It was a difficult decision, but I have done something I didn’t think I was going to do… I have sold my copy of Halo 5.
If you read any of my previous posts, you would know that the campaign was a really big disappointment for me. With it’s poor story telling, lack of character development, clichéd plot, false advertising, few Chief missions and generally just boring when compared to previous titles. I think bringing Cortana back was a bad decision after them saying that she was dead. It would help if they explained what happened to her to change her so much. What was the ordeal that changed her views and values, is she being controlled, is this really Cortana or is this one of the fragments we saw at the end of the game and not really her (I kind of hope for the last one). Unlike the previous titles, I felt no desire to replay the campaign.
Despite what a lot of people said, I actually liked the Halo 4 campaign better. The story was well told, the environments were interesting and there were so many parts of it that made your jaw drop. I think one of the problems with Halo 5 was that there was no connection with any of the previous games, it felt like the slate was clean and most of what happened in the past didn’t matter.
I think it is clear that 343i want to make Locke the new face of Halo. Which is why he got more missions, better equipment and is pretty much the main character of the game (despite what 343i says). I know that the Chiefs story will one day come to an end (Which I think should have been Halo 3) and I hope when it does they will give him an ending worthy of what he is… a hero. But I think that Locke’s introduction was poorly handled. I think he would have been better received if they had a game of him during the Human/Covenant war. Showing what he did to be a worthy successor. But all we get is the Nightfall film which was not very good and many people say his character was poor in the film and even worse in the game. That’s why most people were happy to see Buck thanks to Halo 3 ODST.
The multiplayer was the one thing that kept me coming back to the game. Warzone was a brand new mode that offered both PVP and PVE in one package. I know a lot of people were unhappy with the lack of content at launch (which I admit was probably a big mistake by 343i), but this was a new mode that kept me playing for weeks. The REQ system was also a new way to unlock weapons, vehicles and boosts which at the time looked like an exciting way of progressing. It’s very clear that 343i spent more time on the multiplayer aspect rather than the campaign (From a business standpoint I can understand why).
But after a while, the lack of more content, made even multiplayer seem repetitive and boring. Warzone was fun at first, but a little variety and familiar game modes would have been welcome. When I heard that 343i was going to update the game with new content, I was both happy and unhappy at the same time. Happy that we were getting new modes to play, but unhappy that they could not have had all these contents at the start and that this was just a means to keep fans coming back. I also didn’t like some of the new Armour in the game, a lot of it looked like something out of Anime and not really practical. I also felt that there was too much to collect and it was annoying that you didn’t have some kind of reward for doing it. I think would have been better that you could collect credits and then use them to ‘specifically’ buy what you wanted, rather than a luck of the draw or spending REAL money of Packs (Though this is how 343i makes a profit).
Recently there were other factors about multiplayer that annoyed me. Specifically how each time there was a new update, the game would run more sluggish than the one previously. For example: I would be playing a match and I am about to fire my Sniper rifle at an enemy Spartan when all of a sudden the Spartan would be a few feet to the right of where he was standing or there was one time I was sprinting across the map and then I suddenly died for no reason. At first I thought it was just me, but I have seen other people complain about the same kind of problems and others saying how the Bugs actually affected their REQ points and equipment that they had worked so hard to collect.
Of course these are just my views. It is not my intention to put anyone off the game. I know a lot of people are enjoying Halo 5 and I hope they will continue to enjoy it. And even though my time with Halo 5 is over, I will definitely return to Halo 6. 343i is full of talented people and I know they have the skills to create Halo games that will satisfy the majority of the fans (Both Solo and Multiplayer). It is my hope the 343i will listen to what we, the fans, have to say and create a Halo game that truly captures what makes Halo one of the best Sci-fi universes ever. And when Halo 6 comes out, please 343i, have all the content available on the launch day. It will make a lot of people happy. I look forward to see what they will create (It can only get better ;p)
Well, this will probably be my last post for quite some time. So I will finish up by saying that I hope everyone continues to enjoy the Halo franchise and wish all of you good luck for the future. Thank you for reading and goodbye.
