The Culling adds new map, modes and weapons in extensive Big House update

When Chris got to grips with Xaviant's Early Access-dwelling first-person shooter-cum-slasher The Culling last year, he described it as "sloppy but fun"—noting that while the action was often tense and relentless, there were also stretches of quiet as players were killed off and battles thinned out. The game's latest update—named The Big House—looks to flesh out some of these issues by virtue of a new map, more ways to play, and "tons of other changes".

The Cul County Correctional facility marks The Culling's new zone—a prison yard arena filled with multi-levelled plains, vantage points and hidey-holes; while new weapons take the form of Yaris, Pitchforks, Pikes, Steel Punji Sticks, Steel Caltrops, and Survival Axes. New events include the Golden Crowbar, Shake & Bake, Drop Your Bridges, and a Lightning Round - which includes solo and team-play. Full details on the minutiae of all of that can be found this way.

And here's some of it motion:

The Big House update brings with it an extensive list of changes, adjustments and bug fixes to The Culling and, although still living in Early Access, marks its shift from alpha phase to beta. A player XP system is also now in place, so too is player levelling.

"Although we’ve addressed many known issues, this build is not an exit from Early Access. Instead, it represents our transition from Alpha to Beta. This is an exciting milestone that ushers in a new era of The Culling," says the developer in an update post. "At the same time, it doesn’t mean we’re quite out of the woods, or the tropical island—see what we did there?—just yet. There’s still plenty of bug fixing, optimizing, and polishing to do."

As a result of the update, The Culling's servers will be down today, Wednesday 18, from 8am ET/1pm GMT for up to four hours.