Zero Punctuation: Halo 5: Guardians

[Yahtzee Croshaw]

Halo 5: Guardians

This week, Zero Punctuation reviews Halo 5: Guardians.

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[Geisterkarle]

I could have stopped the video at "Free Willy" and I would have been satisfied!

 

[Devin Barker]

Haven't played any Halo game since 3. It became very clear to me they they just wanted to cash in on bros and multiplayer and the story was going to be a side note that someone slapped together over a weekend.

 

[Flame Sama]

As a Halo fan, I mostly agree with this review, but the microtransaction REQ packs can be purchased by playing the game. Saying people are using their credit cards to win in a kneejerk reaction to them being in the game. You can unlock every weapon without playing extra money.

 

[sneakypenguin]

Gotta say I disagree a bit with review. Gameplay is just so tight precise and balanced, pacing is quick your never bogged down no samey levels. Hell I even liked the story, levels are replayable legendary weapons are hidden around, smartscope and boost makes for precise movement and combat. Multiplayer arena has no unlocks is balanced as hell and is one of the few games with skill ranking.

Its the first halo that makes the old ones feel old.

 

[Freedom153]

This series seems to be as undying as Mario. I wonder how long 343 will last.

Also, Cortana as a villain? lol - they really are reaching now.

Funny thing is, I played Halo 1 on PC - only to vow to never buy any Microsoft games again after they slapped a Cease and Desist order on a mod for a different game that made everything into Halo, to make way for Halo Wars.

Between going 2 (and likely more in future) games past the "It stops here" marker and plot ridiculousness, seems I haven't missed out on much.

 

[An Ceannaire]

Long time fan of Halo, but I was absolutely gutted by Halo 5. Never been so disappointed by a game in my life.

I've disagreed with Yahtzee's Halo reviews in the past, but he hits the nail on the head with this one.

Also, I know it has been said countless times already, but the very fact that people keep defending it means that it needs to be reiterated: The REQ system is a pile of cash-grabbing shite and 343i deserve a slow, painful death for even dreaming of implementing it.

 

[Cartographer]

Cake-walk SP on anything other than legendary (and that is more due to poor programming and bugs than by design) with intrusive/annoying enemy reuse.
And oh god, the revive mechanic! Is there any system more perfectly representative of modern shooters? Just in case it's a widdle too twicky, you won't actually fail, just wait a few seconds (so long as the AI works...) and you can get right back to rushing headlong into all of the buwwets...

Seriously, Locke can go die in a hole too; blandest of the bland, don't care about him, his background, his story, and nothing in the game made me want to either.

And I swear to god, that final crawl... I expected "Marauder Shields" to pop out.

I had a feeling going in it was going to be bad, I'm seriously regretting spending the money now.

 

[Worgen]

Its interesting, I probably would have gotten halo 5 if I still played console games. And I still would play console games if ms had replaced my redrinnged 360 instead of me having to fix it myself and deciding I didn't trust it enough to buy anymore games for it. I always enjoyed the halo games even though the second one was the most interesting the story had ever been in them and they cocked that up with the ending and by having halo 3 just focus on the chief.

 

[Aptspire]

I could have stopped the video at "Free Willy" and I would have been satisfied!

I think he missed a perfect opportunity for a "Sperm Whale" joke there...

OT: oh good, the finale of Halo 4 was one of the rare dramatic moments and they retcon it. Amazing.

 

[L377UC3]

I absolutely knew Yahtzee would say something about that opening cinematic. The best parts of the game are uninteractive cutscenes - not the first time in Halo history - but this game pulls this card more than usual. The Campaign demonstrable tat, which is weird considering how people *generally* liked Halo 4's story, if not the gameplay. If anything, Halo 5 has all of the exact opposite problems as Halo 4, which makes it slightly more attractive to me, I suppose. Better than the last 5 years of Halo, but will pale in comparison to CE and 2.

HOWEVER.

The REQ system hasn't actually altered anything on the gameplay end. Nor has it really screwed over customers, to my knowledge. The in-game currency one can buy REQ packs with is piss easy to obtain: a few games in their Warzone playlist a piece. At best they provide cosmetic rewards for all gametypes, or weaponry and vehicles one can only access in Warzone. My only complaint is that unlocking armor pieces has been obsoleted by this system, but that's a problem with the implementation, not the idea itself. It's pricey and random, undoubtedly, but also entirely optional and stupidly easy to get for free. Unless it's the nebulous idea of Microtransactions in full price games that annoys people (the principle of the thing!) I don't see how this is really all that bad. I've had worse experiences with World of Tanks.

It also will supposedly allow for free DLC map packs in the coming years, which are an even bigger problem than Microtransactions, imo. 343 have also said that 50% of the money will go to the HCS prize pool, where Pro teams will compete for $1Million. Then again, 343 have said a lot of things, but if its just the concept that grinds your gears, this should nullify those qualms.

Haven't played any Halo game since 3. It became very clear to me they they just wanted to cash in on bros and multiplayer and the story was going to be a side note that someone slapped together over a weekend.

Which is why two years later, Bungie released a game with no multiplayer component and 343 put most of the development dollars into their campaign for Halo 4??

 

[sneakypenguin]

Also, I know it has been said countless times already, but the very fact that people keep defending it means that it needs to be reiterated: The REQ system is a pile of cash-grabbing shite and 343i deserve a slow, painful death for even dreaming of implementing it.

I thought it was balanced pretty good, I only have maybe 20 hours in the multiplayer and you get a pack a game pretty much (commendations levelups or buy one) I only buy the 10k packs whenever I find I have enough and I am still drowning in weapons and tanks.(seriously I have about 30 wraith and sword wraith and probably 200 powerweapons) Even doing warzone and using a req every life I'm still getting them faster than I can spend them.

 

[RJ 17]

As a Halo fan, I mostly agree with this review, but the microtransaction REQ packs can be purchased by playing the game. Saying people are using their credit cards to win in a kneejerk reaction to them being in the game. You can unlock every weapon without playing extra money.

While this certainly may be true, Angry Joe did the math and it would take something like 600+ hours in order to unlock everything in the game. The point being that these "microtransactions" are using the mobile microtransaction model: insert a massive grind mechanic into the game and then have the option for people to pay in order to reduce said grinding.

How about they...you know...just not have the grind in the first place?

 

[L377UC3]

As a Halo fan, I mostly agree with this review, but the microtransaction REQ packs can be purchased by playing the game. Saying people are using their credit cards to win in a kneejerk reaction to them being in the game. You can unlock every weapon without playing extra money.

While this certainly may be true, Angry Joe did the math and it would take something like 600+ hours in order to unlock everything in the game. The point being that these "microtransactions" are using the mobile microtransaction model: insert a massive grind mechanic into the game and then have the option for people to pay in order to reduce said grinding.

How about they...you know...just not have the grind in the first place?

They have that.

The grind is entirely optional and only effects one part of the multiplayer game. Halo 5 does some shitty things, but the REQ system is among the least offensive, imo.

 

[Steve the Pocket]

I remember when multiplayer was about skill and not who's been grinding long enough/dumped enough extra money into the in-game store to have objectively better gear than everyone else.

Granted, I sucked at it because it still meant newbies were constantly getting owned by people who knew where the rocket launcher spawns and what's the best vantage point to use it, but accidental imbalance still reflects better on the designers than the deliberate kind.

 

[Devin Barker]

I absolutely knew Yahtzee would say something about that opening cinematic. The best parts of the game are uninteractive cutscenes - not the first time in Halo history - but this game pulls this card more than usual. The Campaign demonstrable tat, which is weird considering how people *generally* liked Halo 4's story, if not the gameplay. If anything, Halo 5 has all of the exact opposite problems as Halo 4, which makes it slightly more attractive to me, I suppose. Better than the last 5 years of Halo, but will pale in comparison to CE and 2.

HOWEVER.

The REQ system hasn't actually altered anything on the gameplay end. Nor has it really screwed over customers, to my knowledge. The in-game currency one can buy REQ packs with is piss easy to obtain: a few games in their Warzone playlist a piece. At best they provide cosmetic rewards for all gametypes, or weaponry and vehicles one can only access in Warzone. My only complaint is that unlocking armor pieces has been obsoleted by this system, but that's a problem with the implementation, not the idea itself. It's pricey and random, undoubtedly, but also entirely optional and stupidly easy to get for free. Unless it's the nebulous idea of Microtransactions in full price games that annoys people (the principle of the thing!) I don't see how this is really all that bad. I've had worse experiences with World of Tanks.

It also will supposedly allow for free DLC map packs in the coming years, which are an even bigger problem than Microtransactions, imo. 343 have also said that 50% of the money will go to the HCS prize pool, where Pro teams will compete for $1Million. Then again, 343 have said a lot of things, but if its just the concept that grinds your gears, this should nullify those qualms.

Haven't played any Halo game since 3. It became very clear to me they they just wanted to cash in on bros and multiplayer and the story was going to be a side note that someone slapped together over a weekend.

Which is why two years later, Bungie released a game with no multiplayer component and 343 put most of the development dollars into their campaign for Halo 4??

Destiny has multiplayer. Its not VS but it is multiplayer. The development money may have been spent on the campaign... but did it result in anything meaningful? Did the story blow you away? Did it captivate you and make you NEED to play the 5th game? Im not saying every game needs to be amazeballs but the stories feel like generic scifi stuffing wrapped in Halo skin (or at least 3 did, like I said I have not played any of the newer ones) 1 pulled me in, I was actually interested in what was happening and wanted more, 2 less so but still came back for 3... after that mess... I was out... the story had nothing to it. This is more the point im making, Money does not = good game. Im glad folks like the multiplayer and that some folks are happy with the campaign. Im not telling you what to play, Im just not throwing down my cash for a game where the plot (IMO) is coming second to everything else in the game

 

[WindKnight]

The REQ system hasn't actually altered anything on the gameplay end. Nor has it really screwed over customers, to my knowledge. The in-game currency one can buy REQ packs with is piss easy to obtain: a few games in their Warzone playlist a piece. At best they provide cosmetic rewards for all gametypes, or weaponry and vehicles one can only access in Warzone. My only complaint is that unlocking armor pieces has been obsoleted by this system, but that's a problem with the implementation, not the idea itself. It's pricey and random, undoubtedly, but also entirely optional and stupidly easy to get for free.

One of my favorite parts of 3 and reach was customizing my spartan to be what I wanted to look like, and both essentially let me plan out what I needed to do to get how I wanted to look, whether it was challenges to perform, or creds to save and ranks to aim for.

You can't do that with the REQ packs. You can decide what customization you want, but you cant plan out how you get it. You just buy a diceroll, and hope you get lucky. And you buy more dice rolls, and maybe you get lucky, and maybe you get frustrated, and are tempted to buy more dicerolls with real money to get what you want.

This is precisely why I dropped the ME3 multiplayer once it ceased being a factor in my singleplayer run/I had all achievements tied to it.

 

[L377UC3]

Destiny has multiplayer. Its not VS but it is multiplayer. The development money may have been spent on the campaign... but did it result in anything meaningful? Did the story blow you away? Did it captivate you and make you NEED to play the 5th game? Im not saying every game needs to be amazeballs but the stories feel like generic scifi stuffing wrapped in Halo skin (or at least 3 did, like I said I have not played any of the newer ones) 1 pulled me in, I was actually interested in what was happening and wanted more, 2 less so but still came back for 3... after that mess... I was out... the story had nothing to it. This is more the point im making, Money does not = good game. Im glad folks like the multiplayer and that some folks are happy with the campaign. Im not telling you what to play, Im just not throwing down my cash for a game where the plot (IMO) is coming second to everything else in the game

Who brought up Destiny? I was talking about Halo 3:ODST, a game released two years after Halo 3 but without a unique multiplayer of any description. It's just a story campaign.

And it doesn't matter what I think. I thought Halo 4's story was stupid as hell. Doesn't stop the fact that it was the only decent thing about the game and what 343 was obviously most proud of showing off. Their new enemies were bullet sponges that cheated. Their multiplayer was unbalanced and broken as hell. Their campaign was repetitive and linear, but their story? Compared to the rest of the game, it's the best part. I'd say it's what they cared the most about.

Still bad, but it disproves your point nonetheless.

The REQ system hasn't actually altered anything on the gameplay end. Nor has it really screwed over customers, to my knowledge. The in-game currency one can buy REQ packs with is piss easy to obtain: a few games in their Warzone playlist a piece. At best they provide cosmetic rewards for all gametypes, or weaponry and vehicles one can only access in Warzone. My only complaint is that unlocking armor pieces has been obsoleted by this system, but that's a problem with the implementation, not the idea itself. It's pricey and random, undoubtedly, but also entirely optional and stupidly easy to get for free.

One of my favorite parts of 3 and reach was customizing my spartan to be what I wanted to look like, and both essentially let me plan out what I needed to do to get how I wanted to look, whether it was challenges to perform, or creds to save and ranks to aim for.

You can't do that with the REQ packs. You can decide what customization you want, but you cant plan out how you get it. You just buy a diceroll, and hope you get lucky. And you buy more dice rolls, and maybe you get lucky, and maybe you get frustrated, and are tempted to buy more dicerolls with real money to get what you want.

This is precisely why I dropped the ME3 multiplayer once it ceased being a factor in my singleplayer run/I had all achievements tied to it.

Oh certainly.

But you could also just play for those dice-rolls, if you wanted to. Besides, all it would take to fix that would be some super badass armor you couldn't get from the REQ system, but that you could only get by unlocking achievements. The two systems are quite compatible, imo. Either you roll for your favorite armor and risk being disappointed, or you LASO for a better set and get it guaranteed.