The highly rated PlayStation VR tactical shooter Firewall Zero Hour will get a new, free update called Operation: Nightfall on 21st May. There’s a shed load of content and changes in the update, so lets dive in.
Operation: Nightfall has brand new map, Hangar, which is set in a large military transport aircraft held in a hangar in Malaysia. There is also new Contractor, Ruby, who brings the Skill of “Thief” which lets her steal Crypto, the in-game currency, from wasted enemies. The map will be available to everyone at launch, the Thief skill is a timed-exclusive to Op-Pass holders, but after season concludes the skill will become available to all players at Level 12 and with 12,000 Crypto in the bank. A mid season update will see a second new map and another Contractor added to the game.
There are three new weapons, the Richardson SG12, Sarge, and Raptor, which are earned by the completion of their corresponding weekly missions.
The UI has been overhauled and other improvements include squad optimisations, the ability to customise Contractors in lobby, map and laptop location refresh in Bunker and Compound, and updates to enemy indicators and headshot SFX. The AI has also been improved and your digital opponents will now operate more like humans by breaching doors and using equipment intuitively.
The challenges system has also had a make over. “Each week your Contract Handler will assign a new Mission to complete, yielding new rewards,” explains Shabs, Game Director from First Contact Entertainment, “You will notice new optional daily Tasks presented to you as well, which reward you with XP and Crypto.”
“Every week there will be one Mission is available for free for all players. With an Op-Pass, players can unlock additional Premium and Bonus missions and earn Seasonal cosmetic rewards, which unlock immediately upon completion of these Missions,” he adds.
They have also changed how content can be accessed by the Op-Pass and hack Keys.
- Nightfall Op-Pass: Obtain the Access for Firewall Zero Hour’s Operation: Nightfall. The Op-Pass allows access to all Operation: Nightfall Missions, Tasks, and Rewards.
- Hack Key x5 Pack: Each Hack Key will instantly complete one Operational Mission. You will not gain any XP for Missions completed this way, but you will be instantly awarded full Crypto, in addition to the Mission Reward (cosmetics only). Hack Keys are a great option for players who don’t have as much time to play as they would like.
- Nightfall Op-Pass + 25 Hack Keys Bundle: Includes access to Operation: Nightfall, in addition to 25 hack keys to be used on any Operational Mission. You will not gain any XP for Missions Completed this way, but you will instantly be awarded full Crypto, in addition to the Mission Reward (cosmetics only). Another great option for players who don’t have as much time to play as they would like.
Finally, all the Year One cosmetic DLC that was previously available separately has now been bundled in to a series of packs.
- Year One Skin Bundle: Customise your Contractors and Weapons with this collection of 6 original Skins.
- Year One Super Skin Bundle: Customise your Contractors and Weapons with this collection of 10 original Skins.
- Year One Mega Bundle: Go all out with customisations for your Contractors and Weapons! This Mega Bundle includes 10 original Skins plus all Trinkets and Patches released to date.
- Year One Trinket Bundle: Customise your Weapons with this collection of all Trinkets released to date.
- Year One Patch Bundle: Personalise your Contractors with this collection of all Patches released to date.
- Year One Contractor Bundle: Get the 3 newest Contractors in one bundle. This 3 Contractor Bundle contains Nash, Jag, and Node.
- Year One Face Paint Bundle: Show them your game face with this collection of 8 original Face Paints.
Source: PS Blog
MrYd
A new map (with another later) is good, as is the new menu. Customising contractors in the lobby is something everyone has wanted for ages.
But this Op-pass thing is a bit cheeky. Or it is if it’s going to completely replace the current challenge system with the new one. Currently, there’s a whole load of challenges available, which are a decent source of XP (unless you’ve hit level 50 already). And now they’ve replaced that with a single weekly challenge, unless you pay extra?
I’ve got no problems with content being added, or for it being paid content, as long as it’s not giving anyone who doesn’t pay an advantage. But removing stuff unless you pay to get a new version of it back??
And if the new contractor’s skill seemed useful (extra crypto isn’t really useful), I’d be a bit annoyed about that being another paid option (at least for however long it is). The previous new contractors at least let everyone buy the skills straight away.
At least they’re very sensibly giving everyone the new maps. It’s just stuff that costs money should only be purely cosmetic.
On the other hand, I’ve had far too much fun with the game anyway, so I’ll probably throw more money at it.