Halo 5 Update Just Released Just Got Very Festive For Halloween

Halo 5
(Image credit: 343 Industries)

343 Industries has yet to let an opportunity slip by them when it comes to squeezing in new content for Halo 5. The latest update for the game features some festive new community levels for the zombie-mode, all arriving just in time for Halloween.

Gamespot picked up the news from the weekly 343 Industries blog post on the Halo Waypoint website. The update lets the Halo 5 community know that 17 approved maps made in the Forge are available for those who want to play the Infection game mode, which features a zombie-themed twist, in the sci-fi first-person shooter.

The 17 different maps are all very interesting looking. One of the maps stands out for sure, with its abandoned amusement park look. You wouldn't even guess that it was made in Forge given that it looks like an authentic multiplayer map made by professionals. It was made by Halo 5 gamer Weedcough and the map is called "Freakshow".

The colorful fun house and Ferris wheel are offset with the grimy grays and stone-colored hues splashed over the rubble littered throughout the fair grounds. The "Freakshow" map is very well put together.

The map "Hellfire" is a completely different take on the Halloween theme, being more of an industrial sci-fi map that's dark, brooding and very hot. Molten lava pours through orange glowing chambers as fire and flames sprout out from charred pipes that fill the air with a mist of soot. It's a cool looking map and one that definitely stands out. It reminds me of something from Halo 2.

The "Drillsite" is a map that channels horror-movie style desolation and isolation. It takes place in the middle of the water and is an intimate map set against a raging thunderstorm. It's a perfect start for a cold, dark and lonely night. The theme of the map reminds me a little of John Carpenter's The Thing.

There are some maps they don't even seem like they would be possible to make in Halo 5's Forge, such as "Malignant" by Nitroo and the "Nerve Center" by Randy 355. These two maps really take the cake when it comes to character and giving the atmosphere some identity. "Malignant" looks like something out of The Last of Us, featuring wild-growing foliage and a flipped over car set within a dilapidated structure. "Nerve Center" is basically cyberpunk personified. It reminds me of "Turf" from Halo 2 but with a decidedly Japanese tone to it. It's a great looking map, no doubt.

They explain in the blog post that they spent all of late September and practically the entirety of October going through the maps, certifying them, checking them for any errors and then signing off on them for play-testing and approval.

The 17 new maps have rolled out for Halo 5 users, but only eight of those maps will be included in the official playlist for Infection.

This is basically another sign that 343 will continue to support the game well after its release last year. Fans should find themselves enjoying some of the new maps that are being rotated into the multiplayer playlists.

Will Usher

Staff Writer at CinemaBlend.