Halo 5: Guardians Reviews
So, back to the original question: Halo 5 is definitely good, but is it great? Well, I'm tempted to err on the side of greatness.
Halo 5 has come through addressing a lot of the concerns that fans had leading up to its launch. The online multiplayer is stable, delivers classic Halo multiplayer, and freshens it up all at the same time. The single player campaign is enjoyable enough for those looking for a classic FPS experience, but not all too bothered about a strong story. However, 343 Industries seems to have missed out on truly filling out the characters on both Blue Team and Fireteam Osiris. What could have been a master crafted experience with a beautifully woven story and blockbuster set pieces falls just short, instead offering a consistently solid performance throughout that is still a credit to the genre.
On the flip side, the team takes the approach of "less is more" in the game's multiplayer as it goes, for the most part, back to basics and it quickly transports you to the franchise of old. If this is the title you've been waiting for before making the jump to Xbox One, you won't be disappointed, as it stands, in my opinion, as the best reason to own Microsoft's console.
Halo 5: Guardians deserves credit for taking chances and trying some new things. It would be safest and easiest to simply modify what has worked in the past and gloss it up and send it out, but modes like Warzone in multiplayer and the shift to a party structure in the campaign are chances that mostly work out well.
Somewhere exists a thing which explains the basic tenants of Halo 5's story, but it's not Halo 5. Then, once vaunted multplayer is bogged down by microtransactions. For shame.
Spartan laser to the head, the game is okay except for Warzone, which bumps the game to greater heights. If someone felt like playing Invasive HUD 5 after several years of not playing a Halo title, they would not miss much on passing this entry. The game mechanics work and are there, but unmemorable. If Halo 5 were sold in parts, Warzone would be a four-star hotel and the rest of the game would be an alarm clock that could use a smash.
Halo 5: Guardians isn’t without its flaws, but its still an amazing game. The faults of the campaign are made up for ten fold with the great multiplayer and new gameplay improvements.
'Halo' becomes more agile as 343 works on it, both in design and in gameplay. There are some story issues that keep 'Halo 5' from being a top-notch sci-fi epic, but the campaign is still a pleasure to play, especially with others. The multiplayer is hearty out of the gate, with the hypercompetitive Arena suite alongside the more bombastic, arcade-oriented Warzone. 'Halo 5: Guardians' has a lot to offer the consummate shooter aficionado.
In the days of third party sales supremacy and value added services, the impact of a singular title or franchise doesn't leave the same mark as it did two or three generations ago. But for 343's efforts, they made an excellent FPS that should earn them a good portion of credit they so urgently need from the fanbase.
In the end, Halo 5 Guardians is a great start on the Xbox One that boasts decent gameplay, amazing graphics and audio to really immerse you into this futuristic warzone.
Considering there's very little sandboxing in the campaign, 343 really needs to provide some sort of way for players to get their actual Halo gameplay fix. As it stands at launch, it's not there in Halo 5: Guardians.
A solid campaign and wonderful competitive multiplayer sees 343 finally make its mark on Halo.
A superb campaign, particularly in its level design, coupled with the all-new Warzone mode and the return of arena multiplayer makes Halo 5 the best FPS game of this generation and possibly the best Halo title ever.
Halo 5: Guardians is an exciting Halo package, marred only by some questionable design decisions, like microtransactions and some shoddy friendly-AI in the campaign. It's not a classic Halo, but 343 is moving in a good direction with the franchise.
The campaign isn't the greatest, but multiplayer manages to succeed in the way it always has, with the addition of a fun and inventive new mode.
Halo 5: Guardians is very beautiful. While some of the new additions to the series never grinned, 343 was the first step towards separating the series from Bungie. However, he had to give up his script and some gameplay mechanics when he wanted to turn into a new generation FPS. So what does that change? It reveals that those who love Halo will miss some things very, very much. Still, Halo 5: Guardians manages to be one of the best productions of the year and deserves to be the guest of honor to every Xbox One owner's library.
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If you're growing tired of the franchise and were really hoping Microsoft and 343 would hold true to their promise to evolve the formula a bit, be wary that the newest stuff is where the game gets a bit shaky. However, if you've loved the Halo blueprint up to now and are looking for an updated current-gen version, there's more than enough here to offer a solid recommendation. It's not the best Halo game I've ever played, but it is good, delivering most of the Halo essentials without compromise.
While the multiplayer components are the best since Halo 3, the campaign disappoints in a few key areas. It's still enjoyable and exciting on the whole, but it lacks the narrative concentration and the memorable gameplay scenarios to stand neck and neck with the best entries in the series. Halo 5: Guardians still gets a massive recommendation from us for many reasons, though there's certainly room for 343 Industries to improve and evolve the campaign formula next time around.
With Halo 5: Guardians the guys from 343 Industries have given a further demonstration of their undoubted talent, offering one of the richest and most complete shooter experiences that have ever been seen on the market.
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