In almost every way, Halo 5: Guardians

Loading

Watch the first 18 minutes of Halo 5 above.

Developer 343 Industries has engineered the strongest combat Halo has ever seen, with tons of excellent weapons, varied maps, an expansive and intense new multiplayer mode joining a host of returning greats, and some game-changing new mobility. At the same time, Guardians repeats Halo 4’s mistake of telling a story that can’t stand on its own without Halo’s expanded universe. This hurts, but doesn’t ruin, its otherwise impressive cooperative campaign.

I Need a Hero

Make no mistake: though Spartan Jameson Locke and Master Chief share the cover of Halo 5, Locke is the main character. You play as him, leading Fireteam Osiris, in 80% of the campaign’s 15 missions, but he doesn’t have the charisma needed to fill that role. He falls into the same trap that ensnares many similar military-type main characters: Locke doesn’t really want anything for himself; he just wants to complete the mission that someone else gave him.

“ Locke doesn’t really want anything for himself; he just wants to complete the mission...

The lack of a hero with a cause to root for costs Halo 5’s bigger story dearly, which wastes some good potential. Though the plot is overly complicated and unclear at times, it’s interesting that the new threat is less black-and-white in its motives than the Covenant, the Flood, or the Forerunners.

One great thing about this new story is that, after spending so much one-on-one time with Cortana in previous games, it’s refreshing to hear new voices share their stories about Halo’s universe. Learning backstories, such as how Osiris’ 22-year-old Spartan Vale came to learn the Elites’ language, is a neat, believable touch that’s well conveyed just through background chatter. Unfortunately, Master Chief’s Blue Team doesn’t get the same treatment.

Loading

Watch our profile on Master Chief above.

If I didn’t know them from Halo’s expanded universe, I’d have only a weak idea about who Fred, Kelly, and Linda are, where they came from, or why I should care about them. What should be a meaningful reunion for Chief – a chance to again fight alongside the few who truly understand him – feels like business as usual, except with three extra guns behind his back due to lack of context. 343 has released an animated Fall of Reach series alongside Halo 5 that explains the origins of Blue Team, but it’s only included with pricey special editions.

Divide and Conquer

It’s surprising the characters’ backstories weren’t worked into audio logs or something, considering how dense the seven-hour campaign is with other important stuff and secrets I missed at first glance. After a battle, I’d wander around Halo 5’s diverse locations looking for the thoroughly hidden skulls and realize I hadn’t even seen whole other rooms, hidden pathways, weapons, vehicles, and more. Halo 5’s levels often aren’t physically as big as areas in, say, Halo 3, but they’re so dense with things to discover that I didn’t miss the breathing room.

“ There are many more options available than “point four guns at the thing and shoot.”

This kind of design makes Halo 5’s campaign ripe for replaying, and well suited for the convenient drop-in, four-player (online-only) co-op it’s clearly made for. You and your friends can spread out, grab a variety of weapons, and use these levels to their fullest – maybe have one person sniping priority targets from the high ground, another sneaking off to activate auto-turrets, and the other two people engaging the rest of the enemies in mid-range fights. There are many more options available than “point four guns at the thing and shoot.”

When playing solo, the new squad commands for your AI-controlled team (mapped to the D-pad) are about as simple as possible: stand over there, get in that vehicle, or shoot that enemy. This is a great quality-of-life improvement over past Halo games, where the only communication you could have with your NPC helpers was “Gimmie that gun you’ve got.”

In addition, they seemed to know what I wanted them to do. I spent very little time waiting for allies to jump on my Warthog’s turret, or getting them to hop into a spare Ghost for some extra firepower and mobility. The targeting command is useful for taking out elusive enemies, especially if you and your teammates are spread out and have different angles on the same area. Loading

Watch a full multiplayer match of Halo 5 above.

The one issue I had with squad commands is that sometimes teammates just didn’t listen. I get it: If I run out into the middle of the enemies, die, and need to be revived, that’s a dumb move on my part and no sane teammate would want to make the same mistake. At the same time, when they sometimes decide to let me bleed out, it’s game over... so it’s frustrating when they inconsistently decide they don’t want to take one for the team.

Old Guns, New Tricks

Halo 5 also has the most satisfying arsenal in the series going for it, thanks to returning classics and design facelifts for guns that used to feel worthless. Old favorites like the battle rifle, Spartan laser, and trusty assault rifle look and feel great, and work in new ways with the new hover mechanics. One unexpected standout is the Suppressor, a Forerunner assault rifle that’s mediocre in Halo 4. It now fires homing projectiles, which are perfect for hunting down Halo 5’s quicker enemy types.

“ I was constantly trying to fit three or four really cool weapons into my two slots.

You’ll have plenty of things to shoot, thanks to Halo 5’s strong enemy variety. Forerunner troops are highly mobile and will dodge slower projectiles if you’re not careful. The annoying flying enemies that provide shields are much less prevalent than they are in Halo 4, so they still provide an occasional challenge without becoming overbearing. Loading

Watch Halo 5's launch trailer above.

The major negative standout here is the series of boss battles with a similar enemy type, who really drives home that Halo 5 is a co-op-first campaign. This guy’s weakest point is on his back, which is hard to shoot without a real human being helping to distract it. In co-op it’s fine, but if you’re playing solo there’s no way to spread out your AI to get different angles, making it more frustrating than fun.

“ Invisible Elites have much more convincing active camo...

Old-school Covenant soldiers are as strong as they’ve always been, with tough enemies like sniper Jackals and Hunter pairs. One major improvement is the invisible Elites, whose much more convincing active camouflage effect is one of the benefits of Halo 5 being native to the Xbox One. I was taken out by surprise much more frequently by the stealthy warriors, but not so often that it felt cheap – it was nice to be surprised and outsmarted.

Of course, Halo 5 also looks better in all the ways you’d expect from a generational leap forward. The campaign takes us to an eerie abandoned research station, a backwater planet ripe with odd, gorgeous life and vegetation, ruins with ancient and worn-looking monuments, and several other excellent looking locations. There is detail everywhere, and it contributes greatly to the fantasy.

Get Reqt

Where single-player has its successes and failures, Halo 5’s multiplayer is one big, sustained high point. The new headliner mode is Warzone, and it's so fun and full of exciting tension that I could ignore the rest of the modes and be satisfied with Halo 5.

Think of Warzone as an expanded, 24-player version of Halo’s old Big Team Battle playlist – but in addition to fighting the other team, you’re racking up points by capturing locations and killing roaming NPC bosses like tank warlords or super-strong Hunters. Two different victory conditions – either earning 1,000 points before the other team, or by destroying the enemy team’s base – make it dangerous to get complacent when you’re way ahead in either race. Great comebacks are entirely possible.

Loading

Watch a video explanation of Halo 5's REQ system above.

Warzone’s maps are up to four times larger than the biggest previous Halo maps to accommodate so many players and vehicles, but are cleverly designed with several close-quarters pathways and hiding spots to give infantry a fighting chance. These matches are often 20 to 25 minutes long, and require a new aspect of combat that Halo’s classic modes don’t have: resource management.

Hey Big Spender

“ That frugal enemy might turn the tables by rolling into your base equipped with a Scorpion tank.

It’s well balanced: no strategy seems dominant, and nothing can trump good old-fashioned mechanical skill. A good player could approach that tank under cover, dodge a shot, land on the tank, and destroy it with a grenade and a few punches. Smarts and skill will still win the day.

Loading

Watch Halo 5 Warzone gameplay above.

But of course, Warzone is just one mode among many. Arena is classic Halo at its finest: 4v4, with well-designed maps that don’t heavily favor one strategy over another, and a broad variety of modes like Slayer, CTF, and the fan-favorite fast-kill mode, SWAT. Its slew of maps and cosmetic armor customization options is impressive, and the addition of visible timers above power weapon spots creates exciting clashes like clockwork.

Halo 5’s new mechanical improvements apply to multiplayer as well as campaign. The most notable of those mechanics (which include the ability to quick-dash in any direction) is the hover jets. In previous Halos, jumping launched you on a predictable trajectory, essentially giving adversaries free time to line up headshots or toss a grenade on the area where you were about to land. Halo 5 shakes that up by introducing hover jets that activate when you aim down your sights while in the air, and now I don’t know how I played Halo without them.

“ After using the new hover jets, I don't know how I played Halo without them...

This tool allowed me to make new lines of sight at will, avoid explosions, and use splash damage weapons much more efficiently. Even better, it’s immensely fun to outsmart enemies with unexpected moves: you can pop out from cover – not just at the right or the left, but above it – get in a surprise shot or two, and then fight or run. Finally, it lets you set up the tough-to-execute ground-pound move that sends your floating Spartan crashing down on enemies below in a spectacular but risky finishing move.

Clambering is a huge addition to your mobility as well. As long as you get within a reasonable range of a ledge, your Spartan will grab onto the ledge and quickly hoist itself up. Not only is this mechanic much simpler than the old duck-jumping trick, it also cuts down on the number of failed jumps when trying to get somewhere quickly. In game modes where time matters, this improvement is especially useful.