Why Halo 5 Is the Best and Worst Halo Yet

Arnoxthe1

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So Halo 5 came out yesterday as I'm sure a lot of you are aware. And there's something about it that people and reviewers have glossed over that really, really, REALLY bugs me. But more on that later. I have more than negativity to offer in this post. So, to start, let's move on to our first part.

The AWESOME:

After Halo 4, many Halo fans were at least a little disappointed. It was a real grab-bag of both good and bad. A realization of some hidden potential in Halo and at the same time, a waste of it. Some things like Firefight were also needlessly dropped for other, less desirable things, and etc.

Now, the first thing that strikes me right off the bat with Halo 5 is how... Utterly polished this iteration is this time around. The experience is much more focused and is very solidly built. Movement was completely revamped and added to, and it's been, overall, a resounding success. It looks like 343 has done what was once thought impossible. They've successfully brought together the new in with the old. Having all of the old systems virtues but with new fresh elements to liven up both the Campaign and Arena combat both.

The Campaign has also received an overhaul. Gone are the days of wandering through tight corridors most all the time. Now levels are super wide-open with multiple ways to get to and accomplish your objective and co-op just making it even better.

Warzone, the new gamemode added, has replaced online Firefight and many agree, it seems to do a remarkable job, being infinitely better than online Firefight or even many Big Team Battle modes. And to top it all off, free map packs. FINALLY. Now all paid for with some mostly harmless microtransactions in Warzone. Gone are the frustrating days of not being able to play on some playlists because you didn't spend enough money. Gone are the days of being forced to play the base maps over and over and over again. Did I ever tell you the definition of- Oh, forget it.

And finally, the graphics are smooth and silky. 60 FPS. 1080p. As promised. Multiplayer servers are running without a hitch and MP connections are smooth. Glitches are minimal to nonexistent. All of this a far cry to the formerly disastrous Master Chief Collection. The whole game is focused, polished, and smooth as silk.

Now for...

The TERRIBLE:

Right off the bat, you can see that Halo now has 0 split-screen support. Nada. Nothing. Now, to be fair to 343, this was not intentional in the slightest, and, engine wise, since it relied so much on the game running at a constant 60 FPS ALL THE TIME, split-screen was simply an impossibility and had to be cut or else they would have had to scrap the entire engine and start all over again from scratch which would probably have costed millions in extra needed funding. Obviously unacceptable.

Having said that though, it still sucks MASSIVELY. Halo has ALWAYS had split-screen. Always. It was one of those games that you used to be able to pick up, knowing for a surety that at least 2-player co-op and 4-player split-screen capability awaited. Now, too bad. It's online or you're playing by yourself.

Which actually wouldn't even have been that bad! Had they included a decent offline mode besides Campaign. Or how about some offline multiplayer bots? I've been asking for that since Halo 3. But they have not even done that. So, needless to say, this hamstrings Halo 5 right out of the gate.

Furthermore, Forge will not be shipped with the game at Launch. Yes, it doesn't even have Forge yet. They say they're continually working on and improving it all the time and will be releasing it next month. But you know what? I'm still paying $60 for a game here. And that game is starting to look really sparse.

Even the playlists have taken a huge hit. There's now only 4 playlists. Don't like it? Tough. Oh and, offline gametypes? Only 4. Yes. Only 4 offline gametypes. No Juggernaut, No Race. No Infection. No VIP. Nothing. And the custom games options? They're even less than Halo 4. And no playable Sanghelli in any mode. Spartans 24/7. So they ignored literally the two BIGGEST threads on the waypoint Halo 4 board. Completely brushed it off. I guess Warzone was more important...

Sorry, starting to get angry. Anyway. Like Forge, they say they're gonna add these gametypes in later. But do we have to wait a month for each new gametype? How about the abysmal state of custom games options? Are they even going to look at those? Do they care? Some people didn't over at 343 apparently or else they would have been in at launch.

-

I can't help but think back to when Phil Spencer [http://www.geekwire.com/2015/xbox-leader-phil-spencer-on-the-sony-battle-minecrafts-future-microsofts-esports-plans-and-more/] was recently talking in an interview about the Xbox One launch. How he said the big problem a lot of people felt with the console was, a lot of people (rightly) didn't think Microsoft cared about them at all. And I can't help but echo his sentiments here. 343, do you even care about us offline players? Is Microsoft making you do these things? Why must you hurt us in this way? :(

But anyway though. Halo 5 is a solid polished game for sure. But compared to its past iterations, it's also the most stripped one yet. If you're OK with that, hey, that's fine, but please don't just gloss over it and say it's nothing. Thank you.
 

Erttheking

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...No forge? Only four playlists? No split screen? Christ, why is it with sequels nowadays it's about what they took out and not what they added.

Ugh. Well tell me this. I'm a fan that thought Halo 4 diddled all over the series' story, did Halo 5 unfuck that at the very least?
 

RJ 17

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erttheking said:
Ugh. Well tell me this. I'm a fan that thought Halo 4 diddled all over the series' story, did Halo 5 unfuck that at the very least?
I haven't played it myself, but scuttlebutt says that the story is pretty crappy. Fanboys defend it as "well it's the "middle-part" of a new trilogy, and the middle iteration of trilogies normally sucks."

So yeah, I wouldn't place too much faith in the story...especially considering how they really just shat all over themselves with the campaign from Halo 4.
 

Erttheking

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RJ 17 said:
erttheking said:
Ugh. Well tell me this. I'm a fan that thought Halo 4 diddled all over the series' story, did Halo 5 unfuck that at the very least?
I haven't played it myself, but scuttlebutt says that the story is pretty crappy. Fanboys defend it as "well it's the "middle-part" of a new trilogy, and the middle iteration of trilogies normally sucks."

So yeah, I wouldn't place too much faith in the story...especially considering how they really just shat all over themselves with the campaign from Halo 4.
Well if you haven't gotten to the end yet I won't spoil it, but I learned what the twist was for the story and it made me want to chew my own arm off in rage.

Yeah Halo's dead to me.
 

RJ 17

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erttheking said:
RJ 17 said:
erttheking said:
Ugh. Well tell me this. I'm a fan that thought Halo 4 diddled all over the series' story, did Halo 5 unfuck that at the very least?
I haven't played it myself, but scuttlebutt says that the story is pretty crappy. Fanboys defend it as "well it's the "middle-part" of a new trilogy, and the middle iteration of trilogies normally sucks."

So yeah, I wouldn't place too much faith in the story...especially considering how they really just shat all over themselves with the campaign from Halo 4.
Well if you haven't gotten to the end yet I won't spoil it, but I learned what the twist was for the story and it made me want to chew my own arm off in rage.

Yeah Halo's dead to me.
Well I don't have an XBox One and honestly can't imagine I'll ever play Halo 5, so you wouldn't be spoiling it for me. :p

But yeah, like I said: everything I've heard about the campaign for it says...well..."lame and lackluster" was the nicest way I've heard it described.
 

Tohuvabohu

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But compared to its past iterations, it's also the most stripped one yet. If you're OK with that, hey, that's fine, but please don't just gloss over it and say it's nothing. Thank you.
Halo 4 left me with a really, really sour impression of 343. The campaign was serviceable, although the story was a bit disappointing. The problem was the entire multiplayer suite. Since I played Halo multiplayers since 2, Halo 4's MP was the messiest and laggiest of the entire series. I tried to give it a chance, I really did. But even at it's best, it just wasn't very fun.

I wasn't convinced the series was in good hands after what 343 produced with Halo 4 and the MCC fiasco. Sadly, my expectations for the rest of the series dropped like a rock, and was one of the factors that led to me adopting a PS4 this generation.

Still, I had hoped that 343 would make a great Halo game again with Halo 5. I was pleased to see they had targeted 60fps, which is very nice. But had to sacrifice split-screen to do it, which fucking sucks.

There's now only 4 playlists. Don't like it? Tough. Oh and, offline gametypes? Only 4. Yes. Only 4 offline gametypes. No Juggernaut, No Race. No Infection. No VIP. Nothing. And the custom games options? They're even less than Halo 4.
Only 4 playlists?.... Shit. That really is terrible. Warzone looks very interesting, but I wonder what gives with the lack of playlists and custom options? For a Halo game, that's very strange.

Although I do admit that the core gameplay does look pretty awesome. It still seems to have the core Halo feel but with new additions such as the ground-slam, dodging, etc. The higher consistent framerate must feel really nice with this. But, it's shame the game seems to be missing so much from a typical Halo package.
 

TheSapphireKnight

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OP touched on this, but it is kind of amazing how little content this game is launching with when compared to past Halo games. Forge isn't coming until December, no file share, theater has been downgraded(no screenshot or saving clips, no campaign theater(again)), exactly 3 unique gametypes for the Arena multiplayer that are part of the 'default' experience(Slayer, CTF, Strongholds). No Oddball, KOTH, Juggernaut, Assault(bomb), no Infection or Grifball, they didn't even include their own gametypes they introduced in Halo 4(Regicide, Extraction, Ricochet). No Big Team Battle version of any of these gametypes and there are currently no maps to go with them. Better yet based on one of their "The Sprint" vidocs, the BTB maps that were promised to come after launch all look to be Forge maps.

Of the 21 maps they claimed to have, the 3 are just retreads of Warzone maps for Warzone Assault, 2 are "remixes" of existing maps using near identical layouts with some tweaks, all 5 breakout maps were built using the same forge pallet, and another 2 in the Arena are also built using unavailable forge.

Apparently more gametypes are coming later down the line, but there are no firm dates for anything. The best part is based on some neogaf posts from Frank O'Connor, some of these gametypes were not held back by development restrictions, but were deliberately held back in the name of "Sensible Sustain". So they saw Halo 4 hemorrhage players so they decided to hold back potential launch content to slowly add that content into the game. In order to retain more player they thought it would be a good idea to have less content at launch.

Halo 5 basically launched in early access, while it polished, it has far less content than its predecessors.

On top of all this are some fan fiction level plot twists that managed to also take one of the better parts of Halo 4 and retroactively make it meaningless.

I used to love Halo to pieces, but this stuff has really worn me down and now it feels like time to let go.
 

Loonyyy

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This might be why some of us don't care particularly much for the framerate debate. I'll put up with 30 FPS for co-op, or less pretty graphics.

Going to be a miss for me, I love the co-op, I haven't played one singleplayer since the second. Gives me another reason not to join the current console gen.
 

Skin

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Arnoxthe1 said:
The Campaign has also received an overhaul. Gone are the days of wandering through tight corridors most all the time. Now levels are super wide-open with multiple ways to get to and accomplish your objective and co-op just making it even better.
Didn't Halo:CE do this?

Really amazes me how ahead of it's time that game was and how Bungie and now 343 managed to butcher the formula over and over again, starting with Halo 2 with Bungie not understanding the organic set piece is what made CE so fun, and instead shoe-horned the player into constant boring set-pieces.

Not having split-screen is enough for me to not purchase the game. At the very least, I want to pop in my Halo game, sit back with a friend and play through it. That is basically what I did with all the other Halo's and now when that fundamental aspect is removed, I don't see much point. Halo 2, 4 and Reach's campaigns were so boring I would have never played them again if it weren't for split screen.
 

Evonisia

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RJ 17 said:
erttheking said:
Ugh. Well tell me this. I'm a fan that thought Halo 4 diddled all over the series' story, did Halo 5 unfuck that at the very least?
I haven't played it myself, but scuttlebutt says that the story is pretty crappy. Fanboys defend it as "well it's the "middle-part" of a new trilogy, and the middle iteration of trilogies normally sucks."

So yeah, I wouldn't place too much faith in the story...especially considering how they really just shat all over themselves with the campaign from Halo 4.
The middle part always sucks?


OT: Well, I know the story is going to be absolute wank because it's 343 Industries, but at the very least I can acknowledge that Halo 5 could be OK I guess. Halo: Reach level of technically competent but not much beyond that. Despite my immense love for the franchise I've only really cared about the multiplayer of Halo 3 and Halo Wars so it's not like the improvements or removals from it will effect me very much.
 

Chester Rabbit

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RJ 17 said:
erttheking said:
Ugh. Well tell me this. I'm a fan that thought Halo 4 diddled all over the series' story, did Halo 5 unfuck that at the very least?
I haven't played it myself, but scuttlebutt says that the story is pretty crappy. Fanboys defend it as "well it's the "middle-part" of a new trilogy, and the middle iteration of trilogies normally sucks."

So yeah, I wouldn't place too much faith in the story...especially considering how they really just shat all over themselves with the campaign from Halo 4.

I love how it seems everyone forgot that this was said a few months after Halo 4 pulled in a tone of bank.
"Xbox boss Phil Spencer says upcoming Halo game a genuine entry in sci-fi franchise; series no longer a trilogy, but now a saga.

The upcoming Halo title for Xbox One is a "legitimate" version of Halo, according to Microsoft Game Studios corporate vice president Phil Spencer.

Speaking with GameSpot during E3, Spencer declined to say if the new game was Halo 5 or a new extension to the series, similar to Halo 3: ODST or Halo Reach.

"It is the next Halo game that we are working on. We will talk more about actually the story arc in the game and how it plays out; we've got more time to talk about that," Spencer said.

Xbox boss Don Mattrick recently referred to the next Halo game as Halo 5.

Spencer did say, though, that it was important for 343 Industries producer Bonnie Ross to come out on stage during Microsoft's E3 briefing to show gamers the project is a genuine entry in the series.

"But having [producer Bonnie Ross] come out and announce the game, making sure people know it's a legitimate version of Halo coming out, and when it's coming out, and features that they're focused on we thought was?important."

Microsoft revealed during PAX Prime in 2011 that Halo 4 was the beginning of The Reclaimer Trilogy, which would span Halo 5 and Halo 6. This is no longer the case, a Microsoft representative confirmed.

"While we originally said trilogy, we've actually expanded this to more of a saga, so we don't want to limit the Reclaimer story within a trilogy."

The new Halo game for Xbox One will launch in 2014."

Well if you haven't gotten to the end yet I won't spoil it, but I learned what the twist was for the story and it made me want to chew my own arm off in rage.

Yeah Halo's dead to me..
Okay I haven?t played or seen anything about the story yet, but I am going to take a stab in the dark here.
It turns out Cortana isn't dead or they bring her back or some bullshit? weren't we all rolling our eyes and calling it as the credits rolled with Halo 4? I know I certainly was.
 

RJ 17

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Evonisia said:
The middle part always sucks?
Just saying what I've heard, my friend.

OT: Well, I know the story is going to be absolute wank because it's 343 Industries,
I like how you question my assertion that the game's story is going to suck (regardless of if it's the middle iteration of a trilogy or not)...then go on to say you're certain the story is going to be absolute wank. :p
 

_DK

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Halo 3 will always hold true to my heart as the best Halo game. Forging custom maps on foundry and loading it with your friends to play custom game modes was absolutely incredible. I really miss that.
 

Evonisia

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RJ 17 said:
Evonisia said:
The middle part always sucks?
Just saying what I've heard, my friend.

OT: Well, I know the story is going to be absolute wank because it's 343 Industries,
I like how you question my assertion that the game's story is going to suck (regardless of if it's the middle iteration of a trilogy or not)...then go on to say you're certain the story is going to be absolute wank. :p
Funny, that. I haven't seen any such comments so your post is what I had to go on :D

I think my less crude reaction is "why on Earth are fans using this justification? The last game had a terrible story, why would this one be any better?".
 

Fijiman

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Good lord, and we thought Star Wars Battlefront had been diced to pieces compared to it's predecessors. Just makes me not wanting the game at launch that much more justifiable. On the bright side, Fallout 4 is only about two weeks away so we'll all be able to forget completely about this mess once it's released.
 

Joccaren

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I'm not seeing what the fuss is...

No splitscreen... Ok, it sucks, welcome to the world of publishers needing to pump up graphics or else it 'looks like arse', needing to pump up to 60 FPS or else they're 'breaking promises of 60FPS 1080p gaming', and consoles not upgrading their hardware very often because 'It'd be too complicated'. Split screen was always a temporary thing in the AAA space. Too many conflicting demands for it to be able to exist permanently.

No Forge. Correct me if I'm wrong, but is that not just basically the modding/map making engine? And its being released in a month so that its fully ready, free of charge?
What the fuck is the problem here? Lots of games release their full modding capabilities post launch. Some release them at launch, and many release them partially at launch, but really what would you have them do here? Release the entire game a month later because Forge wasn't ready? Can you think of the shit they'd get for that? So, they release the core game early... And get slammed for it. Its a lose-lose situation.

More game modes coming in future. Ok... Again, the same sort of deal as above. Would you rather play something now, and get more later, or would you rather play nothing now so you can get everything later? Witcher 3 releases DLC for free, its Heroic. Halo does it and it should have been in at launch. Sure, if you'll end up having to pay for them, that sucks. If its free... Why the complaint?

Shitty single player? Correct me if I'm wrong, but Halo has never had a single player outside the campaign to start with. I can boot up combat evolved right now, and Single Player won't be anything but the campaign. I'll agree the trend sucks, but its been one that's established for over half a decade at this point. Seems less like something to mark a game down for now, more something to mark it up for when it actually does it - though that is kind of pathetic in its own right.

I mean, yeah, a lot of this is disappointing to some small level, but its all pretty standard these days. I don't see what the total outrage is when half the complaints are that they're fixing some of the complaints and it'll take time, and the other half are features that to my knowledge the games have never had in the first place. It'd be like me complaining the Call of Duty doesn't have a tactical 'conquer the world' game mode like Star Wars Battlefront 2 did. Its never been a part of the series, I don't see why it would be now.
So again, yeah, disappointing... But where is the big surprise in all this?
 

Pseudonym

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erttheking said:
Yeah Halo's dead to me.
Same here.

There are five halo games that I like, and two of those that I think are amazing. If microsoft wants to produce garbage with the same name attached I can ignore that. I still have my 360 and my anniversary copy of halo: CE. I'll wait for another good shooter with a different name to grab my attention.

Still, for those who didn't draw the conclusions I drew with halo 4 and are still on board with the current halo games, that sucks. The sad thing is, they apparently tried to rebuild halo with better graphics and messed up the more important things, like the functionality that halo games have had for several if not all itirations until now. I suspect those changes are done because improving graphics can be reliably done whereas improving gameplay or story requires good design which is a far more nebulous thing to pin down. There are hard scientific ways to improve your physics, resolution and framerate. That kind of certainty is probably reassuring for the suits who worry about financing the whole affair of making a AAA-game.
 

Outcast107

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Love how people keep saying "Halo is dead to me" Yet always keep coming back to halo threads to say how much they hate the series now. Never change Escapist.
 

BaronVH

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Pretty much a single player gamer, but I will venture into multiplayer some. I have to say I have really enjoyed it quite a bit. Yes, the campaign was short, but it certainly was fun, and I will replay it many times over. The ending was nowhere near as frustrating as Halo 2, and the article on Engadget that was so negative was way off base. Sure, there are things I would nitpick, but I did like it with the caveat that it needed a touch more length. Apparently I should be satisfied with Fallout 4 from what I have heard.
 

Sarge034

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I've only derped around with the campaign offline so I can't attest to the MP stuff as I can't even click it to see the options. I like the story, the gunplay is very good, controls and movement are good (but the climbing on a ledge mechanic can be a bit fickle), diolog/banter is good... It feels like 1/3 of a game though, that's my qualm. I know it's a trilogy so the story won't be concluded but what you actually accomplish in the game, how far you progress the story, is depressingly little. It leaves me with the same feeling Homefront did.