The Taken King revolves around Oryx, the Hive god and father of Crota, who wants to seek revenge after the Guardians killed his son. Oryx is now building a dark army, which appears to include both Hive and Cabal to hunt the Guardians down.
So let's talk about what we saw.
First off, locations. As far as I can tell, there is not a single location in this trailer that we have seen before, and that is extremely exciting. All of the locations appear to be associated with either the Hive or the Cabal, with the exception of what appears to be a new location or two on Mercury (they don't look like the Lighthouse, to me). One location that is featured more than a few times is Phobos, one of Mars' moons that is currently only featured as a Crucible map (Black Shield). While we don't know yet whether these clips are from missions, strikes or even just another Crucible map, it is certain that we will be seeing more of Phobos with this expansion.
Another location that is featured very prominently in this trailer is what is most likely the interior and exterior of a Hive ship near Saturn. According to a photo leak towards the beginning of this year, this expansion was scheduled to have a Hive ship as a new playable location, so this was expected, but the shear scale and brilliant execution of it is fantastic. There's even a location that appears to be highly reminiscent of this piece of concept art that was released prior to Destiny's launch. It's great to see such a cool area finally brought to life in the game. According to that same leaked photo from the beginning of the year, we are also supposed to be receiving a new Patrol and a new public event. It is not yet known whether these will take place on Phobos or in this new Hive ship. At this point, with as little information as we have, we can only speculate and both locations seem equally likely in my opinion.
Now, onto those enemies. According to info just added to the Bungie website, "Oryx wields the ability to control a twisted army of vile corruptions known as the Taken" and these Taken will most likely make up a majority of the enemies that we see throughout this Expansion. This explains why there are a number of enemies seen, including both Cabal and Fallen. These Taken are consumed and possessed by the Darkness and twisted into service of the King.
There's a couple notable enemies in this trailer. The first is a large Cabal plated in red armor. This Cabal is equipped with a jet pack (including wings) and appears to aggressively punch the ground near players. There's also a large axe wielding enemy. I'm not sure what to make of this. It looks large like a Cabal, but it is wearing armor that appears much more Hive in origin. Given the story, I guess it is possible that these are Cabal that have been recruited (and equipped) by Oryx to aid in his quest for revenge.
Lastly, there's two enemies that are new to this Expansion. They look fairly similar and one goes by so quickly that you probably thought they were just two separate clips of the same enemy. The first enemy appears at 0:44 and 1:37 in the trailer. This enemy appears to be a new variant of a Wizard, expect this one has large bat-like wings and a head that's similar to something like a hammerhead shark. This one appears to shoot and act like all other Wizards. The second Hive enemy appears at the end of the trailer, and is presumably Oryx. He appears similar in some respects to the new Wizard, having the same wings and head. However, he has a body (and legs) similar to a Knight and even bares a very large blade. Giving the similarities between these two enemies, it is possible that the Wizard is simply the mother of the Oryx's spawn (just like how Omnigul is the mother of Crota's spawn). Regardless, the presence of two new enemies such as these is very exciting and I really can't wait to see how they are used through the story missions and the strikes provided in The Taken King.
And lastly, the thing that everyone wants to talk about, Supers. As we've been hearing for quite some time now, the Taken King will come with three new subclasses, one for each class. So let's just break it down by class.
The Hunter will be receiving the much anticipated Void class. It's super features and actual bow and arrow. From the multitude of clips shown in the trailer, this super appears to have a call-in animation similar to Golden Gun and Arc Blade. From this, I think it's safe to assume that the super may give multiple shots. The shots themselves appear to do an initial burst of damage and includes (or perhaps can include) additional void bolts that shoot out in all directions.
The Warlock will finally be receiving (the also much anticipated) Arc class. This subclass should make your inner Sith Lord very happy, as its super is (not surprisingly) the ability to shoot lightning bolts. Like the Void Hunter super, this super also has a call-in animation, which means its probably more than one burst. An interesting thing about the bursts is that it appears that you can sustain the burst for as little or as long as you like. Perhaps the longer you hold it, the more damage it does. You also appear to be able to glide from side to side while shooting the lighting, which is also pretty cool.
And finally, the Titan will be receiving the Solar class. This super features a flaming hammer, which covers the entire Titan in flames. You appear to be able to rapidly slash/move across the space like an Arc Blader. Just like the other two supers, this one has a call-in animation. What I find interesting about this super is that it appears to have multiple functions. In one clip, a hammer-wielding Titan appears to actually throw the hammer, causing large amounts of damage. In another clip, a Titan uses it to melee an approaching Cabal enemy. I don't know for certain whether the super will have two functions that can be used simulatneously (like Arc Blade with its various right trigger abilities) or if it will be one or the other (e.g. one hammer throw with massive splash damage or several melee attacks).
All of this will be ours to experience on September 15th of this year. And of course, there's also other things worth noting in this trailer, like the obvious appearance of at least a couple new cutscenes. Something I've been speculating on is who exactly is narrating the trailer. Is it possible that it's Osiris? If its actually a character within the game, its certainly not one we have seen (or heard) before. Whoever he is, it's likely that he will be the story agent for The Taken King, similar to Petra for House of Wolves.
It's still just the first day of E3, with three more still to come and another presentation by Bungie tomorrow with IGN at 2:40 PST. Undoubtedly we will find out at least a few more details during that presentation, and when those details come out I'll be sure to cover them.
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