Destiny Dev Discusses New Rise of Iron Raid, Playable Location

Destiny's getting a new expansion, called Rise of Iron, in September, and developer Bungie has been fairly tight-lipped about what it's going to be like. Although we know that it'll include weapons, gear, Strikes, Crucible maps, and a raid, Bungie hasn't shared much about the nature of those new activities. During an interview with GameSpot at E3, Rise of Iron creative lead Christopher Barrett provided insight into the new raid and playable zone

Barrett was clear that he didn't want to spoil the secrets of the raid, but he did provide context for some of what players will face. "It's Fallen-themed," he explained to us, "which is something new for Destiny. It takes place in the Plaguelands [the new zone coming in Rise of Iron] so it's tied up in the theme of SIVA fighting the Fallen Devil Splicers."

He continued: "Something I'm super excited by is the setting--it's on Earth, and as you can see in some of the images from the trailer, it's got a scale that's really cool. You can see the Guardians running along the wall and it's got a big, open, epic feel to it, which I think will feel very unique compared to some of the other raids which were more dark dungeons and stuff like that. This has a bigger, open feel."

He went onto talk about the Plaguelands zone, a new Earth area that players will explore. This will be the first time that there are two playable zones on the same planet, so we asked Barrett how the Plaguelands and the original area, the Cosmodrome, will interact. "We're gonna have two patrol nodes [on Earth]," he explained. "So players will be able to jump directly into the new content and explore the Plaguelands. They'll also, as part of the new campaign, be able to return to parts of the Cosmodrome that have changed.

"Players will be able to return to where they first started their Destiny adventures, but it's changed significantly. The wall [in the Cosmodrome] has collapsed and there's snow everywhere, the Fallen have gone crazy. So I think that's going to be a cool moment for the players."

Destiny: Rise of Iron launches on September 20 for PS4 and Xbox One. Barrett spoke to us about why it's not coming to PS3 and Xbox 360, and he also explained how dedicated players will be rewarded before the expansion launches. You can read more about Rise of Iron here.