14 DAY TRIAL // 343 Industries is still not willing to deliver an official launch date for the coming Hammer Storm content update for Halo 5: Guardians, but the studio is ready to introduce more details about the lore associated with the new map that gamers will be able to battle on and two of the unique armors that will be introduced.
On the official site, the developers explain that the Torgue map is designed to help Spartans prepare an assault on Auriga Station, which was targeted by Cortana and her Created to get access to analysis and manufacturing tech that would allow them to expand their domain.
In the Halo 5: Guardians fiction, the UNSC is using the new environment to train its operatives as they prepare to infiltrate the station, steal or disable the manufacturing systems that combine Sangheili forges and human tech, and then wipe the Artificial Intelligence constructs that work with Cortana.
343 Industries adds, "Commissioned by Lethbridge Industrial in 2555, Auriga Station served as one of the company’s preeminent research and development facilities. Its staff of human and AI researchers were kept busy decrypting Covenant and Forerunner records, searching for naval depots and resource caches."
The coming Hammer Storm content update will also add a new Decimator armor suit, which was created by the Materials Group to re-engineer some of the tweaks of Mjolnir Mark VII prototypes, including the energy shield.
Halo 5: Guardians fans can also pick up the Marauder, a general purpose powered assault armor with replaceable modules and reprogrammable sensor arrays, and both the featured additions also bring unique helmets that players will be able to earn.
Hammer Storm is also expanding the REQ system
Hammer Storm will add more cards for gamers to use in their Warzone engagements and 343 Industries might also tweak the system to make certain categories of items more attractive by cutting their price or by making them more effective in action.
Real world money spent on bundles for REQ cards, either for Warzone or Arena, will be used to increase the prize pool of the coming finals of the Halo 5: Guardians World Championship, which will take place during March.
343 Industries has not said whether it plans to also introduce other big gameplay changes in Hammer Storm or if it plans to focus on the delivery of new content to keep gamers engaged.
Monthly update for the shooter are expected to arrive each month, all of them free for the remainder of 2016, but according to the studio none of them will be linked to the single player, which means fans need to wait for a new title to be announced in order to find out more about the future of Master Chief.
Major fans of the franchise can pass the time playing the multiplayer of Halo 5: Guardians or exploring some of the other products associated with the series, like the novels and comic books or the range of new toys that were just announced at ToyFair NY 2016, including figurines, weapon replicas and more.