Halo 5: Guardians

Plot

In Halo 5, you mainly play as a different character, Jameson Locke, though you do also get to play as John 117. Yet the main protagonist, without a doubt, here is Locke. This time much has been changed, and it’s up to Locke to set things straight. New story and character approach? Yup.

Is that a good thing? Well, not really. Most fans, even me, were disappointed in the new direction that this game took, in many respects.

Anyways, what else should you know about the plot? In a nutshell, Master Chief decided to completely go AWOL, and that’s why he’s not there for much of the game. But someone has to pick up the slack, and that someone appears to be Jameson Locke. And more bad news --- it seems the UNSC is down to their last draw, on limited resources and manpower, and they seem to be the very last line of defense left for humanity. Not good at all….

If it were up to me, and up to many other fans of Halo like myself, I would’ve had the plot rewritten. Why take Master Chief out of so much of the story? But anyways, these are just my thoughts. Now let’s talk about the gameplay itself a little further….

Gameplay

Motion and speed, most would say, are the two driving words behind the gameplay of this game, all in all. If you’re playing either by yourself or with others, you’ll see what I mean in an instant. Pick up the controller, and in a few moments, you’ll know what I’m talking about ; the control movements are flexible, yet no less precise, which is always a good balance to be had. Also, this game holds a moderately high “Replay” score, according to many who have judged it online, meaning it’s an easy one to pick up and play, over and over and over again.

In addition, and on another note entirely, I’d argue, along with many other hardcore fans, that the Legendary Mode of this game does not feel too great in some respects. It could’ve been made a bit better to feel ‘quite right’, which it’s currently not. What I mean is this --- you get a sense of the speed itself, for instance, being somewhat neutered. And not only so, but you also notice allies reviving at the wrong times, infrequent / antiquated checkpoint placements, and overall death strategies that seem like they could’ve been taken back to the drawing board and given more thorough planning by their creators.

The online multiplayer gameplayer is quite a treat of its own, and not too many complaints have been lodged against it ; it seems the designers got it right once more. The more players you have, by the way, the better you can scale your challenges --- many, myself included, have played this one here for hours on end, trying out different strategies, team - ups, and more. Local co - op, however, is not included, which has always been a big ‘plus’ in prior Halo games. So just keep that in mind.

Weapons

Same general rifles, assault cannons, pistols, launchers, rocket blasters, etc. No biggie. Nothing too new or exceptional.

On a small note, the changes made to the AR have been a good implementation. They make this Assault Rifle more skillfully used, and it’s now an equally effective weapon (regardless of whether it’s in the hands of a Champion - grade player or a Diamond - grade player alike, respectively). Halo 5 offers a nice, little re - tuned version of the basic AR, which is now even more effective against those with multi - weapons and dual - wielding, not to mention.

Also keep in mind that, lower - level difficulty play will lack large gun magazines, a major bummer for most ; this, in turn, leads you to moving around at a more non - stop, breathless pace altogether, in addition to having to engage constant change - ups. Not to mention to following --- on Legendary Mode, even, the low amount of ammo you can come to have can get quite frustrating, truth be told.

Levels

Twice as long as previous game’s (Halo 4’s). 15 Campaigns: Osiris, Blue Team, Glassed, Meridian Station, Unconfirmed, Evacuation, Reunion, Swords of Sanghelios, Alliance, Enemy Lines, Before the Storm, Genesis, The Breaking, Guardians.

I really liked the Genesis mission - level, but that’s my own personal preference speaking here. I like not only the catchy name of it, but everything you get to see and do. If you’re curious, see some video footage of it on YouTube, or Google ‘Halo 5 Genesis campaign’, or something like that, online, to see some screenshots of the action. I sometimes do so, just to remember what it was like going there as a player….

Uniqueness Overall

Extremely unique. Perhaps too unique of a title. According to many, that’s not a good thing : The game lacked Master Chief and several other known ‘Halo essentials’ that could’ve made it “a true Halo game”....

It’s up to the Spartans to bring Master Chief back from, what you will find out, is the one thing keeping him away from the mission. So that’s new. Hopefully, those Spartans can be successful. Because once the Master Chief has made up his mind, it’s usually made up for good. But people can change.

This game also lacked local co - op in multiplayer though what it did offer in multiplayer was still unique and fun on its own level. But it would’ve been nice to have had both forms of multiplayer included. Oh, well.

Not only that, but to heap more fuel to the fire, this game also required that you purchase an Xbox Live Gold Membership, sold entirely separate from the game, in order to even be able to access the features of the multiplayer mode. What? Yes, you heard correctly. Many players did not take well to that, either, especially after they had already spent money on buying the console, the game, and some extra controllers for friends to tag along on the fun.

That’s Halo 5, briefly!