Destiny 2’s Bungie 30th Anniversary Pack review: A great party

Destiny 2’s Bungie 30th Anniversary Pack is Destiny at its most joyful.

2021 was a quieter year Destiny 2. For the first year since the series launched in 2014, Bungie hasn’t published a sequel or major expansion for its space-faring looter shooter. Bungie’s 30th Anniversary Pack was the sole non-season launch. While it’s smaller and cheaper than the traditional Bungie 30th Anniversary Pack, Destiny 2 expansion, Bungie’s passion for its own games shines through, turning the package into a delightful celebration to close out Destiny’s quietest year.

The Grasp of Avarice dungeon is the star of the update (along with its loot), and the only playable paid content in the pack — the rest of the cash goes primarily to special cosmetics and dungeon exclusive weapons. It’s a pirate-themed lark through the original Destiny’s infamous loot cave. And after running through it multiple times, I can confidently say it’s the best dungeon Bungie has created.

In keeping with the pirate theme, you will find a fourth of the dungeon filled with booby traps leading to the first boss. You will be killed if you open one of the doors. I’ll never forget watching my teammate get launched into outer space after throwing a random switch on a walkway. It makes failure fun, and ensures I’ll take a backseat every time I bring a new player through, just to see what traps they spring.

Image: Bungie

The dungeon is pure joy — to play for the first time, to run through with a friend, or to adventure in over and over again looking for that perfect loot roll. Destiny often takes itself quite seriously, and it’s earned that, to an extent, as Bungie has really ramped up the storytelling and worldbuilding over the past two years. The Grasp of Avarice features explosions, spike traps, barrels rolling down a hall, and a gigantic barrel. It’s situational fun that you can’t help but laugh at.

But the Bungie 30th Anniversary Pack is more than a single piece of content, and the studio’s enthusiasm for its previous work emanates through more than just the Grasp of Avarice. There’s a free event in the pack, a handful of Exotics (one free and one paid), and a load of new cosmetic items. Many of those items and weapons take inspiration from Bungie’s past games, with fan-favorites from the original DestinyYou can buy armor and guns from MarathonYou can also get a large sword made from Myth. It is surprising, though, that Halo-themed items were included.

Play! Destiny 2 with a lot of Halo fans — most Destiny players I know are well-versed in Bungie’s former IP — and when someone shouted “I got the Battle Rifle” for the first time, it was an almost emotional experience. Of course, it’s not the Real Battle Rifle — that would be legally dubious, I’m sure. It is, however. It is made by Bungie, so what’s the difference? It’s perfect. It’s a piece of nostalgia I can interact with daily for years to come.

Bungie old weapons are handcrafted with exclusive perks. The update contains many Legendaries that players rarely get, although they only receive one Legendary each season. Forerunner Exotic sidearm based clear on the Halo, Combat Evolved Magnum, is some of the most fun I’ve had in Destiny in years. This not only plays to my passion for Combat evolved’s pistol, it’s also a great, new Destiny weapon that’s useful and fun to use.

Image: Bungie

It feels like Bungie’s developers let themselves run free with this release. They mined their previous work for its greatest hits, and selectively brought the studio’s most treasured items into its modern game. And because of this celebration, I’ll be able to have a little Halo with my Destiny for years to come — assuming Bungie doesn’t bring back weapon sunsetting, which it canceled earlier this year. Myth Claymore is my sword if I need to use the Halo Battle Rifle. Marathon To take down Savathun in February next year, I have the shotgun. But it doesn’t feel like a rehash. Yes, it trades on nostalgia, but it’s not a simple cash grab. Bungie calls the package a celebration.

Bungie could’ve made this pack for the hardcore players that miss some of their favorite, old Destiny Rare exotics never made it to the United States. Destiny 2. “It’s got Gjallarhorn, it’s got a new dungeon, hey look, it’s a Halo sword.” But after spending a week with the new content, it feels more like the developers made the 30th Anniversary Pack for themselves. It’s a small distinction, but one that makes a big difference. It is infectious and permeates all of Bungie’s games. It makes me care about all of Bungie’s previous work as much as the studio does, even if I only started playing its games withHalo, Combat Evolved.

The next time I can sucker a friend or co-worker into playing Destiny with me, the first thing I’ll tell them to buy is the Bungie 30th Anniversary Pack, and I’ll run them through the Grasp of Avarice dungeon. Not because it’ll earn them Gjallarhorn — the series’ most famous weapon — but because it’s the perfect showcase of how special Destiny can be when Bungie’s own passion shines through.

Destiny 2’s Bungie 30th Anniversary Pack The pack was available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 (Google Stadia), Windows PC, Xbox One and Xbox Series X, Dec. 7. Bungie provided a Steam code to review the pack. Vox Media is an affiliate partner. Although these partnerships do not impact editorial content, Vox Media could earn commissions on products sold via affiliate links. Find out more. additional information about Polygon’s ethics policy here.