‘Halo 5’ Warzone Firefight Drops Next Wednesday And Is Free To Play For A Week
The biggest free expansion to Halo 5 on the Xbox One is coming next week. Microsoft and 343 Industries announced a release date Thursday for the Warzone Firefight content release along with details of what fans should expect and a chance to try the shooter for free.
Halo 5 will receive the Warzone Firefight update on Wednesday, June 29, and the game will be included as part of Xbox LIVE’s “Free Play Days” program. This will allow Xbox LIVE Gold subscribers to download and play Halo 5 for free from June 29 through July 5. The game will also be on sale for $30 during the same period.
The Warzone Firefight update, of course, comes with the eponymous mode that expands on the original Firefight concept introduced in Halo 3: ODST and Halo: Reach. It now supports co-op matches with up to eight players along with matchmaking.
The mode will be available to play on the existing Warzone maps, but the update will also add two brand new maps – “Attack on Sanctum” and “Prospect.” The former is set on the Covenant homeworld of Sahnghelios, while the latter is on another alien world. Both will be available in all Warzone modes – standard, Assault, and Firefight.
Halo 5’s Arena multiplayer mode is receiving a new map as well called “Molten,” which features streams of lava. Even the mapmaking Forge tool will receive a new map called “Tidal,” set on a tropical ocean-themed canvas.
Meanwhile, the Halo 5 campaign will add a Score Attack option for players to compete with one another. Players score points and medals in both co-op and solo play to compare with their friends, and the style in which Spartans take down Covenant and Prometheans does matter toward the score total.
Naturally, new REQ items are included with the update. The Cinder, Cyclops, and Fenrir Wolffriend armor sets are included along with the new UNSC Wasp VTOL ship. There are also new variants of Covenant vehicles that have a golden hue to them plus new variants of Covenant weapons.
For those unfamiliar, there are five rounds in each Warzone Firefight match that last five minutes each. Each round has an objective that must be completed before the end of the round. Failing to complete the objective will end the match, while completing the objective will bring on the next round.
Each round ends with a 30-second intermission before the start of the next round. This gives players a chance to regroup, restock on ammo, and call in any REQs that may be ready to use in the upcoming round.
The enemies and objectives will get progressively more difficult as players progress through each round. Generally speaking, the third round is when players will need to start calling in power weapons and vehicles to help complete objectives.
The fifth and final round features two boss encounters. The first encounter is similar to the bosses from earlier rounds. The second encounter features a battle against a Mythic level boss with a huge health pool. He is usually accompanied by minions and Legendary-tier bosses. It will take the entire fireteam plus plenty of power weapons and vehicles to bring it down before the timer runs out.
As previously covered, the new Grunt Goblin is an all-new boss for players to encounter in all Warzone modes, including Firefight. This Covenant Grunt in a mech suit is equipped with a double-barrel Heavy Needler that can take out Spartans in a single-shot. Players will want to target the cockpit and the mech suit’s backpack to disable and destroy the boss.
What do you think of the coming Halo 5 Warzone Firefight update and Microsoft making the game available to try for free for a limited time? Sound off in the comments below.
[Image via Halo/Twitter]
