Halo 5: Guardians Reviews
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.
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.
This game was reviewed via a digital code received by the publisher.
Halo 5: Guardians proves that 343 Industries are up for the challenge. With solid combat, weapons, worlds and a killer story, the only thing needing more attention is multiplayer. Though solid with good framerate, online felt as though it borrowed more from past Halo games instead of evolving from them, never showing anything new. But online is still really fun!
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.
I believe that they'll win a few battles with Halo 5 on the front line.
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.
It's always hard for fans when a new studio takes over an existing, legendary series like Halo, but 343 Industries has done a masterful job of living up to what Halo has been, while progressing it further in their own vision. Halo 5 Guardians is a beautiful, challenging and entertaining step forward for the series both on the multiplayer and campaign front, even despite the decreased role of Master Chief. Trust in 343 Industries, Halo fans.
Guardians is a disappointingly uneven experience
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.
This sprawling sci-fi series once set the agenda for console shooters, but now far behind and playing catch up, it has much to prove
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.
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.
The campaign mode hits some great highs over its somewhat short 15-mission span, but also occasionally suffers from a lack of variety, and some boss fights that feel disappointingly one-note. Halo 5: Guardians' strength is found in its PvP. Arena and Warzone offer two distinctly different flavors of action, and both are solid, very well designed, and a lot of fun to play. Ultimately, campaign is a good way to ease you into the game - but it's the PvP that delivers the best of what this game has to offer.
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.
Like Spartan Locke and his team, 343 is chasing after something bigger than itself, and with Halo 5: Guardians, it comes close. Now if only it could reach out its arm and take hold.
Not a bad game, but frustratingly one that succeeds despite its innovations, not because of them. An enjoyable campaign, but not a truly convincing one.
Halo 5: Guardians marks a strong debut on Xbox One for the long running franchise, with great gameplay and solid multiplayer and in spite of a weak campaign.
I have played a lot of Destiny with friends and with randomly assigned partners, but it's sort of like being on a car ride together. Halo 5, on the other hand, is full of tense moments of planning and frustration and awe. The same multiplayer mode played in the same environment will never feel the same twice. Which begs the question: If a Halo Moment occurs and a friend isn't there to tell about it, did it happen?