We are very excited to announce the details of Killzone Shadow Fall’s first multiplayer expansion: The Insurgent Pack.

The expansion pack is full of exciting new features for multiplayer including a brand new Character Class, 3 new abilities, 3 new weapons and 2 new game modes.

The Helghast government has been secretly funding The Black Hand, the operatives of which have been infiltrating Vekta City. The VSA has also started a programme that sends saboteurs disguised as refugees to the Helghast side of the wall. These insurgents are playable for the first time in the brand new Insurgent Expansion, which includes:

The Insurgent – a brand new class with two unique abilities: Hack and Steal. The insurgent starts with just a pistol and his wits about him. As vulnerable as he is, he can slowly build up his arsenal in the game by using [Steal] to steal weapons and abilities from downed enemies, which enables him to use those weapons throughout the game, even if he falls in combat. By Using [Hack] he can change enemy ground automata into friendlies, turning the tide of battle quite swiftly.

– a brand new class with two unique abilities: Hack and Steal. 3 New Abilities – The Scout, Support and Assault also get additional abilities E-Pulse emitter – a deployable beacon that sends out an e-pulse making it difficult for enemy units to install automata in that area Tactical Echo emitter – a deployable beacon that send out a Tactical Echo from a fixed location making the area hard to infiltrate by hidden enemy units Guard Drone – The Assault gets a stationary Buddy drone; deploy it in one place and it guards the location from a ground level.

– The Scout, Support and Assault also get additional abilities 3 New Weapons – Welcome old friends and new with this pack of weapons for the Scout, Assault and Support: M82 – the classic assault rifle of choice from Killzone 2 and 3 is back! L512 SMG Pistol – this amazing machine pistol makes your tactical secondary weapon of choice that much more punch Sta14 Rifle – The sniper rifle of many battles past adds to your long distance sniping arsenal.

– Welcome old friends and new with this pack of weapons for the Scout, Assault and Support: New Single Player Elite Mode – The nightmarish difficulty of Elite Mode will test the hardest of warriors 3 lives, Hard difficulty, and the Shadowfall campaign to test your mettle.

– The nightmarish difficulty of Elite Mode will test the hardest of warriors New Online Collectibles Mode – Find the online collectibles crates in game for rewards A limited set of collectible crates will spawn only for Insurgent Expansion holders, one per match for a limited time. Collect one and earn extra points in game, collect more and stand to win rewards in game.

– Find the online collectibles crates in game for rewards Insurgent Personalisation Pack – 1 OWL Skin 3 Spotlight Moves 1 Voice Over pack containing HGH and VSA battle chatter voices

– New Challenges and Trophies All this content comes with its own set of Challenges and Trophies to unlock. Trophy details will be released soon.

The Insurgent Pack will be available on the Store in April for $9.99. Of course, you get it for free with the Season Pass, which gives you all the essential Killzone Shadow Fall multiplayer DLC at the best value.

But don’t worry; we’ve got something to help you pass the time until The Insurgent Pack comes out. When we revealed MP at gamescom, we promised you that all of the DLC multiplayer maps for Killzone Shadow Fall would be free – and the first two are now on PlayStation Store for you to download! The first of these free map packs includes two very distinct maps inspired by key locations from the single-player campaign, and are also completely compatible with the game’s Custom Warzone Feature. Check them out in these brand new trailers.

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The Cruiser map is set in a decommissioned VSA cruiser full of narrow, labyrinthine passages and interconnected compartments. Perfect for close-to-mid-range combat, the key to owning this map is identifying and dominating its many choke points.

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Then we have The Hangar which takes place in the hangar bay of one of Helghan’s vast and lofty mining spires. This wide-open map combines large exposed spaces, perfect for sniping, as well as alternative routes to seek out and secure for total domination.

All of this sounds exciting but still on the fence? Or maybe you have some friends you’ve been trying to convince to give Shadow Fall a go? There’s a FREE multiplayer trial going on RIGHT NOW (ending March 11th) that’s the perfect way to check the game out, master the new free maps, and whet your appetite for the upcoming expansion. Best of all: PS Plus will NOT be required to participate in this free MP week!

To sweeten the offer even more, Killzone Shadow Fall will be available at $39.99 through 3/11 at Amazon!

We hope you enjoy the first of these free maps – keep an eye out on PlayStation.Blog for more coming your way this year.