14 DAY TRIAL // The development team at 343 Industries and publisher Microsoft are announcing that the February free update for Halo 5: Guardians, called Hammer Storm, is now out and comes with a range of new content for the shooter as well as with a range of changes to the core mechanics and fixes.
Torque is the new map, designed from the ground up to appeal to those who love the Arena competitive mode, with a symmetrical look that is suited to both Capture the Flag and Assault, says the official site.
The Halo Combat Evolved pistol is now also available in Halo 5: Guardians, with gamers able to use the classic design in both Warzone and the Forge, and the gravity hammer that supplies the name of the update is also introduced, introducing a new way for Spartans to make powerful melee attacks and surprise their opponents.
A new range of Last Dawn weapon skins is part of the update as are two new rifles, Fury and Blissful Slumber, and fans can also pick up a wide range of other REQ cards to play during Warzone matches to make them more interesting.
Hammer Storm for Halo 5: Guardians also adds two new stances, called Old School and Hammer Time, but makes no other pricing changes for already available content, although the studio says that it is still exploring the effects of such a change for the future.
Grifball, Assault and Fiesta Slayer are the three new modes, and 343 Industries has promised that it plans to hold a range of community events that will be offered to keep gamers engaged.
Halo 5: Guardians will continue to get free monthly content
Hammer Storm is also offering a range of tweaks for the core game experience, focused on improving stability, better handling of network connections and more, with gamers also receiving a range of new options for the user interface.
A full list of the changes that the update makes to Halo 5: Guardians gamers need to click the button at the end of this article.
343 Industries and Microsoft have promised to offer free monthly updates for the Master Chief shooter for its first year on the market to make sure that the community remains engaged with the multiplayer side and generates new sales for the Xbox One exclusive .
The World Championship finals for Halo 5: Guardians will take part during March and will feature 16 of the best teams in the world, competing to get access to a slice of the 2.5 million dollars (2.2 million Euro) prize pool, which is powered in part by fans via REQ bundle purchases.
Microsoft has said that it is working with a range of toy companies and writers to deliver more content associated with the Halo universe during 2016 and beyond.
At the same time, there are no plans to deliver any single-player downloadable content for Halo 5: Guardians, which means that those looking for information on the future of Master Chief will have to wait for an official announcement about the next installment in the series, which will probably arrive in 2017.
