Marathon developer Bungie is “watching and ingesting” your thoughts and feedback about its new mode, Cryo Archive.
Cryo Archive, which went live over the weekend, was players’ first taste of a raid-like experience in Marathon. It contains gameplay mechanics similar to those seen in Destiny raids, including puzzles, in-match events, and evolving sequences of objectives.
However, this is not just something that unlocks for all players; there are several requirements you need to meet in order to access Cryo Archive. Players need to be season level 25, have all factions unlocked (completing the initial liaison contracts), and queue in with a loadout value of $5k credits or higher. Oh, and it’s only live on weekends, too.
Now that the first weekend is done, game director Joe Ziegler said the team had noted a handful of pain points, including issues for players who can’t play on the weekend, players who want to jump in without a crew, the RNG of subroutines and whether or not they can be guaranteed drops from vaults.
“Any of these may take some time to figure out, so I can’t guarantee quick solutions here, but we’ll definitely discuss these topics as a team this week,” Ziegler wrote on Twitter/X. “Thanks for sticking with us as we evolve the game, and helping us fight the good fight against the cyborgs, robots, and aliens!”
Here’s Ziegler’s statement in full:
Congratulations to all the runners who’ve been battling it out in the floating death fridge we call Cryo Archive! We’ve been watching and ingesting all the thoughts and feedback that we’re hearing, aggregating it and taking it down in notes. After this weekend we’ll spend some time looking into feedback and thinking of the next iterations we want to make:
Main topics we’ve noted so far:
– Scheduling: options for players who can’t play on weekends
– Solos: is there any way to play this map without joining a crew?
– Subroutines: can subroutines be more guaranteed as a drop from vaults?
Any of these may take some time to figure out so I can’t guarantee quick solutions here but we’ll definitely discuss these topics as a team this week.
Thanks for sticking with us as we evolve the game, and helping us fight the good fight against the cyborgs, robots, and aliens!
“Destiny raid discourse again lol. For the record, I love the game, but as it is now, I doubt I’ll ever be able to seriously attempt Cryo Archive in a season without it being more accessible,” said one player. “Just don’t have the hours or energy I used to. I’m still fine with my purchase of Marathon even if I never play it, but I would like to.”
“5K loadout requirement isn’t too tough, honestly, the hardest thing for me [right now] is having [three] people to do it with,” added another.
For more on Bungie’s extraction shooter, check out our Marathon review-in-progress and use all of our Marathon guides to make sure you get the most out of your runs on Tau Ceti IV.
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world’s biggest gaming sites and publications. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
