Destiny 2 “Gods of Mars” expansion sounds too good to be true

News around the second Destiny 2 expansion has surfaced and it could be called “Gods of Mars” if the Xbox Store screenshots that surfaced online are to be believed.

According to the erroneous listing on the Microsoft Xbox Store, Destiny 2 Expansion II “Gods of Mars” sees your guardian heading out to investigate a mysterious signal on Mars. Originating from a brand new destination, the Northern Point, “Gods of Mars” brings with it a slew of new story missions and “adventures”.

If the listing is to be believed, this story-focused entry could actually be rather good as it turns out Rasputin, the ancient Warmind from Destiny has become the antagonist. Rasputin plans to build a powerful weapon capable of detonating the Traveller as a “dark threat from beyond the solar system” looms. So as a Guardian, it’s your job to stop it from happening.

However, as cool as it sounds, the Destiny 2 community is calling it out as fake.

Firstly, this seems like far too big and meaty a story to be a simple piece of DLC. The interstellar dark threat wouldn’t ever really be addressed in the short run Destiny 2 DLC tends to have. There are even more red flags the deeper you delve, as the Store blurb also reveals the return of Destiny‘s Crow Splicer – a character presumed dead since the assault on Oryx’s dreadnaught in The Taken King. It’s unlikely Bungie would spring such a twist on fans from the outset.

We’ll find out more about what Destiny 2 Expansion II contains in time but, for now, it’s worth questioning what you hear online about “Gods of Mars”.

Destiny 2 Expansion I: Curse of Osiris – Everything you need to know

As the first piece of DLC to arrive for Destiny 2, Expansion I: Curse of Osiris has a lot to live up to. Since its release on 5 December, it’s generally been positively received and, while there’s been some fumbles on the way, it’s shaping up rather nicely via updates to help fix the issue around balancing that every new piece of content brings to a game of Destiny 2’s size and scope.

Here’s what you need to know about Destiny 2 and its Curse of Osiris DLC pack.

Destiny 2 now supports 4K HDR on consoles

The update that prepared Destiny 2 for Curse of Osiris content also introduced 4K textures and HDR on both Xbox One X, PS4 and PS4 Pro.

On Xbox One X, it will run at a constant 4K resolution, with downsampling for those playing at lower resolutions. On PS4 Pro, it runs in adaptive 4K, with the game running at 4K where possible and then scaling to Checkerboarding when required. HDR runs by default on all and there’s no option to manually tweak resolution output.

A Destiny 2 Free Trial is now a thing

Interested in Destiny 2 but unsure if it’s for you? Worry not, Bungie has rolled out a Destiny 2 Free Trial download to give players free reign of the game’s singleplayer and multiplayer components up until they reach player level 7.

You can start the free trial using your original Destiny 2 character if you want, and you can take any earned progress into the full game if you decide to buy it.

New features for Destiny 2 Expansion 1: Curse of Osiris

Large Public Events

The most notable moments of the stream revolved around how Curse of Osiris plays host to the largest Public Event ever in Destiny. Set on Mercury, Guardians have to take down gatekeepers and pick up keys to progress through the event. It’s also so huge that it actually opens up new areas of Mercury only available via the Public Event. Bungie is also stating that Destiny 2 will help solo players find others to play with.

Changes to the Lighthouse

The Lighthouse social area has also seen a change for Curse of Osiris with The Forge now becoming a Vex weapon wall showing player progression and leading to unlocks of end-game weapons. You can also solve mysteries around the space with Brother Vance offering up new missions to help you explore what Mercury has to offer.

Heroic Adventures challenges

The new Heroic Adventures allow players to challenge themselves on a new level, with new modifiers being added to Adventures to keep things feeling fresh every time.

New story Strikes are coming

New strikes are coming to Destiny 2 via Expansion Pack 1 and these weave themselves into the main story helping the campaign make sense.

The Infinite forest as a new area

This Vex simulation is the last place Osiris was seen alive and is a play space where every playthrough offers a different experience. A lot more information around what the infinite forest holds can be found in the recording from the second Twitch playthrough session by Bungie.

What is Destiny 2 Expansion I: Curse of Osiris?

Taking place after the events of the main Destiny 2 campaign, your Guardian is dispatched to Mercury to find the greatest Guardian who ever lived, Osiris. Known as the most powerful Warlock to have ever lived, Osiris holds the key to destroying the Vex who have opened a rip in time to flood the universe with their own race.

Curse of Osiris adds an entirely new chapter to Destiny 2, according to Activision. It’s set to take place in a new location within Mercury – the Infinite Forest – and contains a new social space known as the Lighthouse. There’s also new missions, new strikes, new raid content, new free-roam activities and a world quest to complete.

Here’s the announcement trailer from Paris Games Week.

With Destiny 2‘s Expansion Pass priced at £30, it’s clear that Expansion I: Curse of Osiris isn’t going to be as meaty as the likes of Th Taken King or Rise of Iron were for Destiny. However, it does seem that Bungie has learnt from its mistakes around the lacklustre House of Wolves and The Dark Below expansions.

Rumours around Destiny 2 DLC were already swirling before the game had actually come out. Perhaps three months after Destiny 2 launched on console – and only two since it landed on PC – is a little early to drop new paid content onto players laps, but I’m sure many are ecstatic about the prospect of diving back in for more Destiny 2.

Speaking to IGN ahead of the Destiny 2 launch, senior narrative lead Jason Harris and cinematic lead Matthew Ward waxed lyrical about the sheer amount of story spread throughout Destiny 2.

“I think players are ultimately going to see a wide variety of story channels, an eclectic number of outlets to see story infused throughout the game; top to bottom, soup to nuts. There is story everywhere,” said Harris.

“We’re learning from and listening to all the feedback we got on Destiny 1, and we’re applying it,” Ward noted. “I hope people complain about how much story we have. That’d be the Reddit thread I’d like to read. ‘Too much damn story [furious typing movements].'”

Let’s just hope that the story found in Expansion I: Curse of Osiris and whatever Expansion II turns out to be, can live up to expectations.