Season of the Witch’s first Iron Banner week is live in Destiny 2. But among the season’s numerous updates and refreshes to the mode, the one that is turning the most heads in the community is neither loot-related nor an intended inclusion on Bungie’s part whatsoever.
Multiplex, the new Crucible map set inside of the Vex Network, has one standout quality in Iron Banner compared to the other maps in the playlist: For some reason, you can summon your Sparrow at any point in the match. While the vehicles are not particularly optimized for use in combat, entire lobbies are devolving into cartoonish displays of mass vehicular manslaughter as any player brave enough to remain on two feet becomes a target for the Sparrows speeding down each lane.
It took players a while to notice the bug thanks to the fact the button is still hidden to summon your Sparrow when taking out your Ghost. Despite the button itself not being visible, the actual toggle to disable Sparrows has not been flipped on the backend. This is a fact that more and more players are beginning to discover as they see their teammates driving around in their matches on Multiplex. With each new player who is aware of it, the more chaotic this week of Iron Banner becomes.
There are limitations to the power of this glitch, though. Sparrows are fragile to gunfire and it’s challenging to consistently splatter the opponents you ram into. The reality is the bug is more so just for fun, and it’s added an engaging twist to a multiplayer map that received very little praise upon its release when season 22 launched last month.
As with Disjunction before it, which was released last May, Multiplex is a victim of a map design philosophy that game director Joe Blackburn himself recently criticized. With its need to provide adequate gameplay for all PvP modes, Multiplex is a far larger map than most in the Destiny 2 catalog. That massive scale has made the unexpected inclusion of Sparrows all the more appealing. As Destiny 2 content creator Gigz pointed out, “this map really does need Sparrows with how big it is.”
Despite the occasional chance that players can fall victim to a rampaging driver, the bug doesn’t seem impactful enough to merit any immediate and emergency removal from the game. But it’s best to dive into Iron Banner right now to get in on the action with the knowledge that Bungie will more than likely patch out the bug in the near future.
