Vault breaker mode launches in Marathon

PvE battles are increasingly taking root in the extraction shooter genre Marathon. The creators of the action game about raids of "printed" robots on an abandoned base in the Tau Ceti IV system are also keeping up with the trend and offer their take on matches where heroes fight against AI-controlled machines. But Bungie studio employees wouldn't be themselves if they didn't offer something original in addition to the usual rules. We'll tell you more about what gamers will face next week.

The mode is launched as an experiment — whether it stays in the game or not will be decided by regular users. It's part of update 1.1.5, which will be uploaded to the servers as early as July 21. And it focuses, as already mentioned, on PvE battles, meaning heroes controlled by gamers fight against bots here. Raids will have to be done light, and BOSEC forces aboard the "Marathon" will offer increased resistance to Runners, so whether you can break through to the objective depends on team cohesion and individual preparation. You'll have to play both solo and in a group of two or three fighters. The most important difference of the "Breaker" from other skirmishes is that there's an element of randomness here: you don't know in advance which exact vault and with what degree of security you'll need to crack to download data from it.

Information obtained this way can be spent on weapons and equipment from the Arsenal or invested in obtaining a special sponsor kit. The latter can be upgraded: initially you're given a basic kit with minimal efficiency, but then, as you invest stolen files, it can be significantly upgraded. At the same time, it won't be possible to extract any trophies from the Cryoarchive — that's why all Runners move light here, with a free inventory. The mode will remain relevant until August 4, when the developers will already decide whether to keep it in the game.