A brand new breakdown of Future 1’s scrapped “Staten Reduce” has surfaced, revealing marketing campaign construction, characters, factions, and a very totally different story Bungie initially deliberate earlier than the 2013 rewrite.
When Future launched again in 2014, many gamers have been confused by its story. Whereas the gunplay and visuals have been stable, the narrative felt hole and disjointed. In 2015, a report by Jason Schreier revealed that what we bought wasn’t the story Bungie initially got down to inform for Future.
The sport’s story was rebooted in mid-2013, simply over a yr earlier than launch, scrapping a extra character-driven marketing campaign written by Joseph Staten. And now, due to a brand new deep dive from a group member named Breshii, we have now our clearest look but at what that unique story may need seemed like.
New Particulars on Future 1’s Staten Reduce
The brand new information comes from a publish shared by Breshii on the r/DestinyTheGame subreddit. After digging by the information of a December 2013 Xbox 360 Tech-Alpha construct of Future, which was leaked in June 2023, Breshii pieced collectively an unlimited quantity of information referencing Future’s unique marketing campaign.
Though the story had already been rebooted by the point this construct was made, it nonetheless included traces of the unique missions, characters, locations, and cinematics from the so-called “Staten reduce.”
In line with the data shared, Future 1’s marketing campaign was initially structured like a e book collection, with Books and Chapters making up the story arc. Every chapter was a full mission, and the marketing campaign spanned a number of locations that have been both modified or reduce totally earlier than launch. The story would’ve taken gamers throughout 5 predominant locations:
- Earth (Cosmodrome)
- Venus (Ishtar Highlands)
- Mars (Olympus Dunes)
- Moon (Ocean of Storms)
- Dreadnaught (Rings of Saturn)
Sure, the identical Dreadnaught that was later launched as a part of The Taken King growth. There have been additionally three social areas: the Tower (Earth), the Reef (Queen’s Ketch), and the Lighthouse (Mercury).
Six predominant Factions have been a part of the unique content material plan – three story-related and three for PvP. The story factions included Osiris, Queen’s Wrath, and the Seven Seraphs. On the PvP facet, the factions have been those we ended up getting within the remaining sport: New Monarchy, Lifeless Orbit, and Future Struggle Cult.
There was additionally another faction referenced within the information – FOTC, brief for Forces of the Metropolis. They have been talked about within the mission construction because the group that sends you into the Cosmodrome on the very starting of the sport.
One of the vital attention-grabbing components of the leak is how totally different the primary solid was within the Staten model. These embrace:
- Ghost
- Crow
- Osiris
- Hecate
- Rasputin
- The Masks (later grew to become the Speaker)
- The Queen
The participant’s journey started with a extra comedic and lighthearted Ghost, as they have been despatched by the Final Metropolis to find a Hunter named Crow, a personality that might later evolve into Uldren Sov. Becoming a member of you alongside the best way was Osiris, his assistant Hecate (who later grew to become The Stranger), and Rasputin, who was initially an Exo being managed by a Warmind, fairly than simply an AI.
The marketing campaign kicked off on Earth, moved to Venus to search out “The Archive,” then to Mars to retrieve one thing known as the Seraph Key from the Mud Palace. With that key, the participant would open the Seraphim Vault hidden within the Cosmodrome, solely to search out Rasputin had been kidnapped by the Hive. After rescuing him on the Dreadnaught, E-book 1 concluded with a return to the Tower.
Right here’s how E-book 1’s chapters have been structured:
- Chapter 1: Cosmodrome (Earth) – Intro mission with Crow, combating Fallen.
- Chapter 2: Venus – Attain the Archive and ensure the existence of the “Seraphim.”
- Chapter 3: Mars – Retrieve the Seraph Key and meet the Queen.
- Chapter 4: Moon – Infiltrate the Hellmouth.
- Chapter 5: Venus (once more) – Defeat a Vex Gatekeeper to commerce for the Seraph Key.
- Chapter 6: Cosmodrome – Enter the Seraphim Vault and discover out Rasputin is lacking.
- Chapter 7: Dreadnaught – Rescue Rasputin from Hive captivity.
E-book 2 centered round accessing the Black Backyard, which wasn’t only a random mission; it was the finale of the second arc. The story had you come to Mars and Venus to discover a Vex Key, then ultimately journey by a portal within the Mars subway system to enter the Black Backyard. After a climactic boss battle, the Queen used her ship to fireplace on the Black Backyard, inflicting it to break down.
E-book 2’s key missions included:
- Chapter 1: Mars – Enter the “Buried Metropolis” subway station.
- Chapter 2: Venus – Unknown content material, ended with a Reef cinematic.
- Chapter 3: Mars – Infiltrate a Cabal warbase and retrieve a Vex Key.
- Chapter 4: Cosmodrome – Boss combat, little is thought about this mission.
- Chapter 5: Mars – Use the Vex Key to enter the Black Backyard and cease the Vex.
There have been additionally detailed references to Strikes, together with one on the Dreadnaught known as The Crux, the place gamers would’ve confronted a Hive boss named Asaru, the Navigator. Right here’ a listing of all of the Strikes discovered:
- Den of Devils (Earth)
- The Nexus (Venus)
- Mud Palace (Mars)
- Cerberus Vae III (Mars)
- The Summoning Pits (Moon)
- The Crux (Dreadnaught) – That includes a Hive boss named Asaru, the Navigator.
This has been mentioned earlier than, however one of many largest adjustments in Future’s unique story was the scrapped Hive “mega raid” that Bungie was engaged on earlier than shifting focus to what ultimately grew to become the Vault of Glass. This reduce raid was meant to happen aboard the Hive Dreadnaught, a location gamers wouldn’t formally go to till The Taken King launched a yr later.
The raid was structured throughout a number of key areas throughout the ship, together with The Basilica, Golgoroth’s Cellar, and the Oversoul Throne, areas that followers of King’s Fall and Crota’s Finish raids would possibly acknowledge. In contrast to Vault of Glass, which centered round Vex and time-travel themes, this raid was deeply tied to Hive lore, relics, and their rituals.
Datamined strings checklist an entire bubble path (aka room or encounter order):
- Management (Basilica)
- Chamber1 (Golgoroth’s Cellar)
- Management (Basilica)
- Lens (Oversoul Throne)
A full lineup of Main and Extremely enemies was additionally included within the information, a few of which by no means appeared within the remaining sport:
Majors:
- Gnath, the Diviner
- Cryth, the Siphon
- Noctu, the Lightslayer
- The Wall
- Voldor, the Willkeeper
- Divined Imaginative and prescient
- Dredge Exploder
- Relic Knight
- Fireplace Knight
Ultras:
- Storgor, the Shatterer
- The Veil
- The Oversoul
Past the marketing campaign and story content material, the Tech Alpha construct additionally gave a have a look at Future 1’s early PvP plans. Right here’s a listing of all of the PvP maps discovered within the information, a few of which ultimately made it into the ultimate sport:
- The Archive – Ishtar Collective, Venus
- The Anomaly – Mare Cognitum, Moon
- Firebase Delphi – Eon Chasma, Mars
- Twilight Hole – Metropolis Perimeter, Earth
- Exodus Blue – Cosmodrome, Earth
- Rusted Lands – Japanese Flood Zone, Earth
- Wolves’ Den – Queen’s Ketch, The Reef
- Shores of Time – Maat Mons, Venus
- The Struggling – Ocean of Storms, Moon
- Abomination – Ocean of Storms, Moon
- Bastion – Meridian Bay, Mars
- Wraith Mines – Margaritifer Terra, Mars
- First Mild – Mare Cognitum, Moon
- Timekeeper – Meridian Bay, Mars
- Blind Watch – Meridian Bay, Mars
- Sector 87 – South Wall, The Metropolis
- Asylum – Ishtar Sink, Venus
- Drowned Kingdom – Ishtar Sink, Venus
- The Burning Shrine – Fields of Glass, Mercury
- The Scar – Outdated Russia, Earth
- Widow’s Courtroom – European Lifeless Zone, Earth
After which there’s the European Lifeless Zone; sure, the EDZ. It was in growth for Future 1’s “Comet” DLC (which ultimately grew to become The Taken King), full with forests corrupted by a Traveler shard and a Strike set in an deserted airport. This model of the EDZ used the identical E-book/Chapter construction and hinted at a bigger ongoing story.
- EDZ Description: Amongst the stays of an Outdated Earth village lies an artifact of our historic previous, a casualty of the Twilight Hole that may carry Guardians face-to-face with the Darkness.
Unfinished locations like Outdated Chicago, Cabal Flagships, and even Europa have been additionally current within the information.
Breshii notes that whereas some small particulars are unclear as a consequence of restricted information, the key plot factors, mission layouts, and characters are correct and are available straight from datamined strings and in-game construction left behind within the Tech Alpha.
What do you consider this unique model of Future 1? Would you could have most popular this Staten-led model over the one we bought? Tell us your ideas within the feedback under!
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