Halo 5 Guardians Review : Impressive Multiplayer but disappointing Campaign Mode

Halo 5 : Guardians, the most awaited exclusive game on Xbox One, did manage to get lot of excitement with its previews, animations and all buzz going around. After playing it around for a week, here is what I think about it.

Single Player / Campaign Mode:

Just before I start, here is what you do during gameplay. You play as Locke to find out where Master Chief went, and you also play as Master Chief to find out where Cortana disappeared. It’s that simple and so is the gameplay. However if you really want to get real feel of Halo, make sure to check the story-line about its past so you know what is actually going on.

The most important change to Halo’s gameplay is Squad mode. You aren’t playing alone, mostly because it’s a rescue mission, where you have 3 more AI Players who help you get rid of some of the enemies which you had killed all alone.

So does it help? The answer to this is stuck between Yes and No.

The Good:

• It does make things easier because your AI mate will at least kill off 50% of your enemies
• Gives you enough time to find powerful weapons and taken on the stronger ones like the Knights.
• You can even mark enemies which needs to be taken down first. This helps to take down can enemy which is relatively stronger.
• The squads can revive each other now, and if all your team-mate die, they come back magically, so you don’t need to wait till next level for them.
• Great cinematic effects. This is something you would love, specially if you know the Halo story.

The Bad:

• The squad control is primitive. You cannot control individual to get things done. So if one your squad mate has a sniper, you cannot put it on high level position and let others attack while you aim with a heavy weapon.
• The AI is more or less missing. They aren’t smart enough. For example, if you are down and call for rescue, they all jump towards you and mostly get killed in Boss level.

The classic example of Poor AI is when in Ultimate Boss mode where you fight with 5 Wardens, and he can only be killed from the rear. The Squad keeps hitting kindly from the front instead of taking different position and take them down.

Multiplayer :

It’s all about treat here. While the Single Player disappointed me a lot, Multiplayer is just impressive. Here are my reasons:

• You have massive number of players 20+ in the War Zone which takes place over massive maps. You need to claim the area by taking down the enemy and then take down the other team by killing the incoming aliens enemies and battleships, and then defending your home base.
• Halo 5 has introduced “Req” system which lets you get access to powerful weapons and vehicles by using cards. These cards you need to earn or buy. Each time you take over the base, take down enemies you get new cards. Use them to get an edge over the fight. This is much better than randomly finding them here and there.
• Like in Single Player mode, You can use your Jetpack, Ground pound t change direction, run away or show up all of a sudden changes the whole multiplayer experience. There are lot more variables and you need team work to win.

Now there are other modes like Flag, Assault and so on, but Warzone is where you will be hooked most of the time.

Verdict:

If you are looking from a Single Player perspective, you will be disappointed. There is a story, but its less challenging and Squad mode is not up to the mark. However, if you are looking from Multiplayer perspective, it’s going to deliver one of the best experience you ever had. Go for it.

I expect 343 Industries to improve over the AI in single player mode by leaps and bounds. You need to give more control on how each of them gets postponed and the AI should actually get smarter. If you are still keen on playing the Single player mode, get yourself a team and get on the Co-op mode which will actually be fun because then you can co-ordiante things better and take down the boss levels much faster.

Where to Buy from:

• Amazon
• Xbox Online / Digital Copy