Halo 5: Guardians

[eLantern]

Not sure how many Halo fans are on this site, but I was ecstatic about the new gamemode Warzone and hearing that all the DLC maps for Halo 5 would be free. This will definitely be the game to occupy most my time on the Xbox One when it comes out.

[wings]

Not a Halo fan but it looks like I will be getting this.

[wittyscorpion]

I am definitely getting this. Halo 5 beta is on the top of my list of "the best FPS MP fun I have ever had", despite my lowly "silver" status level. Can't wait to get into "Arena" again.

Now this Warzone game mode also looks very exciting. I was worried that I won't be able to play with friends (like you guys) due to my low skill level, Warzone is perfect for that purpose (of having friends of mixed skills to play together and just have some crazy Big Team fun).

And 35 maps with no additional charge (20 at launch, 15 from DLC), plus the potential from forge? That's huge.

I am also excited about Halo 5 campaigns. I really enjoyed the look/feel/sound of the weapons in Halo 5 beta, would love to use them in story settings. I also heard that the campaign will support drop-in/drop-out co-op.

[wittyscorpion]

For bros who are interested in the campaign side of things, Game informer's Halo 5 hub is providing some solid bits of info: www.gameinformer.com/p/halo5.aspx

A few notes:

1) Two sides of the story: MC leading the legendary Blue Team of Spartan IIs (this is kinda exciting for players who are familiar with these guys through Halo novels), and Locke leading Team Osiris to hunt MC;

2) Each fireteam has 4 playable players when doing co-op;

3) When playing solo, the player is playing either MC or Locke while the rest of the fire team are played by AIs. Players can issue various commands to them;

[wittyscorpion]

This week's community update featured a comprehensive Q&A on Warzone . The game mode is shaped up to be the most anticipated activity of Halo 5.

A few notes:

1) The game length is around 22-24 minutes;

2) Hidden skill ratings will be used to keep the team balanced, systems in place to prevent a team from "snow balling" and end the game quickly;

3) AI difficulty: minions ~= Heroic, Bosses more difficult. The game will have friendly marine AIs to help you guard the base;

4) 6 maps at launch, 6 more (free) maps from DLC. Maps have interactive elements have unique bosses;

5) NO friendly fire;

[wittyscorpion]

Pretty good interview with 343i dev on MP: www.polygon.com/2015/6/29/8846825/halo-5-multiplayer-warzone-future-esports-e3

[wittyscorpion]

One thing I disliked most of Halo 4 was the sound, especially the weapons. As a result, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I like the weapon sound in Halo 5 beta. They sound crisp, punchy, and powerful.

GameInformer has an article / video on this topic: www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2015/07/01/recreating-an-icon-the-soundtrack-of-halo-5.aspx

[wittyscorpion]

New vidoc on campaign:

[eLantern]

Yup; I'm ready to play!

[Deleted]

So... Halo 5's storyline is basically-

[beavenge]

Apparently they're luring people into getting the Halo Channel app (ios/Android) with a unique Req Pack that includes a nifty emblem for early adopters. Or else Scott Johnson just lied to me.

Hopefully Req Packs are more similar to Titanfall burn cards than AW supply drops, being supplementary rather than necessary.

edit:

To get the Promotional Req Pack you'll need to download the Halo Channel app and watch at least 1 video

and for more on Req Packs

[hebbnh]

First thing I thought when I started reading that link was "Oh, sounds like battlepacks from Battlefield." One paragraph down: "Think Battlepacks from Battlefield." Easy enough!  I'd classify those on the supplementary, not necessary, side of things.  Warzone looks awesome.  Based on the number of other bros who've expressed interest, I'll probably be picking this up in October.

[wittyscorpion]

Jul 15, 2015 9:00:46 GMT -5 hebbnh said:

First thing I thought when I started reading that link was "Oh, sounds like battlepacks from Battlefield." One paragraph down: "Think Battlepacks from Battlefield." Easy enough!  I'd classify those on the supplementary, not necessary, side of things.  Warzone looks awesome.  Based on the number of other bros who've expressed interest, I'll probably be picking this up in October.

Req packs also look similar to the burn cards in Titanfall, which can only be single-used.

beavenge's req pack in-depth link makes everything crystally clear, looks like 343i have everything well thoughtout out to let these packs serve the purpose of keeping players invested in the game regularly without making them too overpowered to the point where the players who sink the most time or money into the game can have an insurmountable advantage over others.

Halo 5 should be quite complementary to Destiny.

1) The two games have the same roots and similar mechanics so the context switching should be minimal. Core skills gained from one game is transferrable to the other;
2) Destiny has the best co-op content - raid, while Halo 5 will offer a great PvP environment with 60 FPS, dedicated servers, and skill based league play;
3) Destiny is driven by loot so it offers a continuous incentive to play, while for Halo 5 we can drop in and play and not worry about not having the best "stuff";
4) Destiny's most interesting content require a fire team to be formed, encouraging social interactions, while everything in Halo 5 support matchmaking, so minimal organization overhead (best of all, no player count limitations for your fire team!);
5) Destiny's most interesting content are "set pieces" and are not very "dynamic" in nature, while Halo 5 offers Warzone which features mixed PvP / PvE dynamic fun;
6) Destiny provides tons of options to customize loadouts (classes, subclasses, weapons, armors, abilities, talents...), while Halo5 give everybody the same start (req pack is the exception, but it only affects Warzone so should not be a big deal in general while still adding some "investment" elements into the game);

[wittyscorpion]

Jul 14, 2015 15:41:00 GMT -5 beavenge said:

Apparently they're luring people into getting the Halo Channel app (ios/Android) with a unique Req Pack that includes a nifty emblem for early adopters. Or else Scott Johnson just lied to me.

Hopefully Req Packs are more similar to Titanfall burn cards than AW supply drops, being supplementary rather than necessary.

edit:

To get the Promotional Req Pack you'll need to download the Halo Channel app and watch at least 1 video

and for more on Req Packs

I downloaded the app as soon as it came out and just watched a video. Now how am I going to get my hands on this nifty emblem Req Pack?

[eLantern]

Just a heads-up, but SalientOne is Josh Holmes (Studio Head for Halo 5: Guardians) and his post mentions that Warzone will also feature a Base Assault variant that's strictly PvP; it sounds like it'll share some similarities to Halo: Reach's Invasion and the community created Conversion from Halo 4 along with other former past 1-sided game types like Assault and One Flag. Pretty excited about that, plus the eventual return of Big Team Battle too.

[wittyscorpion]

This week's community update offers a detailed look of Warzone map "RAID ON APEX 7":

From very early on in development, Raid on Apex 7 was a map our entire team was incredibly excited about. From the beginning, we had a great set of development goals that are all featured in the map:

Epic Scale – Apex 7 is among the largest of all of our Warzone Maps
Island Paradise – We were heavily inspired by The Silent Cartographer, AI beach assault at the beginning of each game is a great example of this. The art team has done an amazing job of creating this beautiful battleground.
Opposing Bases – Apex 7 has a unique layout as the team home bases face away from each other.
BTB Style Vehicle Combat – We drew quite a bit of inspiration from vehicle combat and battles on BTB experiences like Valhalla and Paradiso.
Mystery – Fitting with a remote Installation on a Halo Ring, we ensured there were many hidden areas to engage bosses in, the home bases also feature passageways to the center. I expect it will take many playtests for players to find and hunt down all of the bosses in Raid Apex 7.
Massive Forerunner landmark – Our environment artist Chin Fong really knocked this out of the park with this one - it also serves as the central base and main contest point of the map.

The following pictures illustrate the sheer scale of the map: (imagine 12 vs. 12 players with AIs and vehicles fighting on an island like the "Silent Cartographer" level of Halo CE, should be a very lively and awesome experience)

[wittyscorpion]

An in depth look into Halo 5 coop campaign:

www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/community/blog-posts/halo-5-guardians-your-team-is-your-weapon

[wings]

Interesting, co-op play in games usually just mean allowing two players to play at the same time and nothing else. I liked Army of Two: The 40th Day for the way co-op features were developed.

[wittyscorpion]

Halo news today from Gamescomm: (MSFT and 343I are really trying to knock Halo out of the ball park this time around)

1) The biggest announcement: million dollar prize pool tournament. With this much money, a new generation of pro Halo players will be on the rise;



2) Halo 5 limited edition XONE, will be up for preorder today;



3) Halo War 2s coming to XONE and PC in Fall 2016:



4) new Halo 5 MP trailer

[wittyscorpion]

Details on Halo 5 related hardware: news.xbox.com/2015/08/gamescom-halo-5-premium-hardware

LE XONE bundle: $599 for

1) Halo 5 themed console with 1TB hard drive;
2) Halo 5 themed controller;
3) Halo 5 digital download;
4) All the stuff to go with Halo 5 limited edition: digital items (REQ packs, armor, emblem) and collector items (alloy model guardian figure, Fall of Reach animation series, etc)



For players who just want a vanilla XONE + standard Halo, the price will be $90 cheaper ($349 for console that often bundled with free games, and $60 for Halo 5)

[eLantern]

Really want to trade my console in for that one.

[wittyscorpion]

Aug 4, 2015 13:34:32 GMT -5 eLantern said:

Really want to trade my console in for that one.

I need to get a second XONE for my wife so we can play coop, debating whether to shed the extra $90 for this bundle

[jaedrik]

Halo Wars 2 on PC Kreygasm

[wittyscorpion]

Halo MP game play footages are popping up on YouTube, a few examples:

Arena





Warzone full match:

[wittyscorpion]

Want to see Arena game play from pros? Halo5 invitational will be broadcasted live on twitch on 08/07 Friday @ 4PM CEST / 7AM PDT .

more details: www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/community/blog-posts/halo-5-guardians-gamescom-invitational-preview

Don't worry if you can't catch it live. I am sure we can watch recorded broadcast later on Twitch or Halo Channel app or YouTube.

[eLantern]

Aug 6, 2015 13:40:15 GMT -5 wittyscorpion said:

I am sure we can watch recorded broadcast later on Twitch or Halo Channel app or YouTube.

Yeah, that's what I was banking on.

[wittyscorpion]

Bits of info from the stream:

1) 20+ maps at launch, 6 Warzone, 14+ Arena;
2) 15+ more free maps between launch and June next year;
3) New weapon: plasma Custer. Take some time to get used to, sorta like Grenade Launcher in Reach;
4) Ground Pound button moved from Crouch to Melee so players can crouch jump;
5) Ground Pound adjusted. Now can be initiated from any height. However, if you do it from low height, it only does normal melee damage;

Impressions from spectating:

1) A lot more fun to watch than Halo 2 Anniversary;
2) All weapons can be useful in the right circumstances. Shotty now deserves its power weapon status. As a regular weapon SMG is great at CQC, it is also very good at taking down overshield;
3) Stabilizer is interesting to use, just and ADS, then you'll hover in the air for a brief moment. This sometimes can give you angles that you would otherwise not able to have;
4) Control over overshield can be the most important objective to win a game;

[wittyscorpion]

Without giving anything away, I would say it is definitely worth watching, especially the finals

I'll post a replay link as soon as I see one.

[wittyscorpion]

Here you go, replay link from Twitch.

[eLantern]

Sweet; thanks.