Developer 343 Industries dropped another Warzone Firefight image tease for Halo 5: Guardians . The much-anticipated co-op mode for the Xbox One shooter is still a couple of months away, but that’s no reason why the developer can’t slowly build the hype for its release. At the same time, the next content drop for the game has received a slight delay.
Community Manager Andy “Bravo” Dudynsky shared the new Warzone Firefight image at top in a Halo Waypoint post along with the following note.
“You may recall that prior to launch, we let you know that if there was enough of a demand for a PvE Warzone game mode, that the dev team here would begin some serious investigation into the development of the mode,” Dudynsky wrote. “Unsurprisingly, there was some serious demand, so we started building Warzone Firefight. The mode will let you team up with fellow Spartans to fight against common foes – all while showing off your custom armor and colors (as a reminder, there are now 2,000 more Armor color combinations as of the Hammer Storm update). They’re not allowing me to share more just yet, but I was able to sneak a new exclusive screenshot out of the playtest lab.”
At first glance, the image just shows four Spartans running amidst a small mass of dead Prometheans. However, those Spartans are also sporting some new armor and weapon skins plus a new armor set.
Depending on how things shape up, Warzone Firefight may slip from June to July. Dudynsky also announced the next Halo 5 content update, “Ghosts of Meridian,” was pushed from a late March release to early April.
Whether 343 Industries will release two content updates in April remains to be seen. After “Ghosts of Meridian,” “Memories of Reach” was originally scheduled for April, “Hog Wild” in May, and Warzone Firefight in June. Those may now slip a month each.
Aside from Warzone Firefight, “Memories of Reach” is potentially the most interesting at the moment because of the mention of the pivotal planet in the Halo universe, plus it shows Jorge-052 in the promotional image. Presumably, Halo players will see more Spartan armor based on the characters from Reach , but perhaps more is planned?
Dudynsky previously briefly gave a short explanation of what to expect from Warzone Firefight, as covered by Inquisitr .
“Among the vast array of new modes coming to Halo over the next several months is one that our fans have repeatedly asked us to deliver – Firefight. The new mode, called ‘Warzone Firefight’, will bring PvE to Halo 5: Guardians multiplayer and let players battle together against common foes (and truly show off their custom Spartans to boot!) That’s all we’ll say for now, but trust us, we can’t wait to tell you more about Warzone Firefight in the coming months,” the Community Manager wrote.
For those who aren’t familiar, Firefight is Halo’s spin on co-op Horde mode made popular by Gears of War and other games. The wave-based survival mode was first introduced in Halo 3: ODST and also featured in Halo: Reach . Fans were disappointed when it was not included in Halo 4 and Halo 5 . However, 343 Industries appears to be rectifying that issue and adding it to the latest release in the franchise for free.
How 343 Industries changes up Firefight for Halo 5 remains to be seen. The fact that five Spartans were shown in the trailer instead of the traditional four suggests at least an increase in the number of players. Presumably, Warzone features such as being able to acquire REQs from terminals will also be used. Whether the traditional mechanics of the team sharing a pool of seven lives plus five waves making up a round and three rounds making up a set is retained will be something to keep an eye out on. The developers at the studio undoubtedly have some kind of new spin they want to throw in.
[Image via Halo Waypoint]