Five Things We Want In Destiny's Next Sparrow Racing League

If you play Destiny, it’s likely that you at least took a shot at the inaugural Sparrow Racing League that ran throughout this month. Seemingly in response to player demand, Bungie crafted a dedicated racing game mode with two lengthy tracks to learn, and set us loose to learn the ropes of hitting high speed. We liked the addition, but with additional fleshing out, it could be a far more robust and full-featured game mode.

Like most gaming communities, those of us who play Destiny can vacillate wildly on how we feel about a new feature in a favorite game. The reality is often somewhere in between the extremes of hot and cold. Sparrow Racing League is no exception; the game mode has been a fun and surprising activity in recent weeks, but the sense of repetition, as well as gameplay inconsistencies, holds back the experience. 

It seems very likely that Bungie will bring back Sparrow Racing for a second season. When they do, here are five features, additions, and changes that would make it even better, as well as a bonus idea for how sparrow racing can expand beyond the league.

Increased Recognition of Player Investment

Let’s head this one off at the pass, because the other suggestions below are dependent on it. I’ll be the first to praise Bungie for introducing a new game feature like SRL, which feels so dramatically different from everything else in the game, and yet still ties back to the core character improvement experience. But it’s a mistake to say that SRL is simply a diversion and doesn’t need to be more fully developed in the future, at least if it’s still going to offer high-end rewards that might pull players away from other in-game activities. 

Players are strongly guided to in-game activities for several reasons. Certainly, the intrinsic fun of an activity plays a big part. But in a loot-oriented game, players (sometimes subconsciously) consider three big things – exclusivity of the rewards, aesthetics of the available items, and the opportunity for character progression. In the case of SRL, Bungie included items that were exclusive to the experience, with cool visual aesthetics, and with time and effort, the items on offer could offer progression and power on par with the best items currently in-game. In other words, the rewards were highly valued. As such, time investment with SRL should ideally provide a similar level of fun and diversity to activities like Trials of Osiris or King’s Fall, which it currently does not offer.

Bungie should keep the high-end rewards (and expand upon them) but in subsequent iterations of the event, the player base is right in demanding more complexity and variety. Bungie should examine how much time players were willing to pour into SRL, (based on my friends list, a lot), and continue to grow this new mode to recognize that investment from the community. 

Greater Track Variety

I’m not blind to the tremendous amount of work that must go into crafting a new play space, much less one that needs to be fun for a high-speed futuristic race. Nonetheless, no single feature would do more to help the SRL experience than having additional courses upon which players might find themselves, and making more significant changes to existing courses as each is played.

The most obvious choice for new race courses would be on Earth’s Cosmodrome and Earth’s Moon – both are playable spaces that already allow for Sparrow usage. I’d love to see both, but I’d also be thrilled to see more adventurous options, even without Bungie having to create entirely new environmental backdrops. The Vex-infested environs of Mercury are currently only viewable in Crucible matches, and it would be exciting to see races set on that mechanical world. The European Dead Zone has likewise made appearances in Crucible matches, but a race course would let us see more of that blasted area of the planet. Players have yet to use sparrows on the massive Dreadnaught – it’s easy to foresee a trap-laden race course in the bowels of the Hive ship. 

Whether it’s on new maps or the existing maps on Venus and Mars, Bungie could roughly double the variety of turns and jumps to learn by adding reverse versions of each course. Obviously, in some cases, this would involve dramatic reinvention of a course’s structure, like on Venus’ Infinite Descent. But adding additional jumps and ramps for a reverse direction course is far easier than adding entirely new courses. 

The track layout itself needn’t change to inject variety. Bungie could also explore greater variation in boost gate locations on the map, forcing players to think on their feet as they zoom between gates. This doubles as a way to ensure that frequent players don’t just memorize everything about the gate layout, and dominate the competition. 

Next Page: Smooth out the racing gameplay, and ideas for new racing game modes

More Consistent Racing Experience

In the first few days of SRL, I was amazed at the sophistication of the racing experience on hand. No one would claim that Destiny is a racing game, and yet SRL races are fast, tense, and exciting. The widening or shrinking gates (based on your current place in the event) do a good job of keeping the field of racers tight, and mastering turns, braking, and straightaways takes skill. 

But the racing still has a ways to go to be at its best. 

Bumping of other players is wildly inconsistent. Sometimes, direct ramming into a neighboring sparrow does nothing at all, while at other times, both colliding sparrows are sent spinning off the course. Sparrow collisions need to be more predictable in their results, as the current dynamic often results in times where you’re flung far off course with little recourse or ability to detect the likelihood that you’re in danger. Similarly, when on the attack, it’s hard to know if your slam will even connect. 

In a similar vein to opponent sparring, landing jumps on the race course needs improvement. While uncommon, some landings have the potential to send your sparrow into a wild spinning flip, even though you were well lined up for the landing. More commonly, many jumps can’t be landed without a jarring but inconsistent slowdown effect. Other racing games include more robust options for controlling your vehicle’s tilt to smooth out your landing and maximize speed. While one optional gear perk in SRL allows for vehicle tilt control in mid-air, it’s really a feature that should be universal for all racers, and have a greater effect on nailing a solid landing.

Completing tricks currently doesn't register all the time, so your guardian can end up completing a pointing emote rather than firing off the desired action. It happens on a regular basis, but shows up most frequently if you're in the air near another racer, and your bikes might touch. I'd love to see my tricks land more consistently every time I attempt them, especially since that's the main way to win back side boost.

With its focus on maintaining momentum and straight race lines between gates, I’d also like to see SRL races implement a system of slipstreaming, which rewards players who can tack into the wake behind racers in front of them, before catapulting ahead. Such a system would encourage cleaner play and passing, rather than the haphazard opponent bumping that currently dominates the race course.

Varied Rewards 

I love that sparrow racing can provide meaningful rewards with new aesthetic looks for your character, but the current reward system feels odd and repetitive, especially as many players aim to fill out their race cards, complete all the available bounties, and reach high reputation levels. 

Legendary helmets are great (especially those with a high light value that you get at higher rep levels), but that single item slot shows up constantly in end-of-match rewards. Class items seem to be at a slightly lower drop rate, but face a similar problem. Chest, legs, and arms should also be available for drops with a light value connected to them, thereby ensuring that players have multiple sets to collect if they play a lot of the racing mode. 

I was happy to see that SRL also provided a number of new shaders to equip, but a good bit of the SRL gear seems to purposefully not change color with the shader equipped, which seems like an odd choice. Why not let players make their racing uniform be the color they want it to be?

I love that the sparrows available in SRL added so much visual variety, but I’d be excited to see more variation in the functionality of the sparrow rewards. This time around, no matter how they looked, most of the reward sparrows were of the trick archetype. I’d like to see other varieties of sparrows more frequently show up in the rewards, so that players could master different approaches to each race, and specialize in other styles of play. 

SRL introduced one feature I really like in its rewards, and it’s something I hope to see more of not just in SRL, but throughout the game. One particular combination of equipment led to a cosmetic set bonus. By acquiring and equipping all four of the Momentum gear pieces (head, arms, chest, and legs), players were rewarded with flashing racing lights on their suit. Unfortunately, that Momentum set could only be acquired by spending real money at the Eververse. Moving forward, I’d love for SRL outfits (along with full sets from events like Iron Banner, Trials of Osiris, or raids) to provide fun cosmetic effects if equipped together. And keep the set bonus active, even if one of the four pieces is switched out to be an exotic. 

New Modes

Like many things in game development, this one is far easier said than done. However, Bungie has established the foundation of a great gameplay experience with SRL, and that foundation is enough to support more gameplay modes. 

Different variations on the racing experience increase replayability, and encourage player involvement. Let players opt in to which race mode they’d like to play. If certain players only want the baseline gate-hitting mode, let them enjoy that, while other players can explore new twists on the formula.

How about a mode where completing tricks is the only way to gain boost? Or a single player time trial mode in which the completion of tricks provides a time boost? Completing different tricks gets you more time than doing the same trick over and over.

Of how about a Mayhem-like super mode, which allow players to charge a variation of their super to fling down in the midst of a race. Defender bubbles could become slow bubbles. Warlock nova bombs blast an opponent out of the way in your path. Hunter arc blades let you slash an opponent’s vehicle at close range. Without a doubt, this style of play would be more chaotic, but it could inject a lot of laughs that might echo popular racers like Mario Kart. 

I’d also be intrigued by a racing mode that demands increased engagement with the PvE enemies on the course. Increase the number of AI aliens on the track, and provide speed bonuses for ramming through enemies, rather than gates. Needless to say, an increased enemy presence would also lead to greater damage to your sparrow, so repair kits could be scattered along the tracks, but only for the first racer who finds them.

BONUS: Sparrow Racing Outside Of The League

The Sparrow Racing League event has introduced several features to the game, and as stated above, there are plenty of ways to more fully expand on the already fun conceit. 

But I’d be remiss to not mention the opportunity Bungie now has to bring more depth to Sparrow play in the rest of the game, by using elements first introduced in SRL.

For long transition areas between zones, add speed gates to decrease the downtime between playspaces. 

Add new patrols on planets that allow players to complete Sparrow Speed Trials along a designated course around a zone.

In a subsequent raid or strike, add a section in which players must escape an area on their sparrows at high speed.

These ideas and more could make the fun of sparrow riding into more of a gameplay activity, rather than simply a way to get from one place to another.

Sparrow racing has tremendous potential to grow and become another of many features that set Destiny apart in the shooter playspace. Whether it is the above suggestions or entirely different ideas, I hope Bungie recognizes the time and energy players are willing to invest in the activity, and that the developer continues to broaden the scope of the event to suit.