Marathon PvE Vault Breaker mode coming in July
by Jim Hargreaves · tsaFollowing the recent launch of Marathon Season 2, Bungie has announced that its extraction shooter will be getting a new PvE mode in July.
Dubbed “Vault Breaker”, the upcoming experimental mode can be played in solo, duos, or as a crew and will be available when Marathon’s mid-season update lands on July 21st. Vault Breaker will work differently compared to the game’s main extraction mode, transporting players to the Cryo Archive as they tackle a gauntlet of PvE challenges, growing in power with each success.
Unlike regular PvP, you won’t be able to extract with any gear or loot you gather, Vault Breaker having its own separate ecosystem. However, any Vault Data you collect during runs can be spent between matches to improve your Sponsored Kit, giving you a leg up as you as any squad mates return to the Cryo Archive.
Since Marathon launched back in March, the game’s community has been asking whether it would receive some form of PvE content or a more casual way for players to experience the game. Depending on how well it’s executed and received by Marathon’s fanbase, Vault Breaker could be the first step towards an eventual pivot towards additional PvE content. At the same time, Bungie will want to avoid alienating its dedicated core of competitive players.
In addition to Vault Breaker, the studio announced that Marathon Season 3 will be coming later this year, confirming a September 22 launch date that will introduce another Runner Shell as well as major overhauls to the early game experience.
In our Marathon review, we scored the game a solid 8/10:
“Oozing with style and buoyed by Bungie’s consistently slick gunplay, Marathon has already carved out a small fiefdom in the fickle world of extraction shooters. Unforgiving but rarely unfair, that risk/reward gameplay loop will prove endlessly enjoyable to some, though casual FPS fans who want to see guaranteed progression in exchange for the time they put in will find themselves well out of their comfort zone. Marathon’s staying power hinges entirely on post-launch support and the allure of new content. If the maze-like, puzzle-filled Cryo Archive is anything to go by, we could see Bungie rolling out a creative gauntlet of new gameplay experiences.”
Source: Bungie