Cryoarchive Update Released for Marathon

Bungie's extraction shooter continues to receive mixed reviews. Some gamers dislike the game's cluttered interface, others point out technical flaws, but the vast majority are thrilled with the visual style and gunplay. The developers of Marathon are working on adding content to the shooter — they've already released patch 1.0.5, which introduced the fourth map and made several changes, including balance adjustments for Runners.

The Cryoarchive map is now available for raids, where you can obtain implants with rare properties — these aren't found in other locations. Access opens at level 25, and among the possible loot are the Stealth Recovery perk, which speeds up medkit use in smoke; "Freeloader," granting a bonus for knife kills; and "Panic Reflex," which triggers a stim shot when using meds at low health. The same applies to weapon modifications — they're exclusive to this new area. "Punishment" increases gun damage, "Testimony" adds to effective range, and "Hurricane" makes the character extremely accurate while jumping or in free fall.

There are plenty of other adjustments in the update. Specifically, the evacuation beacon can now be placed even with a heavy injury, and camera shake in melee combat has been reduced for better control. The Assassin class has had their smoke grenade appearance fixed, the Thief can no longer pickpocket evacuating characters using a drone, and the RUC (or "feral" for clarity — a free Runner with basic equipment) is now available to users from level one. The developers have also fixed a large number of bugs that previously caused player dissatisfaction.