Introduction
This time we will be going back to the Xbox console as the next Halo game is not on Steam! It is time to review Halo 5 Guardians! This time around, though, I have to say up front, this game does not deserve the Halo name. I will explain later as to why! If you are interested in following the story of the Master Chief after the epic conclusion of the previous game, you are in for a big surprise, as the Master Chief is barely playable this time around!
What did I think before playing Halo 5?
Finally, a Halo game that we were going to play on the Xbox! It was time for some fun local co-op! Which is exactly what my wife was also thinking after we were unable to play local co-op in the previous games. We were both interested how the story would continue without Cortana, we were thinking maybe a new A.I.! Little did we know the stupendous mess that this game is. For more information, we went to the Microsoft store page!Â
The Microsoft store page
https://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/store/halo-5-guardians/brrc2bp0g9p0
The first thing that I noticed was that there sadly is no local co-op. This was a huge bummer, but we decided to play it while taking turns. The next surprise was that the Master Chief would only be playable for a few missions! How can it even be a Halo game without the Master chief? To follow up the huge mistakes, the Flood is not even back, or even mentioned in the game!
Rating
I rate Halo 5 with a 3.0 before playing.
I do not even know who decided that this was a Halo game. There is no local co-op, the Flood is not back, the Master Chief is barely playable. Let us hope that the gameplay or story is at least good!
Story
The story takes places a few months after Halo 4 but instead of following the Master Chief you will be playing mainly as a new Fireteam of Spartans that are named as Spartans 4. After Master Chief receives a signal from Cortana and tries to rescue her, Fireteam Osiris is tasked with subduing Master Chief and his allies to take them into custody!
Rating
I rate the story of Halo 5 with a 1.0
What a horrible story, calling it a main Halo franchise game without actually focusing on the Master Chief. The story should have ended with Halo 4 if you ask me, however this story follows up on the death of Cortana who is actually not dead but just becoming a super evil being hell-bent on killing everyone. Awesome way of killing off a build up character in the previous genre, they should let the dead rest!
Gameplay
If there is something that I dislike in first-person shooter games that always used a single character to go on adventures, eventually joined by non-playable characters to aid in the upcoming battles, it is when a new game suddenly decides you need a full team for the complete game. You will be delegating a full team of Spartans for the whole game. The only awesome thing in the gameplay is that Nathan Fillion is there to talk to you. If this was a spin-off, like Halo 3 ODST, this would not have been a problem though.Â
You will be using new Spartan abilities like scanning or even dodging. Where did they get the jetpack thrusters, though? Most of the campaign puts you in the suits of Fireteam Osiris, while you eventually need to capture the Master Chief. This mission turns out to be a rescue mission, which is horrible, why does the Master Chief need rescuing?
The Promethean enemies make a huge comeback with even more annoying enemies! Including a boss that makes a bunch of duplicates! Luckily, this game has you call out for your teammates when you die, thus making you scream for help when you get shot up too much. While the online gameplay might be good in Halo 5, the actual gameplay and story are horrible.
Rating
I rate the gameplay of Halo 5 with a 3.0.
This entry in the game takes a huge step down in the Halo franchise, it is all slowly going down the drain. Whereas Halo 4 had actual good gameplay mechanics, most of them are thrown out in this entry. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!
Sound and Graphics
Graphics
The graphics of Halo 5 might seem good, as they are not that old. However, the scenes are just odd, as in most of them do not even feature the Master Chief. What is worse, the scenes are just over the top and totally not in the style of Halo as seen in previous games. The Covenant leader that tries to rise back in power gets cut up in one of the first scenes, not even a boss battle, just a simple stab and voilà , the evil overlord is dead!
Sound
The sound is not Halo like, but it is quite good. There is voice acting in this game which is quite fun to listen to as always. At least there are no haunting voices, rampaging A.I., just ordinary people and aliens. Sadly the Flood did not make a comeback, I was so hoping for that!
Rating
I rate the sound and graphics of Halo 5 with a 7.1
While the story and gameplay is bad, the voice acting is quite good, the graphics are also good. Do not forget that Nathan Fillion is in the game!
What did I think after playing Halo 5?
Halo 5 was not fun at all, while the Master Chief is barely playable, the new team has very forgettable characters except for Nathan Fillion. Due to the teammates being able to resurrect you a lot of the times, I started playing very recklessly and just rush in and charge them with the new thrusters. With this fast pace, this game was over in almost one day!
In the very few missions that you play as the Master Chief, the game gets more fun, but it does not last very long, sadly. I also think it is weird that the Master Chief needs to be rescued after four main games off beating up all kinds of alien life forms, and from what does he need to be saved? Cortana? The Promethean’s? The Covenant? If you want to find out, play this game!
Rating
I rate Halo 5 with a 3.8 after playing.
This game is quite horrible and a large step-down for the Halo franchise.
What are my personal thoughts about Halo 3?
My wife and I would have liked the game a lot more if the Master Chief was playable instead of a new fire team. The new mechanics would otherwise been fun, just maybe!
Rating
My personal Rating of Halo 5 is a 2.5.
I had high hopes for this game but how the mighty have fallen, the question remains, will Halo Infinite rise from the ashes?
Last Words
Pros
- There are new fun mechanics in Halo 5
- Halo 5 has good graphics and soundtracks
Cons
- Halo 5 barely features the Master Chief as a playable character
- The cut scenes are over the top, unlike previous Halo cut scenes
- The story of Halo 5 is very bad
- Halo 5 destroys a character by making it evil for no reason at all
- There is no local co-op in Halo 5
- This game is not available on Steam
While this game is not per se bad, it is not a Halo game which is why the rating is lower than usual Halo games, while the multiplayer might be good, I am looking at the single player mode. Another thing that you need to keep in mind is, that if you start on this Halo game, nothing might seem wrong but for reviewing sake, I went from the perspective of playing the previous games. If this was a spin-off, the new and weird mechanics could be validated.
Final Rating
3.6
Let me know what you think of Halo 5 in the comments!
I hope you enjoyed reading this review, I hope to see you in the next review!
If you liked reading this review, maybe you would like to share this review with your friends!
Wonder
I don't want to reiterate too much on what I've already said in your Discord server, but I want to once again reaffirm that I liked this review, and that it greatly helped me to understand the controversy surrounding this game. Is this game almost bad enough to sour your taste on the franchise as a whole, and does it represent any negative aspects of the franchise as a whole, or are all of its fault unique only to itself? Are you still willing to give Halo Infinite a go after this and see if it redeemed the franchise? I really don't like that Infinite seems to run on one of those free-to-play models, if what I'm seeing on Steam is correct. Or maybe you have to buy the campaign separately and can play the online or co-op modes freely? Or the other way around. I'm not quite sure, unfortunately, as I haven't read up on it too much.
supersven
While it does not sour the taste of the other Halo games, it is not fun to see how a great franchise has fallen.
As for Halo Infinite, we have started that game and are working on a review!
The Campaign and multiplayer are two separate games!
Jaromir Krzyszczak
at least the graphics look good....
supersven
Yeah, that is true.
Silentrets
Thanks for review.
long shade
Good review. Sad to see they didn't keep the quality up.
supersven
It is indeed sad.
poetickatana
Good review and a fair score. I played the first couple of Halos then lost interest in the franchise, but I'm now mildly intrigued by Halo Infinite. I look forward to your review of that game.
supersven
We are working on getting that review up and running!
Jaromir Krzyszczak
thanks for the review!
DonCarlos
Would like to see a future Halo game where you get the feeling of humanity being up against all odds against the covenant and the flood again.
supersven
The real feeling of Halo has been gone for a while now.
rotie
The main thing I disliked was having to play a shooter on Xbox.
supersven
I do not understand why it is not on Steam though.
Vercinger
I played Halo Combat Evolved as a kid and loved it, but haven't played any of the sequels because they were console exclusives. And now that they started coming to PC, I no longer care.
From_alan
Thanks for review. I haven't played any of Halo games yet. 1.0 for the story is definitely no reason to try this game =)
supersven
No one should play this game, just skip it, other Halo games also pretends like this game never happened.
Mirka Nissim
great review. I never tried a halo games before, I think it's time to start one 🙂 Thank you!