The rollout of Marathon has been a peculiar affair, as while many players would agree that Bungie's extraction shooter is rather good, some of the design decisions (as we attest in our review) and post-launch support choices have left much to be desired.
For one, the recently confirmed Ranked has led to some confusion in the community due to its bizarre structuring and setup. Bungie tried to rectify this by releasing a spreadsheet of all things... We covered this news yesterday, where we also touched on how Ranked, one of the key endgame experiences, will only be accessible over weekends. But that's fine because you will be able to play Cryo Archive any time you want, right?
Wrong. Cryo Archive has now been revealed and perhaps the biggest bit of news attached to this mode is that it will only be playable on weekends too. Yep, you will have to remain content with base Marathon all-week-long, before then hopping into the endgame activities, for some super sweaty action over the weekends...
As for what to expect from Cryo Archive, Bungie has laid out a brief summary:
Intensity: Cranked to the top. Cryo Archive is a pinnacle challenge and will take many runs to learn and master.
Playstyle: Think raid-style puzzle solving and layered mechanics wrapped around brutal extraction stakes.
Design: A labyrinthian layout where tight corridors give way to massive open spaces, pitting enemy crews against each other to unseal frozen Vaults.
As for how players can access Cryo Archive, you will need to be level 25, have all six factions unlocked and all of their liaison contracts completed, and have a minimum loadout valued at 5,000 credits. If you tick these boxes, you can claim a one-time Cryo Archive Sponsored Kit that has been specifically tuned to help you get through the mode and not lose any of your hard-earned loot on your first run.
From here, the aim of the mode is to work through a variety of vaults by completing challenging puzzles and overcoming differing security clearances, all to claim powerful goodies and unique gold weapons. There does also seem to be a deeper mystery to solve too, as Bungie drops in a very obscure message. Make of this what you will:
"A path toward assembling a DN~~~%^&*()8167f48f-e253-4e2f-be4c-2077b646d531+:"<>?~~ that leads deeper into the Marathon's secrets and towa~~~~%^&*()_+:"<>?~~~~~~~"
Once you're ready to leave, you will need to complete a new extraction task that is different to exiting games in base Marathon, and likewise, the contracts for Cryo Archive will be different and unique to the mode but will reward more powerful gear upon completion.
Bungie signs off by confirming that Cryo Archive is simply the "first end-game zone" for Marathon and that this weekend's event will run alongside Ranked until the daily reset on Tuesday.
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