Halo 5: Guardians Reviews
Overall, Halo 5: Guardians is a good addition to the franchise and has the best gameplay in the series, and that is a bold thing to say for a franchise that’s been running for 14 straight years. However, the technical sacrifices and image quality losses are a little too much this time around. Halo 5: Guardians is not game of the year material. However, it’s a great game on its own. The multiplayer is addicting, and the future story can go many interesting directions that will make the fate of Halo exciting.
Halo 5: Guardians tells an epic story, across a vast, epic world and across these environments, players will face epic battles. From a divulging Campaign mode, to epic Multiplayer matches across Arena and Warzone, Halo 5: Guardians is truly the Halo game we've all been waiting for. While it isn't perfect, the experience is incredible.
But at the end of the day, there just isn't that much here for me, even as a casual-sometimes-hardcore Halo fan. If you think Destiny could scratch the itch you have for Halo, pick it up over this game. If not, buckle in for an underwhelming mechanical retread with a so-so story framing the whole experience.
There is still some question as to whether fans will accept Locke as much as they've accepted Master Chief, as well as how significantly the game will hold up in multiplayer once the public servers go live. But for what I've seen and played for so many hours over the weekend, Halo 5: Guardians has indicated that 343 has not only picked up Bungie's ball, but scored with it on multiple occasions.
As a series, Halo has been the one triple-A shooter that has fans for the story as well as the multiplayer. Depending on where you are on the spectrum between story and gameplay, you can take my grade up or down a half point. If you're looking for a frag-fest, plus all the enticements of the new Warzone mode, Halo 5 is a must-own. All the new abilities and maps are terrific. Those who care about the single-player campaign might not find the story to be as compelling but will appreciate the treatment of lore and production value. Either way, In the coming months, Halo 5: Guardians will undoubtedly have both supporters and detractors playing and commenting about it for years.
"Halo 5" is a mixed bag, and its value depends on the interests of the beholder. Fans of "Halo" lore will be sorely disappointed. "Halo 5's" campaign fails to deliver the action and emotion of "Halo 4." It's clear that 343 Industries focused on multiplayer offerings, and that focus led to the most inspired multiplayer suite for the shooter genre in recent memory. Smooth Arena modes will appeal to the ultra-competitive while Warzone is terrific for casual fans. There's room for improvement when it comes to storytelling in the next "Halo" game, but multiplayer modes brilliantly usher in the series to the new generation.
You can certainly see a learning curve with 343 Industries. With Halo 5 their clear understanding of the series has yielded a great game, but not the classic they're capable of making.
I believe that they'll win a few battles with Halo 5 on the front line.
As tired as space marine tropes are to video games, it would mean-spirited of me to deny that "Halo 5" delivers a solid, blockbuster experience best enjoyed with friends.
Flawless gameplay, one of the best multiplayer experiences on the market and a shiny, new coat of paint make Halo 5: Guardians an easy contender for Game of the Year.
Halo 5: Guardians is a fine tuned machine. It has a robust and highly addictive competitive multiplayer component, a large variety of aesthetically pleasing customizations and some of the tightest controls to ever grace a Halo title. Unfortunately, the campaign leaves much to be desired. ... If you go into Halo 5: Guardians with the intent of primarily playing multiplayer, then this won't disappoint.
A short, disappointing tale makes nearly no progress in 343's trilogy, and offers nothing that lives up to the billing of a tense showdown between Halo 5's two protagonists. Thankfully the improved gameplay and consistently great multiplayer shine in Halo's uneven debut on the Xbox One. The multiplayer is fantastic, and the co-op is magical. Bring friends.
If it weren't for Warzone, Halo 5: Guardians would probably be somewhere on the lower end of the franchise's spectrum for me. It's still a fantastic and well-oiled machine, but the story falls flat, and the shift in gameplay mechanics result in the loss of some elements that made the series so unique in the first place. Still, if you're looking to shoot some dudes online, Guardians is your huckleberry.
You'll spot some rough edges and notice some omissions, but Halo 5 looks great, plays well, and has enough options to keep you coming back.
Halo 5 is a very good, but will the new changes and modes be enough to maintain the franchise's special status? One thing's for sure, people will be talking about it
Guardians is a disappointingly uneven experience
Halo 5: Guardians is a true step forward for Microsoft's Halo franchise that makes for a no-brainer buy on Xbox One, but it's not a flawless experience.
Everything looks and plays spectacularly in Halo 5: Guardians, and it was so close to having the complete package for a first-person shooter. Unfortunately, the hype oversold and underdelivered when it came to story, and the non-shooting missions should have been scrapped until the team figured out a more creative way to entice player exploration in the middle of a shooter. All that said though, Halo 5: Guardians is an absolute blast to play, which, when all is said and done, is the most important facet of any video game.
As it stands, Halo 5 is near perfect. With slick gameplay, a fantastic campaign, and seemingly ambitious multiplayer, it gets little wrong. If you own an Xbox One or plan to buy it, this is why you're doing so.
Halo 5: Guardians is great if you're a big fan of its multiplayer modes, but its campaign is the weakest of the series.