Halo 5 Drops Split-Screen, Requires Xbox Live Gold for Online Co-Op

[Evonisia]

Oh I get it. They already ruined the story and stagnated the gameplay with Halo 4, and they can't do it again to the same impact. So now they're screwing over the social aspect of the campaign. Hurray!

 

[AntiChri5]

Halo was the first game i played on my Xbox. Me and my brother spent hour after after hour in co-op. When Halo 2 came out, we played it to death in co-op as well. And then Halo 3. Then ODST. Then Reach. We even got over our reservations long enough to do so with Halo 4. We played so much co-op together that the way i play FPS's is still influenced by it today. I still play too aggressively, push too hard. Still expect a sniper covering my back.

I don't even have an Xbox One and have no intention to get one, having long since moved on to PC. But this news still makes me sad.

 

[Dandark]

The only reason I've had Halo 4 on at my house at all was split screen co-op. There goes any possible chance of me getting Halo 5, not that I planned to get it anyway. Still sad to see the corpse of one of my favourite series be beaten so badly though.

 

[RicoADF]

Split screen coop multiplayer is why I played halo, if it's been canned then it'll be a bullet between the eyes as far as my interest in the game goes.

 

[MiskWisk]

How do they not understand how to make a good Halo game? Reach was practically a cheat sheet that told them everything they needed to do to make a decent game and they just don't seem to want to use it. I gave Halo 4 the benefit of the doubt and wrote the issues off as them trying to move into the gap and it had a few ideas I liked even if they were outweighed by the faults (seriously, Bungie perfected firefight for Reach and then they drop it entirely) but this is really beginning to irritate me. Kind of glad I stuck to my guns when I said I wasn't going to buy an Xbone now if Microsoft continue moving in this direction.

 

[Squilookle]

Remember way back in 1997 when this was the goddamned future of gaming right here?

What the HELL happened, game industry?​

 

[Trippy Turtle]

People are already hesitant to get the game since the series started going downhill.
Now they take away one of its best selling features.
Rest in peace Halo.

 

[Hawk of the Plain]

Yes Microsoft, good good. Keep screwing over your customer base in the name of squeezing every cent you can out of them. It's not like there are better gaming platforms your customers could leave you for.........What's that?...Steam summer sale starts soon?...No fees for online play?...Better performance?...Why are people still buying Xbones over PCs again?

(hell even the PS4 doesn't screw you as much as the Xbone)

 

[laggyteabag]

Well that stings. I got a spare controller solely for those who wanted to play Halo 5 but didn't want to commit to an Xbox One, and to suddenly have that functionality removed for the campaign does kinda suck. Dont get me wrong, I understand why they removed split screen in campaign, but it is still kinda sucky to see it gone.

 

[KenAri]

The only times I ever played Halo are when we get a few mates together and play split-screen stuff. Halo 4 required that the multiplayer be installed, and we could never be assed with that. I'm glad they've announced this because it means I can skip it completely.

Very silly choice though, to be honest. Split-screen gameplay is literally the only thing Halo has had over CoD. Not wanting to start a 'which game is best' debate, but it seems like a huge oversight on their part, to exclude their only niche audience.

 

[47_Ronin]

I am surprised this surprised anybody. The death of splitscreen has been a telegraphed move for a long time.

I stopped paying for Gold a long time ago, as in I refuse to get Gold anymore, after they re-activated my membership without my permission, after I canceled it before going on a 4 month trip to Norway. Guess when I got around to finding that out?

You're not alone. I payed for a few months "extra" myself. You can switch off automatic gold prolongation all you want, turns out it stealthyly reactivates itself everytime you use any type of subscription with your account. I'm pretty sure this was not indicated in the Xbox menu (it is on the website, though). Moneygrabbing bastards.
Say what you want about the console vs. pc war, I am not missing paying 20? more per game + Gold subscription fees (never 60?, though).

 

[RJ 17]

If I'm not mistaken, it's 4-player split screen that's out and instead there's only 2-player split screen for both coop and multiplayer...

If that's true, then I'm fine with that.

I don't blame them keeping online co-op to Gold, but - being a tad sentimental - a lack of splitscreen feels like a bit of a betrayal of Halo's roots and spirit. Splitscreen Halo CE got me back into console gaming.

If I'm not mistaken, it's 4-player split screen that's out and instead there's only 2-player split screen for both coop and multiplayer...

If that's true, then I'm fine with that.

Josh Holmes said in a tweet in December that there is 2-player split screen, but I'm not sure if that's changed. I'm also not sure where people get the no split-screen info from because that GameInformer article that's linked doesn't seem to indicate that? I still would very much prefer 4-player, but then again most games have cut out split screen altogether so I'm hoping for 2-player at least.

According to this article:

http://www.gamepur.com/news/19128-dev-explains-why-halo-5-guardians-does-not-have-split-screen-feature.html

They axed split-screen in order to maintain 60FPS. It doesn't specify 2 player vs 4 player, though I'd imagine if their intention is to keep the frame rate up then they probably got rid of it all together.

As for the GameInformer article that was linked, as I understand it that's just a bit of a "teaser" article, as it references a "full 12 page article" on Halo 5. I didn't go looking for that one though because, as I don't even own an XB1, I really don't care all that much about this.

However, judging by that GI article, it says that the co-op apparently plays a lot different than the single player. SP seems like it's going to be squad-based with MC issuing orders to the rest of Blue Team while in the Co-Op each player will take control of a member of Blue Team. Don't know if that helps solve this mystery or not, but again: I don't really care.

 

[CrystalShadow]

There gets to be a point in every business, where they get so big, that they should be reminded that they once catered to their customers, and made them as happy as possible in order for their business to grow - even if it meant losing just a little of their profits/possible profits.

I stopped paying for Gold a long time ago, as in I refuse to get Gold anymore, after they re-activated my membership without my permission, after I canceled it before going on a 4 month trip to Norway. Guess when I got around to finding that out? So I probably will have little interest in this game since co-op with my brother/dad/friends was one of the main attraction points for me in Halo.

This is Microsoft you're talking about. A company that was already such a huge corporate behemoth, with such a bad reputation, that they were considered one of the most evil things in the Computer industry once upon a time.
And this was before they got into the console business in the first place.

Their reputation was so bad, in fact, that the original Xbox practically tried to hide the microsoft logo as much as they could, so people wouldn't be too quick to associate Xbox with Microsoft, the 'evil empire'...

I'm impressed, in all honesty that Microsoft even managed to shift that reputation any in the first place. This is less of them forgetting about their customers, and more having a relapse into their old habits...

 

[Bindal]

The only times I ever played Halo are when we get a few mates together and play split-screen stuff. Halo 4 required that the multiplayer be installed, and we could never be assed with that. I'm glad they've announced this because it means I can skip it completely.

Very silly choice though, to be honest. Split-screen gameplay is literally the only thing Halo has had over CoD. Not wanting to start a 'which game is best' debate, but it seems like a huge oversight on their part, to exclude their only niche audience.

Actually, CoD had - at least in a few games - also Splitscreen. I know MW3 had it for its Survival Mode.

 

[Janaschi]

There gets to be a point in every business, where they get so big, that they should be reminded that they once catered to their customers, and made them as happy as possible in order for their business to grow - even if it meant losing just a little of their profits/possible profits.

I stopped paying for Gold a long time ago, as in I refuse to get Gold anymore, after they re-activated my membership without my permission, after I canceled it before going on a 4 month trip to Norway. Guess when I got around to finding that out? So I probably will have little interest in this game since co-op with my brother/dad/friends was one of the main attraction points for me in Halo.

This is Microsoft you're talking about. A company that was already such a huge corporate behemoth, with such a bad reputation, that they were considered one of the most evil things in the Computer industry once upon a time.
And this was before they got into the console business in the first place.

Their reputation was so bad, in fact, that the original Xbox practically tried to hide the microsoft logo as much as they could, so people wouldn't be too quick to associate Xbox with Microsoft, the 'evil empire'...

I'm impressed, in all honesty that Microsoft even managed to shift that reputation any in the first place. This is less of them forgetting about their customers, and more having a relapse into their old habits...

Oh, I am not naive enough to ignore their history and expect any different from them in the future. It is just a shame, is all, that they cannot recognize the benefits of making their customers happy, instead of simply providing a service for them before throwing them under the bus.

 

[Drops a Sweet Katana]

With their track record, you might be forgiven for thinking that Microsoft and 343i agree that Halo should have ended when Bungie stopped making it.

 

[Alex Baas]

And with that, the already slim chance I will play this went to zero

 

[Dango]

I wonder how long it will take for them to backpedal.

 

[SilverStuddedSquirre]

Remember way back in 1997 when this was the goddamned future of gaming right here?

What the HELL happened, game industry?​

that's actually easy to answer: somewhere along the lines, they all convinced themselves that 4 ppl on 1 machine represented 3 machines not being sold. Solution? FORCE all teh games into single-player and then ALL the ppl will buy a system. Flawless plan right?

 

[Xpwn3ntial]

You know, even if the original intent was to make it paid, it would have been better to internally revise the decision after that announcement.

Eh, like I care anyway. I don't have an Xbox One.