Halo 5: Guardians
| Halo 5: Guardians | |
|---|---|
 Cover art featuring Spartan Locke (left) and Master Chief (right), with a Guardian rising in the background | |
| Developer | 343 Industries |
| Publisher | Microsoft Studios |
| Director | Tim Longo |
| Producer | Chris Lee |
| Composer | Kazuma Jinnouchi |
| Series | Halo |
| Platform | Xbox One |
| Release | October 27, 2015 |
| Genre | First-person shooter |
| Modes | Single-player, multiplayer |
Halo 5: Guardians is a 2015 first-person shooter game developed by 343 Industries and published by Microsoft Studios for the Xbox One. Set in the 26th century, the plot follows two fireteams of human supersoldiers: Blue Team, led by Master Chief, and Fireteam Osiris, led by Spartan Locke. When Blue Team goes absent without leave to track down the artificial intelligence construct Cortana, Master Chief's loyalty is called into question and Fireteam Osiris is sent to retrieve him. Players fight enemies with an armament of different weaponry and vehicles in story-based and multiplayer modes, including a larger-format 24-person mode called Warzone.
343 Industries started to plan Halo 5 shortly after the release of its predecessor, Halo 4. In late 2012, the team set goals for the game, including larger campaign and multiplayer areas. Different departments worked collaboratively to build off each other's work for the campaign mode. The move to the Xbox One console allowed the development of the Warzone mode alongside traditional multiplayer modes, part of 343 Industries' focus on allowing for different play styles. Its game engine dynamically adjusts its resolution to maintain a frame rate of 60 frames per second; the focus on performance meant that offline capabilities or local networking were not included.
Microsoft announced the game at E3 2013. The game sold five million units within three months and is the seventh-best selling game for the Xbox One. Upon release, Halo 5 received positive reviews from critics, with praise directed at its gameplay, visuals, level design and multiplayer modes. However, the game's single-player campaign met divided responses, with criticism directed at its story, writing, and ending. A sequel, Halo Infinite, was released on December 8, 2021.
Gameplay
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Halo 5: Guardians is a first-person shooter game.[1] Players assume the role of powerful "Spartan" supersoldiers with a host of abilities, and use a combination of guns, grenades, and melee attacks in story-based campaign and multiplayer modes.[2][3] Players can sprint indefinitely, as opposed to the sprint limits in previous games in the series, though their damage-absorbing shield will not recharge in multiplayer; at top speed, the player character can slide across the ground or charge into an enemy.[2][4] A thruster pack allows for a speed boost or lateral movements, and players can clamber up ledges to reach higher ground.[4] Every weapon can be aimed while zoomed in, similar to iron sights; sustaining fire will knock players out of the zoomed view.[2][4][5] By zooming while airborne, players briefly hover; while aloft, players can target the ground for an area-of-effect attack.[5] A number of new weapons are also introduced in the game.[6]
The game's campaign mode casts the player in the roles of two protagonists, the Master Chief and Jameson Locke. Each character is accompanied by a persistent fireteam of non-player character Spartans—Blue Team for Chief, and Fireteam Osiris for Locke—who are present at all times.[7] During cooperative play, other human players assume control of these Spartans, who each have different loadouts and attributes.[7] Players can direct computer-controlled fireteam members via the d-pad to perform actions such as picking up a weapon, getting into a vehicle, or prioritizing a selected enemy.[8] If a Spartan takes too much damage, they enter an incapacitated state, and can be revived by another fireteam member before dying.[5][6] The game's difficulty scales to compensate for the number of human players.[9][2]
Xbox Live multiplayer features a variety of competitive and cooperative game modes. Established four-versus-four arena modes like deathmatch or capture the flag return.[10][6] New to Halo 5 is Warzone, a 24-player game mode that pit two teams against each other. In addition to fighting the enemy team, players can earn points by capturing locations on the map or defeating computer-controlled enemies; the game ends either when one team destroys the other team's home base, or they earn 1000 points. Players earn requisition points over the course of a match, which can be used to summon weapons, vehicles or powerups into the map based on rewards the player has earned from requisition packs (REQ packs).[6][2] These packs can be earned in-game via a progression system, or else bought with real-world currency.[9] In ranked play, players complete a series of placement matches to determine their skill rank ratings, which can go up or down based on winning or losing games.[11]
Halo 5 features a level editor called Forge, where players can create their own multiplayer maps.[12] The mode has a new control scheme compared to