Halo 5: Guardians Review

It’s been almost three years since the release of Halo 4 and from what I remember, it paled in comparison to Halo: Reach. Halo 5 recently was released and I can say it’s about on par with Reach.

Price: $59.99

Rating: M

Genre: First-person Shooter

Modes: Multiplayer, Campaign, Co-op Campaign

Platforms: Xbox One

Released by: 343 Industries

Release date: October 27th, 2015

Initial Rating: 9/10

Final Rating: 7/10

+Weapons now have sights to aim down with

+Great Story/Campaign

+Competitive Ranking System

+/-Ranking System not well made

+/-Forge not available until December of 2015

-Only 6 multiplayer game modes

-Multiplayer spawns broken

-Doesn’t feel like a Halo

-Matches now only 4v4 instead of 6v6

-Grenade spam in online matches

-Main menu very unstable

The overall feel of the game really stands out especially compared to other recent titles for Xbox. 343 Industries did not stray away from this Halo and I could tell they really focused on Halo’s old feel. Halo 5: Guardians is one of the only reasons why one might consider purchasing an Xbox One.

A major issue I saw while playing the game was the lack of replayability. After the first two hours of playing the game mode S.W.A.T (the equivalent to Call of Duty’s Hardcore mode) I become extremely bored because the matches always went the same. Either I’m destroying the other team or they’re barely winning. The cause of this is most likely because Halo’s ranking system is utterly useless. I found myself in-game talking to people and asking what their ranks were. Most replies were either:

1. I’m unranked
2. I’m (Insert rank that’s either extremely high or low)

     All I really want to do is play against people my skill level.

Single-player campaigns for games like Call of Duty and Halo 5 have definitely started to evolve in a good way. Campaigns now have rewards other than unlockable achievements which include new armor and new weapon skins. The ending definitely left players wishing for the next Halo especially with more lore and story. I’m not saying the story was lacking anything, I think 343 can make the campaign even better. Something I think Halo could consider adding is raid-type missions that require players to solve different boss mechanics using teamwork and strategy.

Overall Halo 5 needs some improvements in the amount of content in-game. 343 Industries have already announced all future DLC for Halo 5: Guardians is going to be free. This might have been the smartest move by 343 considering other companies choice in additional content (Destiny). Halo 5 is an all-around game with miniscule issues and a good vibes coming from all gamemodes.