Halo 5 Will Have "New Epic Multiplayer Experience" - 343 Industries

Lizzy Finnegan

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Halo 5 Will Have "New Epic Multiplayer Experience" - 343 Industries



In a move that stunned fans, 343 Industries said that they would not be incorporating the highly popular split-screen co-op feature into Halo 5: Guardians. There will, however, be a new multiplayer option.

In a recent interview with Game Informer it was revealed that split-screen co-op, one of the most defining features of Halo gameplay, would be omitted [<a href=] from the newest title Halo 5: Guardians in order to maintain 60FPS. In addition, a later clarification by Studio Head Josh Holmes confirmed that Xbox Live Gold memberships would be needed to enjoy long-term online co-op play.

A new mystery was added, however. Game Informer reports: "Apart from Arena multiplayer, 343 teased another multiplayer mode that it's keeping behind the curtain for now."

"We also have a complementary new epic multiplayer experience which we're really excited to show off at E3," design director Kevin Franklin told Game Informer. "I can't say too much about it, but I can tell you it does incorporate all aspects of the Halo sandbox for the very first time ever. This was always a dream of ours and all of our fans to build something like this. It's been three years of long development and an incredible amount of play testing. We can't wait to show it off."

"We're trying to provide as much variety and different ways to play for different play styles," Holmes told Game Informer.

343 Head Bonnie Ross also vowed that no future Halo title will go without a beta test, a lesson learned from the tragic Halo: The Master Chief Collection release. "There is so much we learned with the Halo 5 beta. There is actually stuff we took from our Master Chief Collection - learnings that we were able to put into the beta. Going forward, you will never see a Halo game coming out without a beta. It was obviously painful for our fans and for us. But it won't happen again. There are things we put in place to make sure that we know everything, how it stands up outside and in ­the ­wild."

In addition to the 20 multiplayer maps expected to accompany the Halo 5: Guardians launch, 15 complimentary DLC maps, which are expected by June 2016, will be made available to all players.


Halo 5: Guardians releases October 27 for Xbox One.

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MiskWisk

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I understand that this is supposed to build hype, but all I feel is an overwhelming sense of dread.
 

Evonisia

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Jun 24, 2013
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Wasn't a fan of the beta at all (mostly shocked at what the controls had become and what it represented), but I think it's a good choice to start putting heavy emphasis on the multiplayer and more importantly, making sure that it's functional before launch.

Dropping splitscreen to keep the FPS will probably help multiplayer out a lot: Halo 4 had terrible frame rate issues both in singleplayer and multiplayer. Yes, it's gutting the series' identity... but, have you played any of the Halo games from Reach onwards? Neither Bungie nor 343 care about the integrity of the series anyway.

Captcha: spell out this number: 7

Don't hurt me like that, Captcha, I was trying to be nice to 343 Industries here.
 

Stupidity

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Sep 21, 2013
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Halo 4 was a failure to innovate on almost every level.
AI, weapons, enemies, vehicles were all either boring reskins or from previous games.
The Multiplayer maps of Halo 4 weren't bad but that's still a terrible history of innovation overall.
 

Darth Rosenberg

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Evonisia said:
...but, have you played any of the Halo games from Reach onwards? Neither Bungie nor 343 care about the integrity of the series anyway.
I'd dispute that rather heartily; I've been playing since CE, and I thought 4 was terrific, especially in terms of writing and character. Absolutely cracking score, too, and I think it's the best Chief armour design (and animation/performance capture) yet.

As for the 'news'? All I ever really care about with Halo is campaign, first as single-player, then as co-op. So the more they focus on MP creeping into and around SP, the more likely my affection for the series will start to fall away. But we'll see - I'm kinda sick of all the pseudo-announcements in gaming these days... so we just need more hard facts.
 

The_Darkness

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That's a fair bit of hype that they're trying to cultivate there...

...If I was willing to hope, then I'd put a guess on Forge-World Fire-Fight, because that's an awesome thing that for some reason hasn't been done yet.

Unfortunately, I'm not willing to hope, since back in Halo 4 then 343i decided to kill FireFight for no good reason, and seem to be moving Halo multiplayer away from what I loved about the series. So frankly, I'm expecting this to be some variety of Spartan Ops revamped.
 

AndrewC

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Darth Rosenberg said:
Evonisia said:
...but, have you played any of the Halo games from Reach onwards? Neither Bungie nor 343 care about the integrity of the series anyway.
I'd dispute that rather heartily; I've been playing since CE, and I thought 4 was terrific, especially in terms of writing and character. Absolutely cracking score, too, and I think it's the best Chief armour design (and animation/performance capture) yet.
Absolutely this, 343 did a far greater job in writing and character work in 4 than Bungie ever did. (Except from the QTE ending, fucking hell 343 what were you thinking.)
 

OverEZ

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I used to get excited when they talked like that. Now I get nervous. Because the suits could be using "epic" as a synonym for micro-transactions.
 

fix-the-spade

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The_Darkness said:
So frankly, I'm expecting this to be some variety of Spartan Ops revamped.
Given that Spartan Ops has been drop kicked into tie-in comic Hell for all eternity, I'm not holding much hope.

It's a massive shame, before it's release the idea a 4 player Left4Dead style Halo campaign filled me with glee whilst Thorne and chums (and their part stuck in the middle of ONI/Halsey/Mdama's games) were the most interesting characters to be introduced in Halo 4.

But since Microsoft is apparently terrified of new and interesting, there was never a Spartan Ops, season two and they never properly fleshed out the scenarios. Limiting episodes to one week of usability on matchmaking was dumb too.
 

Darth Rosenberg

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AndrewC said:
Absolutely this, 343 did a far greater job in writing and character work in 4 than Bungie ever did. (Except from the QTE ending, fucking hell 343 what were you thinking.)
Heh, I didn't mind that, actually - Halo's never been good with 'boss' fights, so I'd rather a quite brief and simple button prompt augmented cutscene than a drawn out bullet sponge finale.

But yeah, from the Chief, Cortana, and even someone like Lasky, 343 nailed the writing and cutscene direction (the [Ur-]Didact was a fairly dull villain in terms of plot motivations, but I think - as with all the other characters in 4 - he was superbly realised in terms of writing and design. I think he's one of Keith Szarabajka's best roles, too, with the Didact's intro scene being a great example). It was also arguably the best looking Halo ever, I'd say, in terms of visual polish and lighting; Bungie had let their engine age very poorly, and for me 343 gave the series a visual flair and focus it had never really enjoyed before.
 

RicoADF

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Jun 2, 2009
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No coop local split screen campaign/multiplayer, then no interest. Thank you 343 Industries, you've just taken away the one reason I may need to get a XBO, you've just saved me buying the console for a long time.
 

BayouStalker

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Yeah, I have to say the lack of split screen co-op is sort of a killer for me. Me and the wife love to play these games on the couch, and being unable to do so pretty much makes it a no go. People still enjoy being able to play in the same room as one another without needed a bunch of tv's and consoles to accomplish the task.
 

Adam Jensen_v1legacy

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Sep 8, 2011
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MiskWisk said:
I understand that this is supposed to build hype, but all I feel is an overwhelming sense of dread.
It's called the Microsoft effect. It should be included in the next DSM iteration (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders).
 

Hairless Mammoth

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Jan 23, 2013
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Why do I have the feeling that this new, hyped up multiplayer mode is a mini-Destiny ripoff? I should make a personal bet where I spend $5 on ice cream if it's true and $5 on bland oatmeal if it's not.
 

Poetic Nova

Pulvis Et Umbra Sumus
Jan 24, 2012
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Meh, personally completely indiffirent about Halo now-a-days.
4 was better than 3 (a not so popular oppinion) but the story did end for me there.
 

Arnoxthe1

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Dec 25, 2010
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I'm betting it's a sort of Battlefield style conquest mode. (Which would actually be awesome.)
 

Stupidity

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Arnoxthe1 said:
I'm betting it's a sort of Battlefield style conquest mode. (Which would actually be awesome.)
Wow, your optimistic
Well your not wrong about it being awesome if done right. That's something I've wanted since halo 2.