My First-Hand Thoughts on H5 Multiplayer

Games Halo 5: Guardians
1

So, I’ve played a few matches in the beta, and have developed numerous opions on how it functions and feels. Also, I’ll list a few bugs I’ve noticed to raise attention to them. Let’s get started, shall we?

Thursters
Arguably the biggest change here. Each Spartan has one, which can activate to boost laterally in a chosen direction. These are great for escaping gunfights when your shields break. This, of course, is going to cause issues via complaints about how easy it is to escape. Or is it that easy? The no recharge sprint excellently blends with this to the point where you pretty much need to stay hidden behind said wall until your shields are back, hoping the enemy doesn’t land a grenade. Granted, if in the right position, one could boost-hide and walk away, but the maps offer plenty of open spaces, so one is never truly safe from fire.
I have yet to master the art of ground pounding.

Sprint
The no recharge mechanic is a beautiful equalizer. The maps seem to be scaled perfectly for sprint, and it melds great with gameplay. One is never too far away from gunfight. This along with the thrusters make for a faster-paced Halo, which I like.

Balancing
Everything is balanced. Set loadouts, thursters on everyone, etc. Each map has it own set power power weapon (ex; Sniper on Empire) with non-marked ‘tier 2’ weapons like the BR and SMG which also pack a more useful punch.

Spartan Chatter
Probably my favorite addition. Not kidding. The game feels so much alive with these communicating comrades. Especially with my mic being down for the count at the moment. The chatter only helps immerse you into the battle at hand. For me, it never got too excessive or old. Different phrases were used for the same occurrence as not to get too repetitive, and there are never Spartans talking over each other, and the shoutouts were spaced so it wasn’t a constant flow of speech. Love it.

Maps
I’ve only played two maps, Truth and Empire. Not sure if there are others available at the moment, but those are the two I’ve been able to experience. Both maps have an excellent blend of close quarters and wide open spaces for either type of combat. As I said before, sprint works well with them. Beautiful designs as well.

Noticed Glitches
-Sometimes there isn’t the option to back out of a lobby
-A split-second blackscreen after dying
-Shield bar remains on HUD after death for a bit
-Occasional server issues returning players to menu

I love player Halo 5 and can’t wait to see what it has in store for the next few weeks. What do you guys think?

2

Great post and agree on its content!

3

Which map do you prefer? I like empire more.

4

Great post, couldn’t agree more. The only maps so far are Truth and Empire, more will be added as the beta progresses.

5

Frankly, Empire is one of the best Halo maps in years. It’s glorious.

6

I agree wholeheartedly. Although, I wish ground pounds were a bit easier :stuck_out_tongue:

7

I found the Spartan chatter annoying when I was watching videos of the game, but having actually played it now I think it’s great.

One of them said ‘shots being fired from pink 2’ or something like that on Truth, I looked over and killed the guy.

They’re decent callouts as well, very accurate.

8

> 2533274974457747;1:
> So, I’ve played a few matches in the beta, and have developed numerous opions on how it functions and feels. Also, I’ll list a few bugs I’ve noticed to raise attention to them. Let’s get started, shall we?
>
> Thursters
> Arguably the biggest change here. Each Spartan has one, which can activate to boost laterally in a chosen direction. These are great for escaping gunfights when your shields break. This, of course, is going to cause issues via complaints about how easy it is to escape. Or is it that easy? The no recharge sprint excellently blends with this to the point where you pretty much need to stay hidden behind said wall until your shields are back, hoping the enemy doesn’t land a grenade. Granted, if in the right position, one could boost-hide and walk away, but the maps offer plenty of open spaces, so one is never truly safe from fire.
> I have yet to master the art of ground pounding.
>
> Sprint
> The no recharge mechanic is a beautiful equalizer. The maps seem to be scaled perfectly for sprint, and it melds great with gameplay. One is never too far away from gunfight. This along with the thrusters make for a faster-paced Halo, which I like.
>
> Balancing
> Everything is balanced. Set loadouts, thursters on everyone, etc. Each map has it own set power power weapon (ex; Sniper on Empire) with non-marked ‘tier 2’ weapons like the BR and SMG which also pack a more useful punch.
>
> Spartan Chatter
> Probably my favorite addition. Not kidding. The game feels so much alive with these communicating comrades. Especially with my mic being down for the count at the moment. The chatter only helps immerse you into the battle at hand. For me, it never got too excessive or old. Different phrases were used for the same occurrence as not to get too repetitive, and there are never Spartans talking over each other, and the shoutouts were spaced so it wasn’t a constant flow of speech. Love it.
>
> Maps
> I’ve only played two maps, Truth and Empire. Not sure if there are others available at the moment, but those are the two I’ve been able to experience. Both maps have an excellent blend of close quarters and wide open spaces for either type of combat. As I said before, sprint works well with them. Beautiful designs as well.
>
> Noticed Glitches
> -Sometimes there isn’t the option to back out of a lobby
> -A split-second blackscreen after dying
> -Shield bar remains on HUD after death for a bit
> -Occasional server issues returning players to menu
>
> I love player Halo 5 and can’t wait to see what it has in store for the next few weeks. What do you guys think?

I disagree mostly with your opinion on it being well balanced and the maps. I’ve found it to be imbalanced and the maps offer very little in interesting/unique shooting lanes, large in part due to the added chaos of greater speed/booster pack evasiveness.

9

Agreed. I think the new additions are perfectly balanced and playing the game is a great time.

10

> 2533274794873352;8:
> > 2533274974457747;1:
> > So, I’ve played a few matches in the beta, and have developed numerous opions on how it functions and feels. Also, I’ll list a few bugs I’ve noticed to raise attention to them. Let’s get started, shall we?
> >
> > Thursters
> > Arguably the biggest change here. Each Spartan has one, which can activate to boost laterally in a chosen direction. These are great for escaping gunfights when your shields break. This, of course, is going to cause issues via complaints about how easy it is to escape. Or is it that easy? The no recharge sprint excellently blends with this to the point where you pretty much need to stay hidden behind said wall until your shields are back, hoping the enemy doesn’t land a grenade. Granted, if in the right position, one could boost-hide and walk away, but the maps offer plenty of open spaces, so one is never truly safe from fire.
> > I have yet to master the art of ground pounding.
> >
> > Sprint
> > The no recharge mechanic is a beautiful equalizer. The maps seem to be scaled perfectly for sprint, and it melds great with gameplay. One is never too far away from gunfight. This along with the thrusters make for a faster-paced Halo, which I like.
> >
> > Balancing
> > Everything is balanced. Set loadouts, thursters on everyone, etc. Each map has it own set power power weapon (ex; Sniper on Empire) with non-marked ‘tier 2’ weapons like the BR and SMG which also pack a more useful punch.
> >
> > Spartan Chatter
> > Probably my favorite addition. Not kidding. The game feels so much alive with these communicating comrades. Especially with my mic being down for the count at the moment. The chatter only helps immerse you into the battle at hand. For me, it never got too excessive or old. Different phrases were used for the same occurrence as not to get too repetitive, and there are never Spartans talking over each other, and the shoutouts were spaced so it wasn’t a constant flow of speech. Love it.
> >
> > Maps
> > I’ve only played two maps, Truth and Empire. Not sure if there are others available at the moment, but those are the two I’ve been able to experience. Both maps have an excellent blend of close quarters and wide open spaces for either type of combat. As I said before, sprint works well with them. Beautiful designs as well.
> >
> > Noticed Glitches
> > -Sometimes there isn’t the option to back out of a lobby
> > -A split-second blackscreen after dying
> > -Shield bar remains on HUD after death for a bit
> > -Occasional server issues returning players to menu
> >
> > I love player Halo 5 and can’t wait to see what it has in store for the next few weeks. What do you guys think?
>
>
> I disagree mostly with your opinion on it being well balanced and the maps. I’ve found it to be imbalanced and the maps offer very little in interesting/unique shooting lanes, large in part due to the added chaos of greater speed/booster pack evasiveness.

There are several spots which are key. Vantage, control points. Map control and map positioning is key a lot of times.

11

> 2533274809220485;10:
> > 2533274794873352;8:
> > I disagree mostly with your opinion on it being well balanced and the maps. I’ve found it to be imbalanced and the maps offer very little in interesting/unique shooting lanes, large in part due to the added chaos of greater speed/booster pack evasiveness.
>
>
> There are several spots which are key. Vantage, control points. Map control and map positioning is key a lot of times.

True.

Maps offer numerous routes to transverse, each with it’s own set of battle points. For example, Empire.
You’ve got the back tower and front outside, the two sniper spawns. These areas accumulate the most intense and longest lasting battles. Many shootouts will also take place on the side areas. The middle area is wide open, good for getting across the map, but also a dangerous spot to get picked of by a sniper or other precision weapons.

12

I agree with everything you had to say. I really like the layout of Empire, but the differences in light make it really hard to see in some spots.

13

I don’t like the talking, and the celebration after the game, this is really more of an emotional attachment to Spartans. I want them to be sociopathic soldiers that don’t talk like Master Chief and just be chill and not so talkative, like Batman. At the end of the game, they should just stand there and look at the camera but instead they high five eachother??? They are like children. Just have them be silent and deadly.