Tech

'Halo 5: Guardians' Latest News & Update: Monitor's Bounty DLC Out Now [VIDEO]; Snipers To Return, Warzone Revamp & More

Vida M.
First Posted: Dec 10, 2016 03:00 AM EST

343 Industries finally launched the much-awaited "Halo 5: Guardians" update called Monitor's Bounty. Now on its ninth free expansion, details of the downloadable content (DLC) and a trailer of what to expect in the update can be seen here.

Monitor's Bounty is the biggest free update 343 industries ever developed for "Halo." Some of the biggest updates included are the changes in ranked and social playlists, new warzone and warzone firefight maps, and the inclusion of new game modes.

Gamespot reported that there are new modes catered to the players' preference. There is a custom games browser, that locates and joins games in progress while the observer mode provides access to numerous options to watch the games. The ranked and social playlists are now featured separately to give the players more options. Arena lead designer Quinn DelHoyo explains in an interview with Halo Waypoint, "If they want to 'lean forward,' we've got the Ranked experience for them. Maybe you're in there for a couple hours one night and then you want to cool down, then you can jump over to Social for more of a relaxed experience."

Fans who have been requesting to bring back snipers in the game will be glad to know that they are back. The sharpshooters will be included in the ranked playlist. There are new SWAT modes added in the update as well, giving players more skill options in the game. The two new additions titled H1 SWAT and H2 SWAT includes a CE pistol and a Halo 2 BR as starter weapons.

The Dec. 8 update includes a ton of changes to warzone and warzone firefight. 343 Industries did their best to incorporate all the community feedback they've received while working on Monitor's Bounty. According to multiplayer level designer Patrick Wren, modifying the level of difficulty of all artificial intelligence (AI) controlled enemies from legendary to heroic is the biggest change in Warzone. AI enemies wi AI enemies can have less damage, slower projectiles, and lower accuracy compared to its predecessors. They also added additional base capture logic to prevent spartans from spawning while being captured.

"Halo 5: Guardians" is now available for Xbox One at $39.99.

See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone

More on SCIENCEwr