Salvanous's Review of Halo 5: Guardians (Thus far)

Games Halo 5: Guardians
1

A couple months ago I did a review for Halo 5: Guardians and since then, we have gotten a good couple fixes, and have 4 DLC’s under our belt. With half of our known content provided to us, I wanted to provide 343i with my view of Halo 5, and help hopefully allow some people to see the game in an accurate lighting. My grading system for Halo 5: Guardians is as follows:

Campaign (15%)
Arena (20%)
Warzone (15%)
Custom Games (10%)
Forge (15%)
Game Mechanics (15%)
REQ System (5%)
Customization (3%)
Controller Layouts (2%)

This is a review from someone who has played, and loved all the other Halo games, having completed every single game from Halo 1, to Halo 4 achievement wise. I’ve applied roughly 150 hours of play time into Halo 5, having completed on Legendary solo, having acquired all the intel and skulls. I haven’t completed the game on co-op, though have gone through a couple missions with friends. Keep in mind, this is just my view of the game and it’s DLC, and while I have spoken with dozens about my views and while many views are agreed upon, I am only speaking for myself.

Campaign

The Story (Revised)

I was rather let down by the story. From all the amazing advertisement that Microsoft, and 343i put into building up the story, of not really knowing who was on the morally superior high ground, between a rouge chief, and a shadowy agent of the infamous ONI, what we ended up getting wasn’t a battle of heroes operating in the morally gray, but a Locke who seemed to emulate Chief’s personality and only being a solider following orders, all while Chief was throwing a tantrum.

I would have loved to see a more morally ambiguous Locke, or even just more demonizing of his ONI roots.As for Chief, I believe his unwavering will to do good was done well, but his conflict between his actions, and those of his orders didn’t hinder the UNSC, or damage his reputation. It felt like the story was either scrapped, or retrained for a future game.

Halo 5’s story was also very unwelcoming to casual fans, and new comers to the story as well. The Whiplash relationship between Halsey and Palmer was a huge jolt, specially after their established relationship in Halo 4’s Spartan Ops. Yes, there is story within the universe that bridges the events between Halo 4, and Halo 5, but that doesn’t excuse 343i for not describing the story enough that even lovers of the game such as myself didn’t have to pause the game, and scratch our heads at the almost 180 mood changes that some characters had at points.

Halo 5: Guardians takes a lot from Halo 2, as the series seems to be mirroring the original three games (at least up to this point), as well as applying flavor to the game’s lore and characters through intel littered across the campaign levels. While the additional info is well appreciated, it doesn’t match up to the story that Halo 3: ODST’s additional side story provided. The game does a great job of playing tribute to it’s predecessors, but with Master Chief’s performance being lack luster, and Locke seeming to replicate Master Chief as a silent stoic character I can’t give the story more than a 6.5/10

The Atmosphere (Revised)

Where Halo 5 fails in conveying the story, their set pieces really exceed. The places you visit, while not explained as well as I would hope brought us to lush, beautiful set pieces that made me want to just look around and appreciate what the art team did. The music’s return to more classic Halo based music was well appreciated, and while I was sad to see the loss of split-screen, the beautiful environments provided in campaign at a stunning 60fps didn’t disappoint.

While the graphics were amazing I feel like the environments provided weren’t as diverse as those seen in Halo 4, as well as having just replayed through the campaign, I can think of only a few memorable set pieces, where as it’s been months since I played Halo 4’s, and I still recall more set pieces involved than that of Halo 5. The atmosphere of Halo 5: Guardians gets a 9/10

Game Mechanics and Map Design

The Campaign’s game play doesn’t disappoint, with subtle encouragement to use the new Spartan Abilities to open up new routes, and a revive system that helps guide players into working as a team with their friends, or AI partners it does a great job of acting somewhat like a prolonged tutorial for how you should be treating your team mates in multiplayer.

The campaign maps also provided you with incentives to use your Spartan charges, slams, and clamber abilities beautifully. They never felt forced, and offered you usually new ways to go about completing a more difficult area though higher ground, or a power weapon. If I wanted to nitpick, I could say that the almost consistent tutorial like nature of it all was heavy handed, but I honestly never felt like the game was holding my hand, but just offering new ways to complete a section.

The revive system, while it may be somewhat stripped from Gears of War, was a welcome addition to the game. It encouraged more team work, and also allowed us to understand the magnitude of an attack based upon if we could survive it, or if it would flat out kill us without redemption of respawning. Even if you weren’t a fan of the new system, and didn’t want to go and help out a fellow Spartan in getting back up on their feet, they would respawn within a period of time, thus not depriving you of your well earned progress in trying to enter a killzone to revive a team mate.

Changes to Halo 5: Guardian’s mechanics I would suggest is allowing downed Spartans to be able to crawl a little bit, so as get out of fire, or move to a lower platform that A.I. team mates would have had less issue reaching to revive me. The game mechanics within the campaign get a 9.5/10

A.I.

While the revive system made me appreciate my team mates, the Spartan commands at times felt rather lacking. I felt like these Spartans who were in my fireteam, at times were clueless, or even passive to issues unless I pointed them out. In chapter 2, I accidentally missed my target on commanding Blue team to attack an Elite with an energy sword, with them instead having targeted the nearby wall, they happily went up to the wall to admire the amazing detail of it, while me, and the rest of them were chopped to pieces without much resistance… this didn’t fill me with great confidence in my AI team mates.

Where the Spartan’s AI at times fails, I was enthralled with the changes 343i did to the enemies. With less Watchers in the campaign making Promethean enemies feel like they were a cheap version of difficult, and Knights having received a new armor mechanics, with more weak points on their bodies opening up as you destroyed their armor made them feel amazing. The application of Promethean soldiers also helped diversify the new enemy force a bit more, and this is just talking about the Prometheans!

The Covenant have gotten some well deserved improvements as well, with Jackals now willing to melee Spartans that get to close to them, improved invisibility for Elites, and Hunters having acquired a rapid fire gatling gun, I never felt like Spartans were the only ones who received upgrades in the new installment of the game. The AI of Halo 5 gets a 9/10

In Summary (Revised)

While Halo 5 comes with a new coat of paint, and refined enemies, and AI behavior it can’t make up for what I believe to be a truly lackluster story. The Campaign for Halo 5 receives an overall grade of 7.8/10

2

Arena

Maps (Revised)

The geometry of the new maps fits the new Spartan Abilities like a glove, with great verticality making the whole maps feel more cohesive, and short and long sight lines giving all styles of players something to play with. The people who designed the flow of these maps did an amazing job in providing us with awesome flow of combat that never feels very stale…

With that said, where the art team did a great job with lush environments in the campaign, the maps in Halo 5’s multiplayer feel very phoned in, with numerous maps feeling urban based or forged. When I was told we would be getting 15 maps at start, I thought of maps like Regret, Snowbound, Valhalla… giving us beautiful altering environments that were as fun to look at as they were to play on, and what I got where dull looking maps that I expect from CoD games. The DLC maps provided have gone about fixing this with more scenic areas, and forged maps are helping to cut down on all the maps feeling cut straight out of another urban FPS map

Finally, I want to give a shout out the some of the map creators for Halo 5, the living wildlife on some of the maps being intractable being a beautiful touch to some of these maps. That along with various maps like Fathom having hidden interactions available with some of the cover on the map just helping add another level of depth to some of the maps not inherently observed. All I can ask now is for 343i to give us some seagulls to use as target practice like the good old days on Last Resort. Great job to everyone who has put those fine details into the map and really shown their love and dedication to the game.

While the map selection is getting better, and there are some great little details in these maps, besides Torque, I have yet to find a map that really felt very memorable. All the maps in Halo 5 tend to blend together to me, and I want to see more new maps (or old maps coming back as remakes) that call to me like other Halo games have. The maps for Halo 5 receive a 7.7/10.

Weapons

I know that the controversial application of ADS (Aiming Down Sight) has had many hard core fans throw up their hands in outrage, claiming the game is selling out to the competition, but honestly, it’s the same scoping system we have all known and loved in the Halo series, just with a new paint job, and with it having been applied to all weapons this time, and not just precision based weapons… and I love it.

The AR feels like a joy to use now, something that this veteran Battle Rifle lover, never thought I would say. It removed my fears that AR starts would be a bad thing, and that not being able to find another weapon would neuter my ability to play well. Every weapon in the game feels viable, and I believe that those who want to complain that a certain weapon is over powered, just is looking for something to whine about. That 343i also helped make non-UNSC weapons feel more powerful is something to really appreciate as well, with the controversial boltshot receiving a new purpose, and the Suppressor now feeling perfect, I can’t say enough good things about how they have treated their weapons.

I honestly feel like the weapons have never been as balanced as they have been in Halo 5, with only the boltshot seeming to need a minor boost to it’s fire rate. The weapons and their balancing in Halo 5: Guardians gets a 9.5/10.

Gametypes (Revised)

With the inclusion of gametypes like Grifball, and Assault, and Oddball, Halo 5’s gametype options have expanded. With that said, I can’t condone the lack of other classic game types, or the option to make said gametypes in the forms of Infection, King of the Hill, Juggernaut, and VIP. There are other amazing gametypes I would like to see return to the series like Stockpile, and Headhunter.

Breakout is a great new gametype for Halo 5, that really does call out for team work more than many other game modes in the Halo series, but I want to see more game modes that to me don’t feel like a slightly altered Slayer, Capture the Flag, or Assault.

These are all game types that would help bolster the rich gameplay that Halo offers, and many of these need to be in here already. So while we have seen some game types come back to Halo 5, Gametypes only scores a 6.8/10.

In Summary (Revised)

With new maps, and more gametypes having been applied and teased to us, Halo’s arguably main component has gotten a steady boost in the quality of it’s contents. I still heavily want them to work on applying many other game types that are either mainstays in the series, as well as provide us with more gametype customization, but that will be discussed more in Custom Games. The Arena component of Halo 5 receives a 7.9**/10.**

3

Warzone

Maps (Revised)

Warzone’s maps feel like they have a better spread of diversity to them. Each fitting into a different theme, be it desert, snow, tropical, and urban. They do a good job of helping in providing the environmental scenery options that initial multiplayer maps lack. The map design also feels well crafted, with not really a single part of any of the Warzone maps feeling tacked on, but all contributing well to the overall play of every iteration of the Warzone mode.

With that said, I feel like the Battle for Noctus map punishes a team who loses all the bases too heavily, with ramparts on both sides of the monument providing an amazing defensive position to keep enemy team pinned inside their base too easily. I have yet to be part of a game where we lost all the bases in Battle for Noctus and come back to win the game.

Also the area above the Fortress in Stormbreak has some very odd invisible barriers that I don’t understand. If you are trying to fly a banshee, or phaeton to take on the Warden Eternal in those areas, it can feel like going through an invisible maze.

343i also gave us a technical truth when they said the game would have 6 Warzone maps, when in reality they were the exact same maps with a few forge items barely changing the game. While “Urban” did actually change up Battle for Noctus’s composition, the other maps are too close to what they were. To this end, Warzone’s maps receive a 7.1/10.

Spawning (Revised)

The spawn system in Warzone feels a bit lacking, with a good couple respawn locations either leaving you far out in the open to be killed on spawn, or even putting you out miles away from the location you had assumed you would respawn. I feel like what ought to have happened in the aspect of respawns is that we should have been able to spawn within bases, even if they were under attack, even if it meant increasing the respawn time.

343i has listened to my requests, in making friend’s waypoints appear a different color which I give them immense appreciation for, though I would say that the change from a baby blue to a sickly pale green isn’t a great improvement. I would love to suggest that they change up the waypoint for people we have on our friend’s list appearing as a bright green, rather than something I might see coming from my nose when I’m sick.

Spawning could also heavily benefit from giving us multiple camera views of a location, rather than just one view. Too often have I spawned in an armory, or a garage where I didn’t realize that the base had a Spartan wielding a shotgun and SAW inside because that information wasn’t made possible. There have also been some simply terrible spawn points, with some occasions that I will spawn in, expecting that I can

Spawning in Halo 5 receives a 6.5/10

Loadout Weapons and REQ Cards

The first thing I was pleasantly surprised by with Warzone, is that I found out that all the Primary Weapons were permanent. Yes I had kept up to date that they would be, but I had feared that the versions of Primary Weapons that had attachments wouldn’t be. That I can rest easy that I know will always have my double scoped BR once I reach REQ rank 3 allows me to say that the Warzone game mode isn’t pay to win… It’s “Time” to win.

With certain superior versions of weapons, mods, and even basic weapons locked behind luck of the REQ Pack draw, the people who have been playing the game longer have an undeniable advantage. That I have access to a laser sighted Battle Rifle, while all you have access to is an Assault Rifle during your first game, I should be pounding you into the dust. I don’t have too much of an issue this though, if they were to do the following:

Apply it so that more REQ rewards based on level are static. I guarantee that everyone here once they reached level 2 got a Battle Rifle in their REQ pack reward. If we acquired the DMR, as well as the mods at levels, instead of luck, then I wouldn’t complain about it… I was well on my way to Rank 47 before I got my hands on a DMR, well past the point that I should have have had one of my own.

Single Use cards thankfully never feel required, but instead are something you just feel like using. The only times I ever use a single use card are when I deem them safe to use, and beneficial (such as when I just got killed by someone with an energy sword who is running towards our base, I won’t hesitate to pull out a shotgun for the next time I respawn). With all this said, I give Warzone’s weapon choices a 8.8/10

A.I. and Point Allocation

I think that 343i gave a half truth again when it came to Warzone’s AI across the battlefield. When I envisioned Halo’s Warzone, I thought about Firefight having met Titanfall’s gameplay, with plenty of AI wandering the map, allowing us to pick them off instead of worry about other players more easily. Instead what we got was static, heavily forewarned AI spawns. This was a huge let down to me, as I was one of those people who were adamant that we would be getting Firefight with Halo 5.

Despite 343i’s sin of not providing us what I would call a “True PvPvE Experience”, the way that points are allocated for a Boss Kill are unacceptable. If I know that Boss Banshee is spawning in, so I use my REQ points to acquire a Spartan Laser, and put 3 rounds into the banshee uncontested, but then the other team just puts in half a clip of an AR into the boss… I shouldn’t be given 0 points, while they get all the points. It discourages the use of REQ cards, and makes who wins matches feel like luck, rather than skill. An easy fix to this would be that the team that gets the killing blow on the enemy gets all the points, BUT if the other team did more than 65% of the damage, then they would get half of the total points as well. If both teams were about tied, and it ended with a game with both sides having more than a 1000 points, then they could easily program it that the team with the most points was the victor. This would make the other team still feel like they contributed, and feel better that their kill was stolen, and that they had still contributed to their team, but as this isn’t in the system currently I give the AI and Point Allocation of Warzone a 6/10.

In Summary

There are many reasons to not like Warzone. The mode has fewer maps than it tries to advertise, it’s possible to have yourself spawn out in the middle of no where right after you just called in a weapon, only to die from being confused as to why you are out in the open, and even when you do call in that weapon, there is potential that you may not get credit for using it on bosses, as all that the game seems to care about is that final .0001% of damage dealt to the enemy. The game was either intentionally, or unintentionally designed to aggravate people, and make them feel like they just lost/misused THEIR power weapon, rather than the map’s weapon.

With that said, there is a charm to Warzone that is undeniable. If the game would apply multiple viewpoints of bases during respawning, and if partial credit (even if just 20% of the bosses’ points) was applied out to teams that may not have killed the enemy leader, but did over 70% of the damage to the enemy AI, the game would feel like it encouraged, and applauded players for using their REQ weapons, rather than feeling like they had just made a poor mistake. Halo 5’s Warzone receives a 7.2/10.

4

Custom Games (Revised)

First off, I want to convey that there is a difference between Custom Games, and Forged Maps. There are some INCREDIBLE maps made by people out there, that can even make some of the people brought in by 343i to forge run for their money. This section is here to discuss Halo 5’s flexibility to create new content, rather than the community’s ingenuity to create new content.

Halo 5’s Custom Game Options seem to do well in many areas that I never realized that I could ask for, with the potential to change grenade’s blast radius, to the speed of which assassinations are pulled off, even to allowing us to toggle off Spartan Abilities, or even allow shields to recharge during sprinting. With that said, I think the game ROYALLY fails in some more basic custom game options.

Options that we have for Slayer in terms of points awarded to players are only in 3 categories: Points for a Kill, Points for Dying, Points for a Betrayal. While this is alright, it is terrible compared to options we had in both Halo Reach, Halo 4, and even Halo 3 where we could determine points also applied for this such as headshots, sprees, and assassinations. That we don’t have these options terribly cripples players to create many more diverse game types. Remember dodgeball back in prior games? Where you had regenerating plasma grenades, and the only way to get points was to stick someone?

Halo 5 also neglects to offer Spartan Appearance options, where you can force everyone to wear specific colors, or have special effects on them, such as appearing to have over-shield, speed boost, or damage boost on. I would love to see these also return to the franchise in one of the upcoming DLC’s, as these two things alone would be immense upgrades to the series.

To me, I feel like 343i went about applying all these amazing aspects to custom games, and just forgot some of the basic building blocks that players tend to rely on to make great games within Halo. Even now, I have seen numerous custom games created, where honor rules simply need to be applied to have the game play as planned. This should be changed, as while 343i seems to understand that a more casual environment tends to help their game in the long run, they should understand that more simple ways to keep more casual players around is by allowing their community to continue to use the sandbox of Halo to create them more content for free.

For Custom Games misplaced efforts, I can only feel comfortable giving custom games a 5.5/10. There custom games options are currently failing us, and is now in my opinion the largest flaw in the game.

Forge (Revised)

I honestly can’t say enough good things about Halo 5’s forging system. Is it harder to understand: Yes, very much so. Is it so much better than Reach or Halo 4’s versions?: To the point that you should be weeping in joy if you are a forger.

That forge has implemented so many amazing features from the time of day, the ability to have these maps that look like snow is falling, and to be able to create the illusion of wind (illusion, as it doesn’t effect grenade arcs), and even generating incredibly realistic ground pieces of various environments is beautiful. That 343i is continuing to add features into forge as well, even teasing at a fileshare like system to save groupings of forge blocks together to apply out easily into new maps is an unasked godsend that I am eagerly waiting for.

From the competitive maps I have seen, to just the aesthetic pieces people have built, it’s without doubt that Halo 5 has the BEST forging system to date, and will continue to provide us with incredible maps for years. Yes the controls for it are a bit harder to grasp, and it would be great to be able to make custom controls for it, but that’s not a huge difficulty.

Really the only way I can see 343i improving upon what forge offers to us now is to keep a good amount of eyes on new custom made maps, and continue to work with their community to make some of these beautiful maps reach the demands needed to be able to become part of matchmaking playlists.

Forge receives a 9.5/10, with the last half point being taken off for not being in the game at launch.

5

Game Mechanics

Spartan Abilities

343i I think really did a great job in the evolution of these abilities. Their take on armor abilities evolution from Reach to Halo 4 I think refined them beautifully, and Halo 5’s evolution I believe should be more well received among more veteran fans of the game. Spartan Abilities I think have made the game faster than ever (In my personal opinion at times a little TOO fast, but not worth deducting on grades). And have really fixed many issues, or polished up things that already worked. If I were to be nitpicky though, I would convey it’s a shame that sprinting towards an enemy’s back ending in death via shoulder charge is less satisfactory then an assassination. To that end, I give Spartan Abilities a 8.5/10

Fileshare (Revised)

The Fileshare system, and the ability to bookmark people’s work is… beyond beautiful, it’s just priceless. That I can recall back to Halo 3’s fileshare, and how it would take what seemed like 10 minutes to download something from someone’s fileshare, or even Halo 4’s fileshare, where I felt it best to try to acquire it, and then wait for around an hour for it to magically pop up in my content… it’s nothing compared to Halo 5’s system, where I can literally bookmark it, and I instantly have it.

The only way that the system could be improved, is if I could find someone’s file share in game, rather than having to add the person as a friend, then reload my game and then go to my friend’s area to find them, go to their fileshare and get what I needed from them. It would be great if that search mechanic was already in game, but honestly the system is so user friendly as it is, that I can’t give the Fileshare mechanic anything less than a 9.5/10, with once again that last 0.5 being taken off for not being in the game at start.

Splitscreen

As controversial as it may be, I’m willing to stomach 343i’s decision to remove split screen. I can understand how it could tax the system’s limits… With that said, I would say that multiplayer has less stellar graphics than the campaign, and even if split screen was ONLY in Custom Games, or even just games without an internet connection it should be in the game. I think 343i would have put it in, if they thought they could, but just because they didn’t think they could, doesn’t mean I’m gonna give them a pass on this. They will receive a failing 5/10 in this category.

Machinima (Revised)

This component isn’t something that many games would be graded on, but since it’s been a mainstay in the series since the start of Red Vs. Blue, to see that 343i has fixed the lack of lowering their weapons when the game came out, to provide us with a legitimate machinima mode is something I would love to hug them over. It’s great to see that 343i seems to have taken many areas that many of us called them out on, and working to fix these areas, and not just fix, but improve upon them. Just like my love for their fileshare, and Forge though, I need to decrease this score to a 9.5/10 for being late to the initial launch of the game.

Achievements and Commendations (Revised)

I honestly love the selection of achievements. None of them feel very difficult to acquire, while not necessarily easy. DLC map based achievements have always been my bane, as were specific acts that you needed to do in multiplayer. I do wish there was some more achievements tied to the easter eggs of the game, and even some more grueling achievements like those we have seen in LASOs, and Vidmasters, but it’s a loss that is acceptable.

Alongside this, I’m adding in Commendations to this category, as they are worth giving a shoutout. Where in Halo 4, it seemed to be a trial to just get through a particular weapon’s commendations, Halo 5 seems to have taken the hint, and made each commendation’s required amount of kills an amount that didn’t demand genocide. That each weapon’s commendation felt like something I could achieve, rather than far beyond my grasp is something well loved. I also love that they were reasonable enough not to add a plasma pistol commendation, bless you 343i. For achievements, the game gets a 7/10, and Commendations gets a 10/10, coming together to make a 8.5/10

In Summary (Revised)

4 months ago when I talked about this category, it received a failing grade of 4.5/10, something that I absolutely hated about this game. Since then, we have received some well needed love in the form of a great fileshare, a mode for machinima makers, and even more things I am sure to be forgetting. I still can’t give them better points for not applying in splitscreen, but I can tell you that everything else really does help improve the game. The Game Mechanics total score comes in at 8/10.

Customization

Armors (Revised)

To me, Halo 5 seemed to shoot itself in a foot with armor options. While I wish we had control over all the components of our armor, rather than what our suit, helmet, and visor color is, I don’t mind too much… What I really hate though is that many of the armor sets we have static shaders on them. Some suits of armor I love, but they have static shaders to them, that makes the secondary color on them darker, less vibrant, which doesn’t allow them to work with various helmets, and the vice versa , with helmets like the Hunter helmet coming with a shader, that makes it impossible to go well with some armors.

I like that some armors had a static color to them, such as static white lines, or even a few areas of red or teal (less the teal in my case). But many armors also tried to go with an asymmetrical design on these armors, that don’t sit well with me. If instead of giving us a static shader, they had given us 3-4 colors to apply to our spartan, it would fix the issue easily.

Despite all this, I give the Spartans in Halo 5 a 6.5/10

Stances

I feel like 343i really missed with Stances, as they feel like a hidden aesthetic. The only place other people will see your stance is when they look at your service record in game. If your character took that stance before the match, if the stance was taken while, you looked at who was in your current fireteam, or even if it just showed up on Halo Waypoint It would feel it actually mattered.On top of that, some stances places your helmet’s visor in unappealing light, to the point that shadows make it near impossible to convey your helmet’s visor color.

And this is the case with a multitude of stances too… The lighting needs to be fixed (and yes, I did try increasing the brightness of my television AND game). Because of these reasons, I have to give Stances a 6/10. They are cool, but they could be so much better applied to make each person feel more unique.(Sidenote: I love that when you take a stance with a primary weapon, if you have a skin on that weapon, it shows in the stance. Someone did a good job there!)

In Summary

The Customization I believe is a very small component of the game, and it’s features are appreciated, but if these stayed exactly the same, while everything else was fixed it could be a stellar game, where these features could be polished and the rest of the game untouched would still result in a sub-par game. The Customization aspect of Halo 5 receives a 6.3/10

Controller Layouts

It was a shame that we weren’t able to fully customize our button layouts, but that wasn’t something we had ever received in previous versions of the game, just something highly requested (specially for forging button layouts) Thus, the game receives a passing, but average 7/10

6

Expansions

As I’m unsure if you can even call the extra monthly contents DLC, I’m just going to apply them out as expansions. Each expansion will be graded roughly based upon the additional REQ Cards, Spartan Aesthetics, Maps, and Extra Content they provided. Each Expansion won’t be worth the same amount of points, as some Expansions easily show more work was put into them, so each expansion will be applied points as such:

5 Points for REQS (Single Use)
10 Points for Aesthetics
10 Points for Maps
10 Points for Minor Added Content
25 Points for Major Added Content

Shadow and Light

REQS

I really can’t give much to the REQs we received in Shadow and Light. Yes the Light Rifle variants are fun, and powerful, but the woodland and tundra themed vehicles felt lazy, and seemed to really only be there to make an already immense pool of content more unnecessarily big. It really felt like it was just there to force you to purchase more REQs to get rid of some of the worthless REQs like the mongoose (not the gungoose). To the end that they only seemed to make getting more desired REQs harder, I am giving the REQs a 4/10.

Aesthetics

While the Tracer armor wasn’t my taste, it did look pretty awesome, and the Shinobi armor looked amazing. The emblems to me were decent, but didn’t really make me very impressed. The Green Machine weapon skins did show a lot of love to me, and while I personally don’t use them, I think they did have a lot of content provided into them, and am happy to give them credit. The “Shove it” Assassination also to me was very cool, and one of my favored assassinations (even if the knife wobbles uncontrollably when the assassination speed is brought down to a crawl) The aesthetics get a 8/10

Minor Added Content (Big Team Battle)

Big Team Battle had been needed in Halo 5 since it started. The maps provided, while fun I thought was highly aggravating that we didn’t get a “proper” BTB map for it, but only got forged maps. I understand that they were made by some highly competent forgers, and many forgers I admired, but it doesn’t change the fact that this casual based mode of Halo came late, without 343i generated maps, and that the casual list was created as a ranked play list… The minor content of Shadow and Light gets a 7/10.

In Summary

Shadow of Light was a decent addition to the game. It didn’t really give me anything I was very excited about (Other than Big Team Battle, which should have been in the game at launch). But it had enough there, has content that I, or at least someone I know loves. In the long run, Shadow and Light Expansion gives 17/25 extra points to Halo 5.

Cartographer’s Gift

REQs

We got back the SPKR Rocket Launcher, and saw some incredible upgrades for it for the versions we use in Warzone that fit in perfectly with the weapon. On top of that, they gave it it’s own Commendation to work towards. They nailed the design, they made it fun, and I love it. 10/10.

Aesthetics

For me personally, they nailed the aesthetics for this expansion. With the Gold Standard weapon skin being what I use on every single one of my weapons, to seeing a much better looking Rogue armor set (343i, please make another rogue set, so we have options between Cutthroat, and the new option, rather than the checkerboard skin for the standard Rogue set). The Raijin, the Locus, the Mark IV, everything looks beautiful. This expansion also gave me another well loved assassination in “Oh Snap” and gave us a comical animation in “Nice Try”. I really can’t say enough good things about the contents of the aesthetics of this expansion. 343i, I love all you who worked on giving us these pieces. 10/10.

Maps

Battle of Noctus is my favorite Warzone map. With that said, it is the hardest map to make a come back on, as if you lose all your bases, and the team gets you stuck inside your Home base you are done. The high ramparts of the Monument make it impossible for you to get out of your base and reclaim an area to keep your core protected. If the enemy team is stuck inside their home base, I want it to feel like it’s a challenge to push into their base, and keep them from spilling out. I don’t want to feel like I’m shooting fish in a barrel, while I’m behind bullet proof glass.

Overgrowth was also a really good arena map. While I’m admittedly more of a Warzone fan, than Arena, I would say Overgrowth is one of my top 5 favorite 343i constructed maps in Halo 5. The maps in Cartographer’s Gift get a 8/10.

Minor Added Content (Spartan Company Commendations)

I thought this was a great expansion into the game, as it really made Spartan Company’s work to get a really sweet set of armor. It helped push for Spartan Company’s, and I feel like it made Spartan Company’s feel a little less niche, and a bit more relevant. With that said, I wish they had changed up how you got the Achilles armor from having it be a static commendation, to being a scaling commendation.

What I mean by this, is that It’s as difficult for a 5 person Spartan Company to get the Achilles armor, as it is for a 100 person Spartan Company to get the armor. I would you could apply Spartan Company’s into different size’s, be it Fireteam, Squad, or Company. It isn’t a huge deal, but it would make more elite groups of small friends still feel like they were just as hard working as the 100 some more casual players. Regardless, the added content gets a 8.5/10.

Major Added Content (Forge)

The version of forge they gave us was worth the wait. That they are continuing to improve upon it, and add more features and items to it is just icing on the cake. While I have already provided points for Halo 5’s forge mechanic in the base evaluation of the game, I will be applying it again here, purely for just how worthwhile to the series, and how I couldn’t feel comfortable giving it any more percentage to the base portion of the game. the Forge component gets 9.5/10

In Summary

Cartographer’s Gift really did a lot of things right by me, in giving me many of the favorite renditions of armors, skins, assassinations, and maps. It really was the expansion that I feel “fixed” Halo 5: Guardians, and brought it back to a place closer to what Halo is supposed to be. I love everyone who made this expansion, because they proved to me that there are people over at 343i that love Halo, because when the game first came out, I was very bitter to many of the choices, and lack of options the game had at that point. Cartographers gift receives a massive 55/60 points for Halo 5.

7

Infinity’s Armory

REQ

While Cartographer’s Gift seemed like the apology for Halo 5’s state when it came out, it was the Halo 2 Battle Rifle that pulled me back in to play Halo 5. I love that it’s back in the game, and it it comes with the nostalgic old battle rifle sound, that it’s actually statistically different than Halo 5 battle rifle (Little slower kill time, with a bit more bullet magnetism). The upgraded versions of the Carbine were also great to see, and while I’m sad that the ultimate version of the Carbine is effectively conveying that we won’t see the Needle Rifle in Halo 5, I’m happy we get it’s spiritual successor. The REQs in Infinity’s Armory receive a 9/10.

Aesthetics

This expansion actually didn’t provide me as much nostalgia as that of the Cartographer’s Gift with the SPNKR, and the Mark VI Gen 1 Armor, but it did try to tap into it again with the Mark V Alpha with and the Battle Rifle (with much more success in the later, rather than the former). The Achilles armor looks really impressive to me, as does the Atlas look like a sleeker version of EVA.

Where I am disappointed, on the verge of angry… is that we got a Pizza, and French Fry skin before we got infection… We got only what I assume someone stoned wants their gun to look like… before we got the game mode nearly everyone and their mother is crying out for. In a game that they claim doesn’t have the ability to support split screen, can support a pepperoni skinned Assault Rifle… That’s really hard to swallow for me (pun intended). While I didn’t like the Locke’d and Loaded pistol, or the Eh ARRRR… I could appreciate them as something goofy and quirky that could appeal some in the community… but food based skins… It’s because of how stupid, and out of place these skins are, that I give the score for aesthetics here a 6.5/10.

Maps

I honestly don’t like either Urban, or Riptide. I feel like Riptide is too squished for proper small teams, even 2v2, or FFA… and I don’t really like Urban, because I don’t appreciate Warzone Assault. with that said, I do commend 343i for changing up the middle of Urban so that it wasn’t Battle of Noctus’s monument center, and I definitely won’t be marking them down for something, just because it isn’t my personal taste. The maps of Infinity’s Armory receive a 7.5/10

In Summary

I’m gonna chalk up my lack luster love of Infinity’s Armory to Cartographer’s Gift just bursting at the seams with content and things I loved. I do greatly appreciate components of this expansion, and I’m sure that many people actually love many things I didn’t like about this expansion… but to me, it seemed like most of this expansion was a literal joke, that it was supposed to be things we thought were stupid and completely random and I want to try to appreciate that, but it’s hard to appreciate it, when there are things like Infection, Juggernaut, Custom Game options improvements, and more than need to be done before some of these goofier things can be appreciated. Infinity’s Armory gets 18.5/25 for Halo 5.

Hammer Storm

REQs

The REQs in Hammer Storm’s update provided some excitement, but a good deal of fixing that needs to be done in my personal opinion. I feel like the new upgraded versions of the storm rifle are perfect, and they feel powerful and really fun to use, as does the Gravity Hammer, and the Halo CE Magnum… but both of these returning items aren’t following expectations held by prior returning REQs.

Where the return of the SPNKR brought about more versions for Warzone, the Gravity Hammer hasn’t (hopefully in a future expansion), which isn’t a huge deal… but that we don’t see a gravity hammer medal, and that it’s actually shown as a sword kill is odd… as is the fact that we don’t have a commendation for Gravity Hammer Kills (as of my current knowledge).

Also, I find it really disappointing that the Halo CE pistol is deemed a power weapon in Warzone, and has to be a single use card. Yes you get a nice speed boost while using it, but if you took off the speed boost, it could have been a 3rd option in pistols to be used for permanent load out weapons… And it’s hard to argue that it couldn’t have been done, because the Halo 2 Battle Rifle is a permanent load out weapon, so why couldn’t the pistol category, which was in desperate need of more options have gotten a bigger brother?

The loadout weapons add-ons seemed also somewhat hit and miss to me. While I adored the extended magazine AR, making me feel like I had the classic old AR from Halo CE in my hands, the Knight Blade at the end of the rifles seemed… odd to me. That it had more knock back on vehicles, and more melee damage just didn’t really make sense to me. Yeah it’s cool to have, but I don’t understand why I’m trying to melee vehicles. The REQs of Hammer Storm receive a 7/10

Aesthetics

The Decimator armor to me was a fun reminder of the Mark VII armor from Reach. The Marauder armor I wasn’t really thrilled with… With some of those armors, I somewhat wonder if instead of creating new armors, they should create new/better skins for some existing armors (still looking to get the classic Rogue armor skin back from Halo 4 343i!).

I found the assassinations to be fun again this time, with both seeming enjoyable either for how different, or humorous it was to see someone’s head meet my knee.

The last dawn weapon skins set I found to be a bit… repetitive, as both the SMG, Battle Rifle, and DMR already had Orange colored skins. I think they are alright, but I feel like there are better skins for the color. In total, I wasn’t impressed, but I wasn’t really disappointed either in the aesthetics department, so I’m giving it a 7/10.

Map

Torque is my favorite map for many reasons… I feel like it’s a large enough map that everyone can have some breathing room on, while not being too large as to not be usable for 2v2. I LOVE the skybox for the map, as the always changing viewpoint kind of makes me actually feel like I’m the one rotating around the platform, and the map is just nice and clean cut… It looks great.

That the map also is tribute to Trinity and Lena, and just is another reminder of how amazing this community is. It’s a map that fills me with awe for a number of reasons, and I absolutely love to play on it, and make my friends aware of the story behind it, and see if nothing else, they too will put on the True Light emblem. For all the reasons that this map is beautiful, I have to give it a 10/10

Minor Added Content (New Gametypes)

This is a simple thing to grade. 343i, you give me more classic Halo gametypes, and I give you more perfect scores. Each of these is a 10/10, scoring a total of 30/30

In Summary

While this wasn’t an expansion that blew me away like Cartographer’s Gift did, this was a very close second, with a lot of great classic Halo content coming back into Halo 5 that I embrace happily. I do wish they would change the Halo CE Magnum to a permanent loadout weapon, and treat it like they do in Arena, and that the Gravity Hammer will eventually get it’s own Commendation. But besides those two things, I would say this was a solid expansion, and if the rest of the expansions are this good, then Halo 5 will be a true gem before all these expansions are done. This expansion receives a 50.5/55

The total Grade of Halo 5: Guardians

Halo 5: Guardians Base Game: (307.5/400)
Shadow and Light: (17/25)
Cartographer’s Gift: (55/60)
Infinity’s Armory: (18.5/25)
Hammer Storm:(50.5/55)
Total: (448.5/565)
Grade: 79.4%, or a C+

8

That looks like it took a long time to write. Good job though. I agree on about 95% of what you said, which is good.

9

> 2535455681930574;8:
> That looks like it took a long time to write. Good job though. I agree on about 95% of what you said, which is good.

I hope that now that it’s completely done that you continue to agree with me. The DLC or Expansions is a lot more of my personal tastes, but I tried to keep it as fair and unbiased as possible.

Also 343i, I hope that you guys take a good long look at this! In my prior review for Halo 5, back before anything had been changed, and it was just a pile of… something. I gave Halo 5: Guardians a 6.2/10, now after the changes to the game, I am giving it a 7.7/10, and a 7.9/10 after the expansions. I’m excited to see any fixes you could apply to the custom games options, and that Warzone Firefight helps push you into the B’s, if the other content doesn’t do it beforehand!

10

Those are sadly low scores for what used to be the king of Xbox :confused:

11

> 2533274832368555;10:
> Those are sadly low scores for what used to be the king of Xbox :confused:

If there is an area you can point out to me, and give me reasoning to change it’s score I’m willing to hear you out. Plus, keep in mind that there isn’t anything wrong witha 7/10, as that is an average when it comes for grading. If it’s below 7/10 do I feel like they really actually goofed.

12

343i, please do read this! As for anyone else, please try to have the fortitude to read through this, and tell me what you think!

13

Shouldn’t split screen be a straight 0/10? …as it’s non-existent.

Overall though, very thorough. Nice!

14

> 2533274804912545;13:
> Shouldn’t split screen be a straight 0/10? …as it’s non-existent.
>
> Overall though, very thorough. Nice!

I am giving them a pass on them saying that they couldn’t incorporate it because of the grapics and the details of the game made it impossible. had the decision been to CHOOSE not to apply splitscreen, it would have been a 0/10. The grade I gave them was technically a failing grade, but not a complete failure due to understanding limitations they faced.

Splitscreen should, and needs to return to Halo 6, or Halo 5: Cortana, or whatever they plan on it being called.

15

> 2533274807231709;14:
> > 2533274804912545;13:
> > Shouldn’t split screen be a straight 0/10? …as it’s non-existent.
> >
> > Overall though, very thorough. Nice!
>
>
> I am giving them a pass on them saying that they couldn’t incorporate it because of the grapics and the details of the game made it impossible. had the decision been to CHOOSE not to apply splitscreen, it would have been a 0/10. The grade I gave them was technically a failing grade, but not a complete failure due to understanding limitations they faced.
>
> Splitscreen should, and needs to return to Halo 6, or Halo 5: Cortana, or whatever they plan on it being called.

Fair enough, its your review & grading criteria after all :slight_smile:

16

Anyone know a good way to get this into the hands of someone at 343i?

17

> 2533274807231709;16:
> Anyone know a good way to get this into the hands of someone at 343i?

Why? Thy have a general idea of what we think of their game by now.

18

Because while I see many people either praising, or complaining about Halo 5, I don’t see many constructive criticism reviews.

19

> 2533274807231709;18:
> Because while I see many people either praising, or complaining about Halo 5, I don’t see many constructive criticism reviews.

Doesn’t matter, they still probably have a general idea of what we think of their game by now.

And sites that do reviews have reviewed the game. Those are “professional” reviews, so yea I’m sure they’ve gotten all the info they need.

20

Wow this is a lot more in depth than most professional reviews! Agree with most of your points too round of applause