Just a quick post without spoilers to convey my feelings after playing Halo 5.
Due to all the hype I was expecting something amazing, a tripple AAA blockbuster title… and I dont feel Halo 5 achieved that.
Now sure the mulitplayer is fast and furious, and as slick as its ever been, but its not as accessible as it used to be.
Now… after playing and completing the campaign… it just dosn’t have the iconic jaw dropping moments that I’d expect to have in a Halo game, there was no shiver down my spine.
I think the biggest problem was that all the huge set piece battles were removed or not present… everything felt like one small skirmish after another to get you from point A to B. The immersion wasnt deep enough, it was very fast paced with no opportunity for that mystery that the previous Halo games allowed for, there was barely time to take in the significance/ beauty of the brilliantly rendered enviroments.
In short… this game didn’t have the heart of the previous games… there was something intrinsically missing.
The writing was great, the characters were well played by very talented voice actors, but the story didnt allow for any exploration into those characters at all, if i hadnt read or immersed myself in everything Halo, I wouldnt have know or cared about what drove those characters… hell I wouldnt have got the story.
A game should stand upon its own merits, with its own fully fleged story, and Halo 5 just felt like a highway to the end of the trilogy.
Well, I respect your opinion, but I just don’t get the set piece argument, I can’t recall any previous game that had massive battles on this scale, the only thing I can think of is the Sabre section in Reach.
As far as the campaign is concerned, I think it may have suffered from the lack of monolithic characters like Didact, or Gravemind. Dealing “killing” blows to characters like that, or even just talking with them gives you moments of awe. Cortana just doesn’t give you that sort of vibe, and Warden just comes across as nothing more than a thorn in your side.
In previous campaigns we’re dealing with the closest things we have to deities in the Halo universe, whereas in Halo 5 it’s just a rogue AI recruiting other AI. The guardians are nice in terms of scale, but you rarely interact with them at all, and even when you do it’s only but so interesting since they’re seemingly nothing more than machines/vessels.
I somewhat agree with you in that the game didn’t really leave me with an incredible epic sense of accomplishment other Halo games traditionally has. I was also sort of disappointed that after all the hype and extra lore material, we hardly got to see any Blue team interaction. Other then a few phrases in-game to express their friendship, there wasn’t much substance there.
With all of that said, this game has set up one of the most grandest plot in Halo ever. The Guardians a monstrosity so large and for Cortona to yield so many, is terrifying and amazing. The fact that, one of the smartest AI ever created by ONI, one that knows almost all of its secrets, is recruiting other ship AIs to join her cause to subjugate life in the universe. And on top of all that, the tease in the legendary ending with the Halo ring … dam I cannot wait for Halo 6.
I see why Halo 5 seem a little bit of a let down for people, but it might just be whats needed for an enormously epic story for Halo 6. I still trust 343i to deliver a great story. Just needs to be way more blue team and Master Chief though…
But that’s just what made it such a bad experience for many people isn’t it? That it’s nothing but a setup for the next game? It almost makes it seem like they’re just saying “Oh by the by, here’s what’s happening in the universe right now. Prepare to wait for three more years before we really get back into it.” Sure, it makes us look forward to the next game, but that’s a lot of hype wasted for this game, and a long time to wait for a pay off.
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> Well, I respect your opinion, but I just don’t get the set piece argument, I can’t recall any previous game that had massive battles on this scale, the only thing I can think of is the Sabre section in Reach.
Halo 5 campaign needed:
Scarab battle ( I guess you do battle something close to it, but not as cool.)
Epic driving mission ( Like Halo 3 or 4’s last mission)