Halo 5 - And see how our faith has been rewarded

Halo 5 has been out for just over a week now so it’s time to share some thoughts. What I think will strike fans first is how much 343 has brought the series into the modern era of shooters. Chiefly (pun intended) is how aiming down sights has been mapped to the left trigger which for eons has been the home of the grenade. Clicking right thumb stick to bring up your sights is a thing of past and brings Halo in line with more common controller layouts for FPSs. Whilst initially jarring it does make sense. Clicking right thumb stick has always required grace and a steady appendage which in the heat of the moment can be difficult. Countless times have I depressed the thumb stick when I did not mean to and although it was a defining feature of Halo it is a good decision. With infinite sprint and boosters also being standard issue the movement of Halo 5 is also slicker and faster. They’ve also nabbed that handy slide manoeuvre from Destiny. Dare I say it but Spartans actually feel like Spartans now; fast, agile and powerful.

This makes multiplayer a different kettle of fish entirely and 343 have made efforts to distinguish Halo 5 even further through the game types. Depending on your preference the modes are nicely grouped up and locked down in veto-free servers. Arena caters for the E-Sport types whilst Warzone appeals to the BTB fans. I’m split between both which surprises me; I thought I’d be a Warzone purist. Arena offers some of the most satisfying payoffs for winning just a single round of the Tron-meets-paintball style maps. And when you’re bored of being dominated by other teams you can relieve the stress by trouncing AIs in Warzone. The contentious REQ system works well I think; packs are easy to come by as points are doled out consistently for all types of gameplay and the REQ level stops players from simply paying for the best gear and benefiting immediately.

The campaign is a different story though. I enjoyed it as I have enjoyed all Halo campaigns but I was not blown away. Locke and Osiris dominate most of the play-time which is fine in a post ODST / Reach world where we don’t NEED to play as the Chief to have a good time. However, chasing Blue Team and the Guardians just does not fill me with the same sense of discovery and lend itself to moments of mysticism as being Chief on a Halo ring. Perhaps this is where a division appears in the fans though. 343 is clearly moving in a new direction for Halo and are fleshing out the universe nicely but we’re left with a campaign that mentions the Halos maybe twice in a game called HALO 5. I don’t mean I want a physical Halo to justify the title but that there should have been a greater connection to the core concept. In defence of 343 though; like Halo 2, Halo 5 is the middle piece of a trilogy and for me Halo 5 has set up a game I cannot wait to play. Maybe the true pay-off is yet to come. Much like the Godfather 2 for the original Halo 5 has also made Halo 4 and its story better. If Halo 6 gives anything like the satisfaction of Halo 3 I will be giving 343 a well-earned pat on the back.

There are a few more larger points of debate but I will leave them for a second post when I have uploaded some of my capture footage. For now, here a couple bullets to end on:

• The cut-scenes need a serious overhaul. On the major end of things I don’t think there are any that even come close to the “giving the Covenant back their bomb” scene from Halo 2. On the minor end each scene ends in a piss-poor “fade to black” transition which is either inappropriate, lazy or both.

• At longer distances some of the character animations lose a serious amount frames and seems blocky and mechanical. This is particularly true of the Crawlers who frequently stutter around the maps.

• Spartan Charge in multiplayer does not promote good, tactical play and rewards players who sprint around constantly.

Thanks for reading.

-Norris

EDIT: 5/11/15. So it seems I spoke too soon. Having been stuck trying to beat Legendary Solo because of THAT Warden fight I had not yet seen the Legendary ending when I wrote this post. So now with so much egg on my face I take back what I said about the Halos. Bravo 343. You redeemed yourself at the literal last possible moment.