First Impressions of Halo 5, (Halo1-3 big player)

Games Halo 5: Guardians
1

I have only played one game so far so its literally my first impression of the game. Had some trouble getting into a game, but once it loaded it was fine.

So Ill start with the good.

Sprint in Halo 5 is easily the best version of that attribute. It doesn’t feel awkward and it becomes a fundamental aspect of the game. The pace of the game is a little bit faster but doesn’t feel way too fast. The Hub of the game is amazing, the split of the 2 teams, and the easy accessibility to your friends list is a nice change from past games, especially on the Xbox One. Probably the best of any Xbox One game to date. The radar in this game to is much clearer than MCC, you can see enemies on their clear as day like Halo 2 and 3 again. Lots of games recently have been making it difficult to see and decipher enemies, Halo 5 u will not have that problem. The flinch is a nice addition for ARs, people are used to not being able to scope in with anything anyway, so if you just play the old style it still works.

Then the not so good:

BR in this game is just a travesty, not anywhere close to what it was. It used to be THE weapon, now its just useless. Everyone picked it up once or twice and ended up shelving it. Its the pace of play, with the boosting, that makes the BR not nearly as powerful anymore. Because everyone can sprint constantly, the BR is essentially a crappy sniper since u have to be really far away for it to be effective. I can only imagine a shotgun in this game being insane. The Sniper is pretty OP when used correctly it can be ridiculous, if you spam a little with ur AR, and then switch to the sniper and scope in you get one hit kills anywhere. Switching weapons with the Sniper needs to be slowed down a bit, its almost instantaneous. Also the zoom on the sniper could be slowed a tad as well.

My final thoughts is this is a Halo game that actually shows some promise. Its a step in the right direction. That being said, the BR needs to be retooled thats the one weapon that needs the most work. It just not useful right now and that makes the game feel way more like CoD. Using “submachine”(AR) guns and running around the map killing and melee. Halo is about 1v1 gunfights with precise aiming being the decider. Looking at this on the whole the things needing to be fixed really aren’t all that crazy. Just the frenetic pace and the effectiveness of the AR/pistol guns needs to be toned down and since this game has quite some time before being released, I’m sure it will be handled correctly.

2

Now that I have had the whole weekend to play the beta, I have solid idea that come next December, this will be the number one game on Xbox. I have to completely disagree with your comments on the BR. It is still the best or second best weapon in the game. The only gun that can take the top spot from it, and only in certain situations, is the DMR.

I do really like what they have done with the weapons though. The assault rifle, something I have usually tried to avoid using when the fighting starts in past Halo games (because it is boring), is actually a really fun weapon. The way it fires and the new zoom feature are a lot of fun, and is had some realistic consequences for spraying and praying, especially at medium distances (don’t even try long range). It can and will beat a battle rifle when the fighting gets up close and personal if aimed properly (not to say the BR doesn’t have a chance; sharpshooters always have a chance). This can be attributed to both the new movement and mobility system as well as a great damage increase at close range. I found myself switching to the AR if I knew I was about to run into an enemy at close quarters. In past Halo games, I would take a BR in almost any situation without a second thought.

Pressing the B button now boosts you in the direction of your choice. I thought they hit the nail on the head with this feature. The cool-down on it is just right. If you are sprinting in a straight line, boosting in that same direction doesn’t do too much to increase your speed. Where it really shines is changing direction on a dime. When an enemy launches a grenade just to your left, boosting quickly to the right to avoid its explosion feels great.

Perhaps your opinions have changed. I don’t really think you should write as much as you did after playing one game though.