HALO 5: Guardians on Xbox One takes the franchise in a different direction, the question is if it's towards a place fans want to go.
Change appears to be one of the themes Halo 5: Guardians wants to explore.
The Master Chief has gone rogue, Agent Locke is now taking the mantle as Earth’s defender but the campaign itself feels something of a strange beast.
The structure of this adventure is different, there are now eight playable characters across two separate teams exploring different areas.
Blue Team is headed by the Master Chief, while Spartan Locke leads Team Osiris, who are new to the game of saving the galaxy.
Halo 5 is very much a chase across worlds between the two teams but in all honesty, that formula fails to ignite into anything substantial.
 |
| The Master Chief's latest tale fails to achieve its full goal |
The greatest hunt in history, it is not, and while the gameplay feels revitalised and engaging, the focus of the story sometimes feels more like a bridge between two worlds.
The subject of the Master Chief being a potential War criminal had all the substance to make the story of Halo 5 one of the best and yet it doesn’t push any boundaries when it comes to the franchise’s lore.
The campaign would have to be described as something of a short but sweet experience, and depending on your age I’m not sure how challenging you will find it.
The pace is well kept and the action is top notch, plus the way in which the story is split means you can engage different events one after another without the Master Chief needing to be flung across the galaxy for it to make sense.
However, there are times when things slow down and you’re forced to talk to random people in combat-free environments.
 |
| Warzone is a brilliant new way to experience Halo |
These events add little to the game, they just feel too short to have any impact and really need to be part of something bigger to have any worth at all.
There are also data discs that can be uncovered to reveal more on the game’s backstory but I hardly ever hung around to listen to the full report.
That’s because I was too impatient to get back to what Halo 5 does best, allowing you to smash through enemy lines.
Gameplay wise, Halo 5: Guardians has hit another high-note in the series, bringing in new changes that work and help to make the overall experience function better.
There were only a few moments scattered throughout the campaign where I felt unable to progress without having to find some exploit or safe point and that is good news.
 |
| Halo 5's campaign excels with friends |
Some of the game’s new abilities help you change your tactics, boosting left or right to avoid gunfire, hovering mid-air while aiming to give you the height advantage to pick off that pesky sniper, or ending it with a ground pound to take out those grunts below.
Developers 343 Industries have also tried to move away from the strict linear nature of Halo by providing several routes through a mission.
You can now smash your way through a wall to find a stash of weapons, or head upward onto a shelf to make your way through an area different from your last play-through.
Heading through the campaign with friends is how Halo 5 was designed, even though the AI does a pretty good job most of the time, they can also be pretty useless.
Boss fights are not their strong points and with the game’s revive system needing a teammate to head over and reboot your armour, they can frustratingly slow.
I’ve seen them hit a wall and jump aimlessly around me, leaving the Chief to flop over without the backup needed to continue the mission.
The replayability of the missions also feel more rewarding with a friend who can help lay down covering fire so that not every mission to help a fallen Spartan ends in a long line of fatalities.
where Halo 5 really excels, however, is with its multiplayer offering.
Halo 5 multiplayer Arena now favours loadouts and the scattering of powerful weapons across the map for the classic playlists like Slayer and SWAT, something that fans will appreciate.
More importantly, Halo 5’s multiplayer does well to feel different in a area of gaming that is filled to the brim with alternatives.
And it’s nice that 343 have decided to separate the past for fans to enjoy while also offering a taste of the future.
Warzone is an intriguing step forward for the franchise, giving fans the chance to explore new maps, battle bosses together and capture zones as a team.
Objectives will be thrown out and AI enemies in control of vehicles will fly onto the map and mean players can choose between several different things to do.
A team needs a 1000 points to win and this can be achieved by killing opponents, as well as alien bosses and keeping hold of zones.
It means that gamers aren’t just stuck getting pummeled by their betters but can actually go out and do something else that’s useful to help the team win.
Earning requisition points is also a big factor in the new mode, they act like a form of currency which can be used to buy item packs that unlock weapons, vehicles and new looks for your Spartan.
While fighting in Warzone, a player will be able to build level energy, giving them the chance to use cards which can then be used to unleash new arsenals onto the map.
It’s vital that this hasn’t overwhelmed the rest of Halo and is essentially separate from Arena, allowing fans to enjoy the past without having to deal with an overreaching future.
If anything, Halo 5 proves that the Xbox exclusive title has a big future, multiplayer is back on form alongside core gameplay.
What can’t be overlooked, however, is the fact that the campaign’s story falls flat.
But even there, fans can take solace in the fact that it’s setting up for something much bigger.
Post a Comment Blogger Facebook Disqus