Halo 5: Guardians Reviews
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.
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.
Compelling multiplayer bolsters a series low-point
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.
Halo 5: Guardians is great if you're a big fan of its multiplayer modes, but its campaign is the weakest of the series.
Halo 5: Guardians features an underwhelming, confusing and surprisingly banal campaign that's not actively bad, but equally not quite good enough to warrant a purchase on its own. Fortunately, Master Chief's adventure doesn't end here, and whether you team with friends and ramp the difficulty up, or get stuck into some 12 on 12 Warzone action, the extensive multiplayer offerings ensure Halo 5: Guardians isn't a total washout.
Halo 5: Guardians is okay. Its campaign is rubbish, but the multiplayer is solid thanks to the foundation it's built upon. Warzone is a really enjoyable experience, and while combat is still mostly about tossing grenades and hitting the melee button, the whole Requisition gimmick adds some much-needed flavor to proceedings. It's just a shame it also adds not-needed money to Microsoft pockets.
Halo 5 made the multiplayer experience feel larger and more cinematic, unfortunately it just needs bringing up with it’s narrative.
A terrific online experience saves Halo 5 from a mediocre campaign, missing features, and a disappointing lack of split screen multiplayer.
This spectacle is impressive on its own merits, but it spins the story's wheels for way too long.
I think die-hard Halo fans will love Halo 5: Guardians, as it's a game made almost exclusively with them in mind. The rest of us might find ourselves a little lost, a bit let down and wistful for an old horizon that once reached for the heavens.
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.
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.
With a campaign that forces you in to the boots of 343I's poster boy rather than allowing you to play as the enigmatic Master Chief, it's hard to really enjoy what guardian's has to offer. With tragic AI and a very underwhelming campaign it's a hard pill to swallow for those who relish in the magnificence of the original trilogy.
Despite its shortfalls Halo 5: Guardians still holds strong as being an excellent contender as the current best shooter available for Xbox One. Afterall it is Microsoft's flagship title, but with a short lackluster story that only the diehard fans will appreciate, the multiplayer is truly where the focus is. 60FPS makes a world of difference and is here to stay with the franchise, but I just hope that they take the feedback from the community and make things better in the next installment.
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.
Halo 5 Guardians is a fantastic game brimming with content, though some parts feel better than others. The story fails to live up to the franchise's standards, due to an underdeveloped narrative, samey level design and an unnecessary focus on Locke.
Halo 5: Guardians tries to be similar to a lot of popular features that other shooter games have, while managing to maintain its own franchise identity. The removal of load-outs, but, at the same time, adding the ability to aim down sights, is a very noticeable example. Farming Requisition Points is exciting, since pack loot is extremely varied, and in many cases, players will always have different unlocks thanks to this. The campaign is certainly not the strong point, but the multiplayer is another solid experience for FPS fans to play and enjoy until the next shooter or Halo game is available.
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.