Halo 5: Guardians

Almost exactly 1 year ago I decided to get an Xbox One to be a next gen companion to the PS4 I already had. I've never been a multi-console gamer, but both platforms just had too many great looking games to pass up. Luckily I was able to work it out so that it was a rather cheap purchase. 

One of the key reasons I wanted an Xbox One was Halo. Once the Master Chief Collection was announced as a precursor to Halo 5, it was almost too good to be true. I would finally get to enjoy a beloved series that I had mostly missed out on for the past few generations outside of playing them at friends' houses. 

While I enjoyed the collection of four of Master Chief's games, I also was one of the unfortunate ones who experienced a TON of bugs with that release. Among a plethora of smaller issues was the unforgivable sin that it often did not save my campaign progress. This was incredibly aggravating, but I eventually was able to make it through each Halo game. I attempted to complete the "we're sorry" ODST gift, but this too had save issues so I swore I wouldn't go back to the Collection ever again. 

Despite that, my excitement for Halo 5 remained high. I was intrigued at this being my first "Day 1" Halo title and, as a big fan of Halo 4, I wanted to see what 343 Industries would do next with the Halo world. 

Luckily, they didn't disappoint. 

For the most part. 

We're going to need a bigger gun...

As an avid campaign player, this was where I spent a good amount of my early time with the game, especially when my friends were offline. The marketing for this game sells it quite differently than the actual story plays out. Master Chief and Blue Team are seeking out Cortana, trying to rescue her. Or so they think. As this is against direct Marine orders, another group of Spartans, led by Jameson Locke, goes to stop Chief and bring him back in for questioning. Trying to capture the genius and magic of Halo 2 it would seem, the game has you play as both characters. This effect largely falls flat as they are nearly identical other than their voices and the fireteams that you're in action with. Unfortunately, Locke is pretty forgettable, but I enjoyed his fireteam the most because of their banter, most of it provided by Nathan Fillion. At the end of it all, part of me wondered why the game didn't just have you playing as Buck (Fillion) as he is funny and charismatic and at least distinctly different than Chief. Aside from that, the story is pretty easy to follow along, at least for the larger plot strokes, and its overall effect on the Halo mythology will probably be consequential to whatever happens with the inevitable Halo 6. As is the case with a lot of first person shooters, there was a decent amount of time that I had no idea why I was doing something outside of the reasoning "because the game's objective marker is over there". As that's an issue that bleeds into almost any game, especially the FPS genre, it's hardly unique to Halo and I'd say Guardians does a better job than most at keeping you informed. 

Luckily, the story missions take you all around the galaxy and the highlight of the campaign is easily all of the different locales. Nearly each level location feels unique and the constantly changing environment leads to some pretty spectacular views of nature, space, the stars, etc. There were several instances where, after an intense firefight, I found myself looking all around me, just soaking in how gorgeous everything looked. Some of the interior environments leave a little to be desired as they can get repetitive quickly, but the outdoor locations are consistently stunning. Large set pieces, be they with vehicle combat or on foot, are scattered throughout. I was mostly underwhelmed by many of the vehicle segments, but a particular vertical on-foot segment really wowed me (though it was too short) because of the way it played with the game's physics. All in all the story is a solid one, though maybe not as memorable as the creators would have hoped. I think it's still leagues below Halo 2 and the original, but probably will stick with me longer than Halo 4 and 3. 

Charge vs. Spray n' Pray. Which one wins?

The art of distraction!

The multiplayer is where the game really shines and I was surprised to find that I can be good at it (though I'm often not). I may have my peaks and valleys of talent, but that doesn't change the fact that Halo 5s multiplayer suite is outstanding. I'll discuss the core gameplay later, but I found the MP modes to be very well balanced with some of the objective based ones being my standout favorites. I had a few games of Capture the Flag that were riots. Unfortunately, Capture the Flag, and the zone-based capture mode, are bucketed with some other modes in Team Arena. Rather than being able to choose (as I'm usually a much higher performer in the objective based ones than something like Slayer for instance), you pretty much just select Team Arena and hope you get a mode you like. You can always back out and try again, but I found this lack of a feature annoying (or can I just not find it? Let me know in the comments below). A new addition to MP, and probably my favorite part of the game, is Warzone. Warzone is a multi-objective game with more players, AI components that drop in and out, and HUGE maps. The rounds are long, but they are constantly changing and there are lots of ways you can get points. Playing with friends is a highlight, and the key to success. REQ points dominate what you do because they allow you to access better weapons, vehicles, and powerups. REQ points are earned whenever you're in MP and certain upgrades or selectable items are obtained through "card packs". While the idea of "randomly" earning something as opposed to knowing what I'm working toward kind of irks me, each and every Gold Pack that I've opened has something of value and when you obtain a card that you don't want/need, you can sell it for more REQ points. It's an genius system and I can easily see this being a new format for FPS MPs going forward. My only issue with Warzone would be is that when you're playing a really good team and your team sucks, it's a major drag. Kind of the story with any MP game, but with Warzone it feels like all you're doing is spawning, running to an objective, and dying. Over and over. Might just be that I suck too.

I've decided to leave the best for the last and that's the game's technical aspects, including core gameplay. There's a reason that Halo is one of the kings of the shooter world and that's because the mechanics and physics are something special. Each person can soak up far more bullets than in something like Call of Duty, and with higher jumps, the new boost feature, running melees, long-bomb grenade throws, etc. Halo 5 certainly feels like the best Halo has ever felt. Take that with a grain of salt as I'm a bit of a n00b to the whole franchise, sure, but I've also played enough FPS games to know when one feels damn good. In the heat of intense battles, the last thing I worry about is my character not doing quite what I want to -- it becomes second nature. There's a bit of an overlong timer on the boost feature that's too long by about half a second in my opinion, but other than that, this game plays like a dream. It also looks and sounds outstanding too. The HUD in single player is cramped, but you eventually get used to it. Outside of that though, the game is one of the better looking FPS out there and because of it's amazing voice acting and original score (continues to be the best scored series in gaming) it always sounds phenomenal too. The music swells and pulses, really giving a theatrical feel to the campaign. The guns themselves and all the other sound effects present in the world are well balanced and sound great. Even with some redesigns, the guns look great too and seem to be a mixture of the classics with new twists. 

Well this should have an interesting outcome...

Halo 5: Guardians really only disappoints because the campaign, while fun and memorable, seems to be missing that magical element that helped some of the other games in the series soar so high. I also wish I were better at MP since it's so much damn fun, but that's not against the game really. At the end of the day, decades from now when fans look back on the Halo series, I don't foresee Halo 5 being anyone's outright favorite (for overall package) but I imagine almost every fan would rank it near the top tier. It's a solid offering in the ongoing franchise and, now that I'm caught up with the Halo franchise, I'm glad I decided to get that Xbox One nearly a year ago. 

CONS:

• The story is somewhat forgettable and a tad underwhelming for a Halo tale. Switching between characters wasn't as potent as the creators maybe thought
• Locke is a poor protagonist, especially when Buck would have been such a more lively character
• Cramped single player HUD
• No ability that I can find to select what mode you'd like to play in Team Arena
• I suck at MP about 70% of the time :-P
• Campaign has some lame vehicle segments
• Losing badly in Warzone is really rough
• One control complaint: I wish the cooldown for boosting was shorter

PROS:

• I still enjoyed the campaign and its story. It should have some ramifications for future iterations
• Smart marketing threw a lot of people for a loop 
• GREAT locales and level design in the campaign (and MP for that matter). Several really memorable environments
• A few solid set pieces throughout. A "vertical" one was my personal favorite
• Iconic gameplay that's only gotten better. Some of the best FPS mechanics out there
• MP is a blast 
• Warzone is an amazing addition and really takes the icing on the cake for me
• REQ point system is very interesting and I liked it far more than I thought I would because it's smartly laid out
• Beautiful graphics, great gun/character/enemy design, amazing sound effects, and just a stellar original score
• Flat out fun

Rath's Review Score: 8.5/10