After Halo 5 has been released nearly 2 and a half years ago, I thought I’d share some thoughts on the new game mode, “Warzone”. This post will go over personal opinons on gameplay in Warzone and Warzone Firefight. This will be covering the successess and failures evaluated by not only my perspective as a fellow gamer and Halo lover but by criticism I gathered from other gamers as well. First I’ll go over gameplay in comparison to other game modes in halo 5, then I’ll compare it to other games and their gamemodes, last I’ll give my opinon and use all three segments of this review to suggest a new game mode that can be used in Halo 6. This article will mention REQ packs, the reward system and playable species as they’re both included in this point I will gloss over them quickly given that they are topics of their own discussion.
Warzone is a bold game type that has been made. Not only is it the first step to include AI for more than 4 people in the Halo Franchise, but it issues a reward system like no other in the game. To achieve the Achilies armor one must complete all the commendations within the spartan company which has been set high in order to only achieve it as a team. While this armor definitely has encouraged teams to slave over completing that goal, it is unique in design and is worth bragging rights. Unlike much of the other armor where it shares simiilar characterisitcs in the scout armor, this one definitely feels like a reward to boast about next to Helioskril. In game, the mode offers rewards for killing AI, other players, and capturing points. This is also fed off REQ packs that can be purchased or unlocked through in game points. While this is certainly a new concept, compared to the other gamemodes it is sincerely broken. Taking out the, “Pay to win” portion out of the argument here is the issue. In foresight this would be one of the last things to consider. At launch everyone started off at zero. No req packs, weapon unlocks, vehicles,. ect. We all unlocked them at random and we used that to change the tide of the game. Assuming that buying these packs weren’t an option, a brand new player that walks into this game several years later is punished by facing foes and having allies that have years of grinded gear that be little any basic weapons they’ll unlock. While this is a trait strongly caried in an MMO this isn’t good for a first person shooter let alone Halo. Halo originally was using skill and cunning tactics to take out your enemies to obtain power weapons. This is stll used today in the other various game modes in Halo 5. Everyone spawns with the same gear and load outs but not in Warzone. Simply telling a new player to “Get good” when he’s being spawn killed by a team in Warzone because he’s unable to get enough points to reach the weapons that he may not even have unlocked yet leads the game mode to a show of “who has the bigger guns.” This also brings up that while getting kills and capturing the objectives is the way to acquire better tech that if you’re able to stop the enemy from ever spaawning out of their base you’re left with an army of tanks, snipers, wasps, and power weapons versus your BR at best. That has happened quite frequently due to teams coordinating full fledge against random players which this strategy can be and has been used to beat out a team in under 5 minutes. That isn’t good.
This gamemode as stemmed off of Halo 4’s Dominion and Halo Reach’s invasion. This gives an alternative game mode that allows more strategic approaches and holding positions. Where the game falls flat competitively is when is pales in comparision to the mentioned Halo game’s game modes. Invasion was a spartan vrs elite game mode that allowed the different armies in the lore to use various stratgies and weapons to face off but they had similar objectives and if fast enough the enemy can take that away from you. In Halo 4 Dominion was a King of the Hill similarity game mode which awarded the team controlling the “hill” or more so the structure with the hill a spawning point, vehicles that only your team could spawn in and weapons with in the perimeters that anyone could grab. While there Dominon was a better step up off Invasion, it lacked an objective point like capturing the core or blowing up the base. Halo 5 Warzone pales in comparision to these game modes. To add emphasis, look at Titan Fall’s Attrition. AI’s and players spawn in drop ships to fight for the death with the ability to call in their Mech (Titan) as an award for what they’ve done in game. Sound familiar? It is definitely an inspiration for Invasion, Infinity Slayer, Warzone, and Dominion. Where’s the difference? Halo 5 Warzone falls flat in the sense that it didn’t take a unique approach as Invasion did nor did Domion. Invasion used the lore to add another playable faction to complete an objective that made sense. Dominion was a game mode that is hinted at being a simulation for the spartans just to try to explain matchmaking overall while ignorning that playable elites were a thing. Halo 5 Warzone took the base capture idea from Dominion, Dominion and Warzone used Invasion’s idea of spawning with loadouts but they tried to add in REQ’s as a means to unlock weapons and vehicles outside of the game with skill or money. That is definitely not Halo. If you were to have an armory associated with the base and a weapon unlocks that are equal (as I mentioned the issue above) you would have to fight your way to said weapons or vehicles or such as in domion capture a point and are rewarded then and there.
The issue is also similar with Halo 5’s Warzone Firefight. You don’t spawn in and fight wave after wave of enemies taking a point with weapons you spawn with or you find off the ground. You must use the ones outside of game. Looking back on Halo Reach’s game mode and Halo 3 ODST the game mode is stunted with REQ’s and to make matters worse the enemy your mainly fighting is the clock. There are no lives in the Firefight mode. You are given the guns you unlocked/bought and the punishement for death is an increased spawn time. The bosses must be taken out at a certain point along with fighting various enemeis in randomness which doesn’t feel like a simulation when are weapons and ammo are force fed through a terminal instead of being dropped off by a pelican like it would happen. (Seriously, how isn’t that part of the simulation?).
What do I think of Halo 5 Warzone? A lot of stones were throne but don’t get me wrong, there are fun aspects to Warzone. I like spawning a Warthog and driving my friend to victory. I just think it could be done bett hout continious whinning I have a suggestion: Combine Dominion with Invasion. Players must capture points if they want to earn their vehicles, defensive weapons, andy’re forced to work with teammates this way. Even for lore sake you could bring back elites for this game mode. Elites vs Spartans. Spartans vs Spartans. Elites vs Elites. Heck add Forerunners and Brutes as playable characters and factions too. There’s so much room for developement and after talking to other fans 343, I think there’ll be a group of players that will like this.
Tell me what you think guys! I love to hear your feedback. Am I wrong? Do you agree? Do you have a better idea?
<mark>mod edit: moved to Halo 5 Guardians</mark>
It would have been nice to have more cosmetics that are unlocked from commendations/achievements rather than RNG lootboxes, but that’s more of an issue with the req system than Warzone.