firebombing of Dresden in World Conflict II and his time as a prisoner of battle. 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 components 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 recreation 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 components like time journey are a serious a part of the Future 2 universe, particularly after tales like that of The Witch Queen growth, the place the planet Mars was seen with sections the place earlier occasions break by means of into the current. However actually, as Bungie kicks off a brand new story after finishing the Gentle and Darkness Saga in The Remaining Form growth, just about something is feasible for the way forward for Future 2–and it appears more likely to get bizarre.