Pendola Pass, which brings dynamic weather, new lift draws, and Trials Season 6, will be available for free on all platforms starting October 8.
Embark Studios unveiled Frozen is ARC Raiders’ biggest update yetits multiplayer extraction: the main novelty is Passo Pendola, a new gaming area set on the snowy edge of the Rust Belt, coming soon Free with purchase on PC (Steam ed Epic Games Store), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and NVIDIA GeForce NOW.
The announcement comes a year after the game’s release, which has also sold more than 16 million copies worldwide.
Passo Pendola, ARC Raiders’ most ambitious map ever
It’s not a particularly prosperous time for Embark Studios games. The frequent updates the team planned to push the game through proved insufficient to keep the public’s attention high. Frozen is designed to respond to player complaints: the free expansion took longer than usual to develop, and as a result delivers bigger, more tangible innovations than it has been offered intermittently in recent months. Starting with this fascinating new map, we can’t wait to try it out.
Pendora Pass is located on the northern edge of the Rust Belt, in a remote and hostile mountainous area, home to the toughest environmental challenges ever seen in the game: high verticality, many interior spaces, and complex terrain to cross. What is the largest map created for ARC Raiders so far?. Among these attractions, a huge corpse of the emperor stands out, which has fallen to the ground and can be visited by those brave enough to enter.
The region also brought with it dynamic weather conditions known as “flash freezes”: when frost struck, often without warning, raiders had no choice but to take shelter in avalanche shelters, structures that offered safe shelter and the possibility of loot, but ultimately also made their position known to other groups looking for the same opportunity. To quickly exit the area, the ballistic cable car debuts, a new extraction method that can be called up and used at short notice, capable of bringing up to three attackers to safety at a time.
Redirect, new secondary condition for maps
Passo Pendola also introduced Redirect, a small condition map, allowing you to transfer harvester payloads to your location, taking them away from the collector. The risk is proportional to the reward: activating the launcher to intercept the cargo will bring the ARC and any rival raiders to the scene, so you must clear and control the area before claiming your reward.
The enemy reaches the front line Three new ARC threatsIn addition to the frigates, this was a flying carrier of enormous dimensions that represented a test bed in itself even for the most experienced raiders. Bullies focus on speed and aggression in hit-and-run attackswhile the Lurker is also faster, but more methodical, forcing you to be on your toes at all times. Whoever boards the frigate will eventually encounter the Hydra, an ARC capable of attacking multiple targets simultaneously and regaining its defenses during combat.
As the outpost progresses, personal spaces located outside of Speranza change, and raiders will be able to expand these spaces over time, working on building workbenches, creating items, and laying out the environment. Those looking to push their gear beyond its current limits must head to the Research Station, which will unlock weapon amplification: A system that allows you to upgrade weapons beyond current limitationsa new dedicated skin has also been launched.
New items include musical instruments, a camera gadget for taking first-person photos, and a grappling hook designed for vertical movement across Paso Pendora’s rugged terrain. Added to this are weapon templates, designed to change the aesthetics of a weapon while keeping its stats intact: once unlocked and used, they will be permanently available for every compatible weapon. The structure of missions has also changed, now being more complex and offering bonus experience for those who complete optional objectives as well, while the skill tree has been updated with new skills and tweaks to existing ones, leaving more room for establishing a personal playstyle.
Trials Season 6 and New Frozen Reward Pass
“Icy Trails” also kicks off the sixth season of the tryouts, with the Raiders facing new challenges. The Frozen Rewards Pass includes 60 tiers of in-game rewards and two paths: a Free Pass and a Premium Pass available to all owners of the base game. The Premium Pass can be unlocked in the in-game store for 1,150 Raider Tokens or through the Frozen Collection Bundle available in the store, and includes 50 additional rewards, including exclusive Raider cosmetics and an additional 1,150 Raider Tokens. After completing the free and premium paths, you can earn a total of 1,350 Raider Tokens.
To complete the picture, the Ice Trail Collection has also arrived, a bundle that includes exclusive cosmetic content: Renzo Outfit, Weapon Template Dragon Breath, Bob Hairstyle, and 2,400 Raider Tokens, in addition to direct unlocking of the Premium Pass. Frozen 2.0 will debut on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S on October 8and cloud streaming via NVIDIA GeForce NOW, at no extra cost for players who already own the base game.
our expectations
Frozen promises to be a very interesting expansion, as it systematically fleshes out the game’s formula, introduces veritable new content, and through the grappling hook attempts to give players new ways to solve problems and new ways to harm themselves. The new enemies seem fun to fight, but we’re also curious to face the classics with the new weapons on offer. The best thing about the frozen trails is Don’t want to betray the original visionbut on the contrary, its ideas remain true to the most unique elements of the project, thus enriching it significantly. Soon we will also have the opportunity to try out this expansion in preview so we can discuss it with you in more detail, but we are pretty sure that Frozen Road will not live up to our expectations. If anything, the problem will be ensuring that future expansions like this are developed at a winning pace, and for all the emotion ARC Raiders brings us, we sincerely hope they succeed.
