As a halo gamer since the early days of halo 1 (CE) I feel I have the right to express my opinion on why this game is a huge dissapointment :
1.The extreme lack of the series most iconic character the Master chief.
The Master chief has always been grately respected as an iconic character in the world of gameing and not just in the halo franchise. He is what makes halo, well… Halo. Spartan 117 is the reason why so many fans still play halo, he (especially for me) was one of my childhood hero’s. A game without him as the main character is like playing super Mario without Mario or crash bandicoot without crash bandicoot. Halo just becomes another standard FPS. Let’s face it we
play halo for nostalgia to experience our much
loved game like we did when we where young. I
feel like I had been slapped in the face by 343
when i played through the entire halo 5 campaign
and only played as the master chief for 3 levels.
- Spartan Locke sucks!
If you’re going to replace an iconic hero with a new
protagonist you have to make damn sure that he is
as every bit compelling and heroic as the last.
Spartan lock fails in every aspect in comparison to
the Master chief. Spartan Locke feels like a hired
gun whos personality makes my skin crawl.
Spartan Locke feels like a cheap character from a
call of duty franchise who lacks the simple
charisma and character of the Master chief. I can
honestly say that spartan Buck would have been
the superior choice.
- Halo 5 reduces the Master chief and his abilities to a common spartan.
The main reason I loved HALO was the ability to immerse myself in its gameplay and story, nothing
has ever compared to the ability to wipe out entire
armies of covenant fleet by yourself, a one man
army, a lone warrior who single handedly defies
odds and turns the tides of wars. In Halo 5 the
master Chief has been reduced to nothing more
than a common footsoldier who requires the aid of
a team to complete even the most simplest of
tasks. When I played with the master chief in halo
5 it felt like a incomplete watered down version of
my favourite iconic hero. This I believe was
purposely done to try to make fans believe that
spartan Locke is the way forward and that Master
chief is nothing special. Which 343 I completely
disagree with. Even the looks of The master chief have been tampered with, he used to be this monolith super soldier whos mere presence demanded respect… Now spartan locke and his team have been depicted as the equivalent to master chiefs massive stature which is a ploy to degrade the master chief further. This game looks
like halo but played like a cheap ghost recon. The fact that Locke had to save the chief was a low blow indeed.
- Campaign felt lack luster, no serious memorable moments.
Though the campaign wasn’t to bad in halo 5 it
lacks in memorable moments. Remember the time
players would have to single handedly comandere
a scarb tank or the time players teamed up with
the arbiter to escape flood infested buildings?
These where truly memorable moments. The only
seriously memorable moments in halo 5 was the
fight between Locke and the chief and to hardcore fans that fight should have been over in seconds
with the clear victor as spartan 117 (as 117 has been trained from birth and successfully killed the covenants leading factions single handedly) To a
true halo fan this memorable moment almost feels
offensive that 343 would degrade a much loved
character that much just to get Locke further into the spotlight.
I did however enjoy the multi player nothing felt
more like the prime of halo than halo 5s multi
player and online features however the campaign
is its problem I personally think that 343 needs to
stop assuming halos recent/past unsuccessful sales are down to the Master chief and maybe (hopefully) they will realize its recent/past failures
are more to do with the storyline and lack of
memorable moments than it is to do with its main
protagonist, The master Chief. I beleive The master chief still holds the key to the franchises future success but only time will tell whether 343 will realize this.