Halo 5: Guardians
Publisher: Microsoft Developer: 343 Industries Platform: Xbox One Release: 2015 Genre: First-Person Shooter Rating: 8.8 / 10.0: Fantastic
Above is Locke battling a Promethean Knight
Halo 5: Guardians is a tough game to review. As a first-person shooter, it's a must-have for all Xbox One owners, but as a Halo title, it's a disappointment. Having become a huge Halo fan shortly after this game's reveal, I was incredibly excited as new announcements were made. What the Halo fanbase got was a title that, while still very solid, did not live up to the hype generated by intriguing trailers, a TV series starring centered around a new main character, and a web series that described the events leading up the game.
The campaign begins several years after the events of Halo 4, and much has happened since the Didcact was defeated by the Master Chief. After a brief prologue taking place in Dr. Halsey's lab. While this opening cut-scene contains a subtle nod to the Halo novels, things don't get interesting until you're introduced to Fireteam Osiris. This squad of Spartan IV soldiers comprising of leader Jameson Locke, Halo newcomers Olympia Vale and Holly Tanaka, and fan-favorite former ODST Edward Buck, has been sent to rescue Dr. Halsey from the clutches of Jul M'Dama, the leader of the Covenant Remnant. This first mission kicks of with a bang, starting with an action-packed cutscene that seems to be heavily inspired by the Avengers films. Right off the bat, you'll notice a few significant additions to the gameplay. First off is Smart Scope, a feature for all weapons that is the equivalent of the aim-down sights mechanic that most modern shooters use. Scoping while midair allows you to slowly hover periodically, allowing you to line up shots with precision weapons more easily. (You still have a reticle when unscoped, so Halo veterans will fare just fine if they choose to ignore this feature). You can now clamber onto ledges and slide by crouching during a sprint as well, which brings up more comparisons between Halo 5 and your garden variety modern shooter. Guardians also ditches Armor Abilities in favor of a handful of Spartan abilities that you have access to all at once. These are boost, which allows you to travel faster or move to side in any direction to avoid projectiles; Spartan Charge, which can be used to slam into enemies send them flying; and Spartan Slam, which enables you to bring death from above without risking fall damage. I initially thought that these agility-centric abilities didn't fit the Halo franchise, and while I had a hard time getting used to these changes, I soon found myself boosting across the battlefield, scaling small cliffs, and sending enemies flying with well-placed charges and ground pounds. The default controls have also been tweaked to resemble (insert title of currently popular FPS here), so I recommend that longtime fans change the button layout to the Halo 4 setting, which is as close as you'll get to traditional Halo.
After completing the first mission, you're placed in control of Blue Team, which consists of the ever iconic Master Chief and his lesser-known teammates Frederick, Linda, and Kelly. Chances are you've never heard of these Spartans, but as someone who's read the majority of the official Halo novels, I was super excited to see them in the game. Halo 5's campaign includes a lot of fan service, but those who have only played the games will learn next to nothing about the Chief's teammates. They met each other when they were abducted into the SPARTAN II program at the age of six and they're practically family, but only a few scenes in the entire game even imply such a bond between these soldiers. I'm glad Blue Team is in the game, but it's a shame that they only serve to give your co-op partners unique characters to control. Speaking of co-op, this is where Halo 5 begins to get ugly. It was revealed awhile before the game's release that Guardians would not feature splitscreen play for the campaign, matchmaking, or even custom games. If you wanna play with a pal, it has to be over Xbox Live or via system link. I had a blast playing through the game with my friend online, but I had another friend without a copy of the game that was disappointed that he wouldn't be able to play the latest Halo game with me. The lack of splitscreen would be nothing more than a nitpick in other games, but depriving a beloved franchise of a feature that has allowed my friends and I and many others others unforgettable gaming experiences is inexcusable.
Now, to continue my summary of the story: Midway through the mission, Blue Team is ambushed by a pair of hunters who destroy the bridge upon which the Master Chief is standing, causing him to plummet to the bottom of a large pit. While unconscious, he sees Cortana, who tells him that she in fact alive, and tells him where to find her, draining all the shock value from the previously heartbreaking ending of Halo 4 (millions of tears were shed in vain!). This is where the plot, which is usually a strong point of each Halo title, starts to get a bit dull and confusing. When the Chief awakes, he orders that Blue Team abandon their mission and search for Cortana, and, being his close friends, they are fully willing to oblige. What follows in the campaign is a decently lengthy series of levels with some excellent setpiece moments that's dragged down by a overabundance of missions where you play as Fireteam Osiris and a few extremely brief ones where you simply walk up to a character and trigger a cutscene.
There are still plenty of positives: While the story certainly isn't the greatest the franchise has ever seen, things do get more interesting towards the end of the game, and while I won't spoil anything, there is a scene involving Cortana that's almost as heart-wrenching as Halo 4's ending. Additionally, despite all these modern features, Guardians also goes decent lengths to appeal to longtime fans; the Covenant once again speak English, and there as many well-hidden humorous lines as there were in the original Halo trilogy, and as with the earlier games, the 13 gameplay altering skulls aren't available to use right off the bat and must be tracked down first.
When it comes to presentation, Halo 5 is great. While industrial environments are more common than I would like, the graphics are still well-detailed, and the missions taking place on the Elite homeworld of Sanghelios are visually stunning. It's also worth noting that this is the first Halo game to run at a silky-smooth 60 FPS on a console, and while I certainly appreciate this change, I'd gladly play at 30 FPS if split-screen was a possibility. The game's orchestrated soundtrack is fantastic as well thanks to Halo 4's underappreciated secondary composer Kazuma Jinnouchi, whose work with that game was much closer to traditional Halo than Neil Davidge's arrangements. Snippets of classic Halo tunes are also included to further please longtime fans.
Despite the lack of splitscreen, the online matchmaking is the most polished aspect of this game. The mutiplayer playlists are divided into two categories; Arena and Warzone. Arena is a mix of all the gamemodes you know and love (Slayer, Infection, Grifball, etc.), while the Warzone modes are new to the series. In Warzone, two teams of 12 Spartans face each other in a battle simulation in which they must gain points by defeating a variety of Covenant and Promethean bosses and capturing territories. If one team holds all three capture points, the shields protecting the enemy base will be disabled, giving them a chance to destroy the core within and win instantly.
Warzone heavily implements the new Requisition system, which is the equivalent of the Supply Drops in Call of Duty: Black Ops III and the Loot Boxes in Overwatch, two other currently popular shooters. By logging in daily, leveling up, winning matches, you receive Requistition packs (REQ Packs for short). These packs award you with random gear. Reward packs usually contain little more then single-use weapon, a vehicle, and boost cards, but you can buy more valuable packs using the REQ points you acquire from finishing matches (Or you could use real money, though I strongly discourage this). Inexpensive Bronze Packs are practically useless, but Silver and Gold Packs have a chance of containing permanent unlocks including Spartan armor, emblems, armor mods, and upgraded loadout weapons, the latter two of which can be used only in Warzone. These REQs can be be used in both traditional Warzone and Warzone Firefight, a refreshing spin on the fan-favorite wave-based survival mode. Rather then being tasked to simply kill enemies, your team of 8 Spartans (a step up from one to four players) is given five minutes to complete an objective in five increasingly difficult waves. (Warzone Firefight, sadly, cannot be played in a custom game) Although the Requistition system isn't very balanced, Warzone is a lot of fun.
Another new gamemode is Breakout. This is a fast-paced battle simulation where death is permanent, and teams of Spartans must work together to eliminate the enemy soldiers or win instantly by securing the flag loctaed at the heart of each arena; think of it as if Counter-Strike had a Capture the Flag mode.
An update to the game unexpectedly added an all new Custom Game Browser. This great new features allows you to browse and download user created content easier than you could in Halo: Reach and also enables you to host and join customized matches. Some fun player-made modes I played included Jenga City, in which half the players must survive as the other half ram into the fragile towers upon which their enemies stand with ships; Death run, which will be familiar to anyone who's played Garry's Mod; and Demolition Derby, which places players into an arena filled with Warthogs and has players push each other into fiery pits.
While the online gameplay is very entertaining, your Spartan customization options are very mediocre. While the last few main series games have allowed you to customize every armor piece of your Spartan from chest pieces to knee pads, Halo 5 limits you to just helmet and body armor. Additionally, you must unlock premade emblems from REQ packs rather then being able to make your own. Being forced to level up to unlock emblem foregrounds and backgrounds in Halo 4 was aggravating enough, but this is ridiculous.
My only other complaint is that this game's Forge mode is much less accessible then before. This is made up for by the vast selection of tools available to Forge users that have alllowed them to create the incredibly impressive aforementioned custom modes.
I had a lot of fun playing Halo 5: Guardians, but it doesn't even come close to fulfilling the hype generated by the marketing. Despite the flaws, this game is a great addition to the library of any Xbox One owner, whether they've played Halo for years or never played it at all.
After completing the first mission, you're placed in control of Blue Team, which consists of the ever iconic Master Chief and his lesser-known teammates Frederick, Linda, and Kelly. Chances are you've never heard of these Spartans, but as someone who's read the majority of the official Halo novels, I was super excited to see them in the game. Halo 5's campaign includes a lot of fan service, but those who have only played the games will learn next to nothing about the Chief's teammates. They met each other when they were abducted into the SPARTAN II program at the age of six and they're practically family, but only a few scenes in the entire game even imply such a bond between these soldiers. I'm glad Blue Team is in the game, but it's a shame that they only serve to give your co-op partners unique characters to control. Speaking of co-op, this is where Halo 5 begins to get ugly. It was revealed awhile before the game's release that Guardians would not feature splitscreen play for the campaign, matchmaking, or even custom games. If you wanna play with a pal, it has to be over Xbox Live or via system link. I had a blast playing through the game with my friend online, but I had another friend without a copy of the game that was disappointed that he wouldn't be able to play the latest Halo game with me. The lack of splitscreen would be nothing more than a nitpick in other games, but depriving a beloved franchise of a feature that has allowed my friends and I and many others others unforgettable gaming experiences is inexcusable.
Now, to continue my summary of the story: Midway through the mission, Blue Team is ambushed by a pair of hunters who destroy the bridge upon which the Master Chief is standing, causing him to plummet to the bottom of a large pit. While unconscious, he sees Cortana, who tells him that she in fact alive, and tells him where to find her, draining all the shock value from the previously heartbreaking ending of Halo 4 (millions of tears were shed in vain!). This is where the plot, which is usually a strong point of each Halo title, starts to get a bit dull and confusing. When the Chief awakes, he orders that Blue Team abandon their mission and search for Cortana, and, being his close friends, they are fully willing to oblige. What follows in the campaign is a decently lengthy series of levels with some excellent setpiece moments that's dragged down by a overabundance of missions where you play as Fireteam Osiris and a few extremely brief ones where you simply walk up to a character and trigger a cutscene.
There are still plenty of positives: While the story certainly isn't the greatest the franchise has ever seen, things do get more interesting towards the end of the game, and while I won't spoil anything, there is a scene involving Cortana that's almost as heart-wrenching as Halo 4's ending. Additionally, despite all these modern features, Guardians also goes decent lengths to appeal to longtime fans; the Covenant once again speak English, and there as many well-hidden humorous lines as there were in the original Halo trilogy, and as with the earlier games, the 13 gameplay altering skulls aren't available to use right off the bat and must be tracked down first.
When it comes to presentation, Halo 5 is great. While industrial environments are more common than I would like, the graphics are still well-detailed, and the missions taking place on the Elite homeworld of Sanghelios are visually stunning. It's also worth noting that this is the first Halo game to run at a silky-smooth 60 FPS on a console, and while I certainly appreciate this change, I'd gladly play at 30 FPS if split-screen was a possibility. The game's orchestrated soundtrack is fantastic as well thanks to Halo 4's underappreciated secondary composer Kazuma Jinnouchi, whose work with that game was much closer to traditional Halo than Neil Davidge's arrangements. Snippets of classic Halo tunes are also included to further please longtime fans.
Despite the lack of splitscreen, the online matchmaking is the most polished aspect of this game. The mutiplayer playlists are divided into two categories; Arena and Warzone. Arena is a mix of all the gamemodes you know and love (Slayer, Infection, Grifball, etc.), while the Warzone modes are new to the series. In Warzone, two teams of 12 Spartans face each other in a battle simulation in which they must gain points by defeating a variety of Covenant and Promethean bosses and capturing territories. If one team holds all three capture points, the shields protecting the enemy base will be disabled, giving them a chance to destroy the core within and win instantly.
Warzone heavily implements the new Requisition system, which is the equivalent of the Supply Drops in Call of Duty: Black Ops III and the Loot Boxes in Overwatch, two other currently popular shooters. By logging in daily, leveling up, winning matches, you receive Requistition packs (REQ Packs for short). These packs award you with random gear. Reward packs usually contain little more then single-use weapon, a vehicle, and boost cards, but you can buy more valuable packs using the REQ points you acquire from finishing matches (Or you could use real money, though I strongly discourage this). Inexpensive Bronze Packs are practically useless, but Silver and Gold Packs have a chance of containing permanent unlocks including Spartan armor, emblems, armor mods, and upgraded loadout weapons, the latter two of which can be used only in Warzone. These REQs can be be used in both traditional Warzone and Warzone Firefight, a refreshing spin on the fan-favorite wave-based survival mode. Rather then being tasked to simply kill enemies, your team of 8 Spartans (a step up from one to four players) is given five minutes to complete an objective in five increasingly difficult waves. (Warzone Firefight, sadly, cannot be played in a custom game) Although the Requistition system isn't very balanced, Warzone is a lot of fun.
Another new gamemode is Breakout. This is a fast-paced battle simulation where death is permanent, and teams of Spartans must work together to eliminate the enemy soldiers or win instantly by securing the flag loctaed at the heart of each arena; think of it as if Counter-Strike had a Capture the Flag mode.
An update to the game unexpectedly added an all new Custom Game Browser. This great new features allows you to browse and download user created content easier than you could in Halo: Reach and also enables you to host and join customized matches. Some fun player-made modes I played included Jenga City, in which half the players must survive as the other half ram into the fragile towers upon which their enemies stand with ships; Death run, which will be familiar to anyone who's played Garry's Mod; and Demolition Derby, which places players into an arena filled with Warthogs and has players push each other into fiery pits.
While the online gameplay is very entertaining, your Spartan customization options are very mediocre. While the last few main series games have allowed you to customize every armor piece of your Spartan from chest pieces to knee pads, Halo 5 limits you to just helmet and body armor. Additionally, you must unlock premade emblems from REQ packs rather then being able to make your own. Being forced to level up to unlock emblem foregrounds and backgrounds in Halo 4 was aggravating enough, but this is ridiculous.
My only other complaint is that this game's Forge mode is much less accessible then before. This is made up for by the vast selection of tools available to Forge users that have alllowed them to create the incredibly impressive aforementioned custom modes.
I had a lot of fun playing Halo 5: Guardians, but it doesn't even come close to fulfilling the hype generated by the marketing. Despite the flaws, this game is a great addition to the library of any Xbox One owner, whether they've played Halo for years or never played it at all.
Ups
New Spartan abilities are fun to use
Great visuals and soundtrack
Nostalgic callbacks to the original Halo games
Entertaining new Warzone gamemodes
Custom game browser
Downs
Mediocre plot with underdeveloped characters
No splitscreen mutiplayer
Customization is limited
ESRB: T Content: Blood, Mild Language, and Violence Price: $59.99 (Retail / Download)
