Halo 5: Guardians [XO]

[Laa-Yosh]

Gameinformer broke the story, apparently single player has 3 team members and coop has 4 players with 3 taking the extra roles.
Not sure if it's team based all the time though.

Chief's team has

Spoiler

Fred, Linda and Kelly, while one team member of Locke is played by Nathan Fillion, so maybe Buck has returned?

Graphics look nice but I've only seen character artwork for now. More to come in the next weeks, obviously.

 

[Laa-Yosh]

 

[Silent_Buddha]

From the video...

I think it's going to be a very different Halo...

Cynical Translation: We're going to see just how much we can ruin the Halo franchise.

Hopeful Translation: We screwed up Halo in Halo 4, so we're trying to figure out how to fix things to make it more like a real Halo game.

I'm Cynical at the moment.

Regards,
SB

 

[Rangers]

I liked Halo 4. Campaign anyway (I only play the campaigns basically). Much better than 3....although not spectacular.

I'd probably rank the campaigns based on my fuzzy recollections like:

1. CE. (obviously, an all timer, game changer)
2. 4 I guess. HUGE dropoff from CE to the others.
3. Reach? Honestly 4, ODST, and Reach are pretty interchangeable No strong preference. All good, not great.
4. ODST (I genuinely enjoyed this oddball game, Master Chief as 40's film noir detective, what the hell? And it actually worked! Major downfall was being built on Halo 3's lackluster last gen looking engine)
5. 3? Not very good.
6. 2. The worst imo.

As I say all the campaign except 1 are not great, but 2 and 3 are very lackluster. You can just feel them grasping at straws in 2, "look, now we have...dual wielding! because, we had to do something...".

Oh yeah, those 5 screens look incredible! LOL, Nathan Fillion...

 

[AlNom]

Concept art for Halo 5 microtransactions

Spoiler

y(°□°)y

Buck sure has changed:

---------
Who's this one:

--------
Fred-104

------------
Linda

-----------

Locke

----------

 

[Cyan]

I liked Halo 4. Campaign anyway (I only play the campaigns basically). Much better than 3....although not spectacular.

I'd probably rank the campaigns based on my fuzzy recollections like:

1. CE. (obviously, an all timer, game changer)
2. 4 I guess. HUGE dropoff from CE to the others.
3. Reach? Honestly 4, ODST, and Reach are pretty interchangeable No strong preference. All good, not great.
4. ODST (I genuinely enjoyed this oddball game, Master Chief as 40's film noir detective, what the hell? And it actually worked! Major downfall was being built on Halo 3's lackluster last gen looking engine)
5. 3? Not very good.
6. 2. The worst imo.

As I say all the campaign except 1 are not great, but 2 and 3 are very lackluster. You can just feel them grasping at straws in 2, "look, now we have...dual wielding! because, we had to do something...".

Oh yeah, those 5 screens look incredible! LOL, Nathan Fillion...

My order would be:

1. Halo Reach. Best AI, most fun to play.
2. Halo 3 coop, without coop it would be like the 4th, 5th for me.
3. Halo 4 -some fine moments- ODST (I genuinely enjoyed this oddball game, Master Chief as 40's film noir detective, what the hell? And it actually worked! Major downfall was being built on Halo 3's lackluster last gen looking engine)
4. Halo 1, classic.
5. Halo 2, my favourite for years and years and my first game of my first console, but replaying it nowadays doesn't bring the same fun as it used to.
6. ODST. I can't say, tbh, I played it very little, so I placed it here, provisionally at least.

 

[HTupolev]

ODST (I genuinely enjoyed this oddball game, Master Chief as 40's film noir detective, what the hell? And it actually worked! Major downfall was being built on Halo 3's lackluster last gen looking engine)

Halo 3's engine was perfect for ODST. The city palate takes tremendous advantage of Halo 3's expensive material model, and the ultra high-contrast lighting is dependent on the large dynamic range. Even the damage indication systems get in on the action, using the gamma-correct blending to create some of the only full-screen blur in a game of that era that I actually like to just look at.

 

[Cyan]

Halo 3's engine was perfect for ODST. The city palate takes tremendous advantage of Halo 3's expensive material model, and the ultra high-contrast lighting is dependent on the large dynamic range. Even the damage indication systems get in on the action, using the gamma-correct blending to create some of the only full-screen blur in a game of that era that I actually like to just look at.

What do you think of the conversion? Is it worth it compared to the original, 60 fps aside?

 

[AlNom]

Halo 3's engine was perfect for ODST. The city palate takes tremendous advantage of Halo 3's expensive material model, and the ultra high-contrast lighting is dependent on the large dynamic range. Even the damage indication systems get in on the action, using the gamma-correct blending to create some of the only full-screen blur in a game of that era that I actually like to just look at.

Yeah, as much as I liked New Alexandria, something seemed a bit off compared to ODST (similar-ish time of day). Still would have liked to see the level they intended to have after that, but had to cut.

 

[HTupolev]

What do you think of the conversion? Is it worth it compared to the original, 60 fps aside?

I really don't like what the modified brightness curves do to some of the environments, especially Mombasa Streets and the start of Coastal Highway. It's a lot less moody, and the drastically reduced necessity and impact of VISR make it feel like something is missing.
The film grain has always been a controversial thing in ODST, and it's much weaker in the MCC. It's probably not compensated for resolution, just like the VISR outlines. I've always been a fan of how it's emphasized the VISR aesthetic and played with the skyboxes, so something feels missing there to me.
The audio has the same filtering and balance oddities that the Halo 3 port does. On the whole the audio tends to be more tinny and harsh, and some sounds are weirdly cranked up, like footsteps. It's not a catastrophe, but I'm not a fan either.

Even though it's definitely got some sampling weaknesses and chop, I actually might mostly stick to the original. The new version looks clean and smooth, but feels weirdly sterile.

 

[(((interference)))]

Sometimes I wonder about how competent 343i actually are - especially seeing things like this, where the game's writer says that the Covenant are back to speaking English now because their ultraconservative leader who forbade them from speaking human languages is losing his grip over the leadership.

When everyone knows that the Chief's suit systems are what translates the Covenant languages into English...ugh

 

[HTupolev]

where the game's writer says that the Covenant are back to speaking English now because their ultraconservative leader who forbade them from speaking human languages is losing his grip over the leadership.

Awkward lampshade?

 

[(((interference)))]

And this is from the game's writer...

Now I've only read one of the Halo universe books and am hardly a lore expert but things like that are just glaringly obvious to anyone who's familiar with the series.

At least the multiplayer seems like it will be better than the COD-apeing Halo 4 (though I haven't played the beta).

 

[orangpelupa]

now im even concerned with destiny. At least halo have proper story writer even if he are weird. Destiny nolonger have story writer...

 

[FarticusMaximus]

It's good that 343 are moving the gameplay forward rather than settling for the same formula again. Being able to send your squad off for flanking manoeuvres should make it feel more like playing co-op, which IMO is where Halo is at it's best.

Beside the gameplay, making it a squad-based game and having team chatter should bring a distinctly different vibe to the game, and I've wanted to see

Spoiler: UNSC Classified

Fred, Linda and Kelly

in-game for ages.

People will bitch and moan that it's not Halo anymore. Those same people would likely bitch and moan that Halo doesn't evolve if another straightforward Halo were released.

I couldn't give a rats ass about shinier graphics, I really want 343 to add elements to properly evolve the gameplay, and it sounds like that is what's happening.

Losing splitscreen co-op is a real shame. Doesn't really affect me as I tend to do my co-op online more these days, but splitscreen has been a staple of Halo from day one.

Hype levels rising. Can't wait to hear more information.

 

[Cyan]

It's good that 343 are moving the gameplay forward rather than settling for the same formula again. Being able to send your squad off for flanking manoeuvres should make it feel more like playing co-op, which IMO is where Halo is at it's best.

Beside the gameplay, making it a squad-based game and having team chatter should bring a distinctly different vibe to the game, and I've wanted to see

Spoiler: UNSC Classified

Fred, Linda and Kelly

in-game for ages.

People will bitch and moan that it's not Halo anymore. Those same people would likely bitch and moan that Halo doesn't evolve if another straightforward Halo were released.

I couldn't give a rats ass about shinier graphics, I really want 343 to add elements to properly evolve the gameplay, and it sounds like that is what's happening.

Losing splitscreen co-op is a real shame. Doesn't really affect me as I tend to do my co-op online more these days, but splitscreen has been a staple of Halo from day one.

Hype levels rising. Can't wait to hear more information.

I certainly hope the game can live up to the hype, because they also announced that Halo 5 is going to be the Xbox biggest game launch to date. Beating Halo 3 is going to be tough, 'cos Halo 3 was hyped just right, it had a Believe ads campaign behind and came out in the golden era of the Xbox brand, where now it is vilified.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/halo-5-will-be-xbox-s-biggest-game-launch/0150772

 

[FarticusMaximus]

I certainly hope the game can live up to the hype...

I couldn't care less about media hype. Advertising and PR are what they are - there to decide purchases for people who can't think for themselves, and there to be ignored by anyone who can think for themselves.

'Living up to the hype' is a nonsense term IMO, as each individuals anticipation and acceptable quality levels are different. 'Living up to the hype' implies that the Advertising and PR folk decide how excited we should be and how satisfied we should be by the end result.

My own personal hype (I should probably use the word 'interest' instead) levels are rising for the game because it sounds like 343 are not afraid to progress the Halo formula, and it needs a bit of a shake-up in my opinion.

 

[Cyan]

Gameinformer magazine screens, from the story and the multi. Can you believe it?

 

[RenegadeRocks]

now im even concerned with destiny. At least halo have proper story writer even if he are weird. Destiny nolonger have story writer...

What is even scarier for Destiny is that writers of Dragon Age have joined Bungie ! Expect the highest quality DAI blandness in Destiny now ....I was shellshocked when I heard the news !

 

[FarticusMaximus]

Can you believe it?

When it comes to game PR I believe nothing until I see the game in action in its final retail form.