First of all, I would like to say that Halo 5: Guardians has THE BEST multiplayer I’ve played in a long time, in ANY game. I’ve always enjoyed the Halo series; I’ve played competitively in several games, and to me the only low point of the series was Halo: Reach (but I will also say that Reach had the best campaign/firefight). I would go so far as to say that out-of-the-box, Halo 5 tops all other Halos; even Halo: CE, and I’ve been an avid fan of Halo: CE since its release. With that said, the campaign has always been something that I enjoy, until Halo 5. Here are some things I would change.
1. Lack of split-screen. If you’re sick of hearing about this, then maybe you’re starting to realize how important this feature is to your most dedicated fans. After midnight release (I attend every single one), I always complete the game with my brother on Legendary in split screen. We both work and have families, but always make time to do this together because we enjoy it so much. Split-screen may not have been an oft-used feature, but it’s a feature that your most dedicated fans loved. I understand that from a technical perspective it may not have been possible, but let’s hope this changes in Halo 6.
2. Story lacks emotion. The amazement, mystery, and fear of Halo: CE. The tragedy of Halo: Reach. Losing Sarge in Halo 3, or Cortana in Halo 4. Those are the stand out moments in the stories, for me. What do we have to emotionally attach us to Halo 5? The fireteams don’t feel as close as Sarge, Cortana, and Chief did. The enemy is not as intimidating as Didact or the fully powered Covenant. Nothing of note happens in Halo 5, other than losing a whacked-out Cortana. It was just bleh. That’s the only way I can describe it.
3. Dabbling with new ideas. This is beginning to aggravate me. There were some ideas in Halo 4 that were touched on, like quick-time events, but then abandoned later in the campaign. I really liked the first encounter with an elite, where you threw him down the elevator. After that mission, I remember few until the final boss, and that was SO DISAPPOINTING. In Halo 5, it was the non-combat missions. These could have been cut altogether. Running around and talking to people was very uninteresting. How about a mission where you are escaping an explosion (yes, again) but this time with powered-up spartan armor where you have to rely on your Spartan abilities to get away fast enough? Mix in a few long-jumps using the thruster/clamber/crouch-jump and areas that have to be Spartan Pounded or charged. Running down the Guardian was dope, until you learned if you just keep hitting jump you’ll Hulk jump outta there. If you introduce a new idea, make sure it’s a good one that you can either pepper throughout the campaign to make it more interesting (FUN), or make the focus of an entire level; don’t just dabble. A great example was the jet fighting stage in Halo 4, but it was already done (and done better) in Halo: Reach.
4. Enemies (Legendary only). This is a big one for me, and it’s beginning to plague many first person shooters’ campaigns. Enemies in Halo have become either HUGETANKONESHOTMELOL or ANNOYINGLITTLEMFERRAAR. In earlier Halos, facing down each individual enemy felt different. An Elite General or Spec ops Elite was an EPIC and dynamic moment. The sand box allowed for multiple strategies and ways to defeat “boss” characters. Elites have lost all their luster, and Knights did nothing to fill that role. They pretty much stand there and pewpew while you target their weak spots. Combo-ing an Elite feels better than hitting a Knight’s weak spots and scoring a headshot while he rage-exposes himself. I feel like I’m contradicting myself a little here, so maybe this is the best way to put it: your player base has changed and matured, so it’s time to try new things when it comes to enemy AI and kill strategies. Don’t give EVERYTHING a weak spot. Make power weapons feel powerful again. Make Spartan abilities ESSENTIAL to defeating enemies at times. In coop games, make it so that some enemies (and objectives, for that matter) can only be taken down with the help of a team mate. Halo 5 changed multiplayer combat so that it was no longer 90% about aim; it’s now about how you use your Spartan Abilities as well. I don’t feel that this translated into campaign. For new players who are initially uninterested in multiplayer, having dynamic combat push them into multiplayer would be HUGE for the long-term life of the game.
I want to reiterate how amazing Halo 5 multiplayer is. I would previously wait for a MLG / Pro gametype before I fully jumped into multiplayer. Now, from Firefight down to Arena, I play it all. The fact that the player base is GROWING is not solely due to free updates; you guys just put together an amazing multiplayer experience. You should be very proud of what you’ve done. At the same time, the campaign suffered. In almost every other Halo, this was not the case. I hope there are some shake ups in the staff, and you guys get these problems worked out for Halo 6.
Hopefully, some of what I said will make sense and not sound so muddled. I will be a Halo fan for life, and although I’ll be mostly silent, I feel some of this had to be said.