A Brave New World

Discover how Bungie’s going big when it comes to Destiny 2’s new planets, moons and cities

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As the old saying goes, ‘the devil is in the details’. For a game built around epic space opera, grand vistas, and exotic new worlds to explore, what made Destiny memorable was the minutiae. It was the crest on a Guardian’s armour, the remnants of ancient machinery, and the tease of a new town just over the horizon.

The sequel will be no different. Great care is being taken to build worlds that feel more alive than ever before, despite having been partially destroyed by the Red Legion, splinter faction of the Cabal.

After playing the game we met up with Michael Zak, art director on Destiny 2, to discover the tiny, yet world-building, details he’s had a hand in designing. From the clothes the Guardians wear, which offer a deeper insight into their play-style, to the exotic but contradictory blend of claustrophobic environments set inside epic landscapes, Zak’s art team is aiming for higher, broader, and deeper worlds than we’ve seen so far.

OPM: Can you give us an idea of what exactly you are working on as art lead? What sort of things in the game have you worked on?

Michael Zak: Ultimately I’m responsible for the way everything looks: the visual appearances of our worlds, our characters, our enemies, our gear. I have the privilege of enjoying looking at the amazing work that the team creates – I don’t actually do a lot of that myself, to be honest. In my case, it’s just about making sure that our art team’s full of amazing and talented people working on things that are going to align best with the goals of the game, the theme of the game, the design intention, that it all comes together, co-ordinating all that, setting some direction, and once in a while I get to have an opinion and maybe say, “You know, I’d really like more pink in that please”.