14 DAY TRIAL // The development team at 343 Industries and publisher Microsoft are announcing that, for the final week of the Halo 5: Guardians beta period, they are adding a new game mode called Strongholds for the Xbox One shooter and they are also giving players access to an entirely new Forge map, called Pegasus, which they have voted for.
The official announcement explains that in the new mode, "to win, teams must control the majority of bases. Teams earn one point per second for every controlled base more than the enemy team. You’ll be able to play Strongholds on Regret and Empire."
The Slayer mode in Halo 5: Guardians is also updated and gamers will again have access to the Prophet’s Bane and can play on the map Truth.
343 Industries adds, "We appreciate your feedback thus far through the beta. Please continue to send your feedback and report issues to our Halo 5: Guardians MP Support Section."
Presumably, the company has no plans to introduce any sort of new content before the beta period for Halo 5: Guardians is closed down.
The company has already announced that it will not be running a second testing period for the social shooter, which means that fans of the experience will have to wait patiently while changes are implemented ahead of the autumn Xbox One launch date.
Halo 5: Guardians aims to fundamentally change the series
The new game is getting such a major testing period because 343 Industries and Microsoft are planning to introduce quite a lot of changes to the multiplayer, including sprinting and Smart Scope shooting.
There are a lot of threads on the official forums attacking all the new mechanics but there seems to also be a sizeable group of players who are ready to support them.
The full Xbox One launch of Halo 5: Guardians will feature more maps and modes and details will probably be offered all through the summer.
The game will also have a single-player component, which will feature both fan-favorite Master Chief and newcomer Agent Locke, introduced in the Nightfall series.
