Previous to launch, Bungie was very cryptic about how we’d entry Cryo Archive, Marathon’s upcoming, difficult fourth map that will likely be a profitable however high-stakes zone. We all know that it is set aboard the precise Marathon ship, which floats deserted above the planet of Tau Ceti IV, and that it holds some massive secrets and techniques as to what occurred to the colony on board – and the UESC’s actual recreation plan. We additionally know it’s going to present a troublesome survival expertise the place you may want extraordinarily good gear. Nevertheless, Cryo Archive was merely given a tough ‘mid March’ window in Bungie’s Marathon roadmap, and it is as much as the group to unlock it. Nicely, we have simply obtained one massive step nearer, as the primary stage of an ARG has been accomplished, and it additionally supplies some extra glimpses of this intimidating map.
Over the weekend, gamers observed a number of inexperienced terminals that they may work together with on Marathon’s Perimeter map. It additionally shortly grew to become clear that these terminals got here in pairs, and by visiting each throughout the area of the identical match, you’ll set off dialog from a mysterious voice. That is broadly imagined to be that of Durandal, the AI that managed the Marathon ship in Bungie’s authentic trilogy of FPS video games. Matching up the proper terminals additionally causes some temporary surveillance footage of Cryo Archive to play on the screens, plus a sequence of numbers that, when decoded utilizing the ‘A = 1’ methodology reveals the phrase “Go, pricey violent one, to what as soon as was dwelling, however now lies haunted.” That is a transparent reference to the Marathon ship, should you ask me.
Nevertheless, this seems to be greater than an easter egg. As sleuths akin to YouTuber ‘MrRofflWaffles’ have discovered, there is a connection between the terminals and an internet site for ‘Cryoarchive Techniques,’ which displayed a number of surveillance feeds with damaged indicators. Matching up the terminals within the recreation truly granted progress in direction of loading bars on a few of these surveillance feeds, so the group was attempting to hyperlink as lots of them up as attainable as a way to restore the surveillance footage.
Lo and behold, they’ve solely gone and carried out it. For those who go to the ARG’s web site now, you may see three of the feeds are actually ‘secure’ and viewable, correlating to the three pairs of terminals on Perimeter. These present glimpses of Cryo Archive. It additionally seems the map may have 9 separate factors of curiosity – the 9 screens on the web site are numbered and a few have now been given names akin to Cargo, Biostock, and Guidance.
On the time of writing, there are nonetheless six unstable feeds, two of that are unnamed, and the group’s at present scrambling to determine find out how to make them secure just like the preliminary three. No loading bars are displaying but, so it may very well be that Bungie hasn’t enabled the following methodology in-game but, or just {that a} totally different sort of activity is required.
The prospect of boarding the Marathon ship was already a mysterious and engaging one – this ARG is just serving to enhance the joy to get on board. Whereas we have seen brief snippets of Cryo Archive in pre-launch developer movies from Bungie, this web site exhibits off a number of new sections and angles, seemingly with a number of extra to return. A part of me needs the group’s finest minds to get this one cranked as quickly as attainable so we will lastly set foot in Cryo Archive – one other a part of me hopes they take their time, as a result of my gear is nowhere close to ok but…
