text:
Halo 5: Guardians
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Halo 5: Guardians
Cover art featuring Spartan Locke (left) and Master Chief (right), with a Guardian rising in the background
Developer(s)
343 Industries
Publisher(s)
Microsoft Studios
Director(s)
Tim Longo
Producer(s)
Josh Holmes
Designer(s)
Chris Haluke
Artist(s)
Nicolas Bouvier
Writer(s)
Brian Reed[1]
Composer(s)
Kazuma Jinnouchi
Series
Halo
Platform(s)
Xbox One
Release
October 27, 2015[2]
Genre(s)
First-person shooter
Mode(s)
Single-player, multiplayer
Halo 5: Guardians is a first-person shooter video game developed by 343 Industries and published by Microsoft Studios for the Xbox One home video game console. The tenth installment and fifth main entry in the Halo series of video games, it was released worldwide on October 27, 2015. The game's plot follows two fireteams of human supersoldiers: Blue Team, led by Master Chief, and Fireteam Osiris, led by Spartan Locke. When the former goes absent without leave to track down the artificial intelligence construct Cortana, Master Chief's loyalty is called into question, and Fireteam Osiris is sent to retrieve him.
343 Industries started to plan concepts and objectives for Halo 5 shortly after the release of its predecessor, Halo 4. In late 2012, the team set out goals for the game, including larger campaign and multiplayer areas. Like Halo 4, it uses motion capture for character animation. It features new abilities and character designs, but does not feature any offline capabilities or local networking. It has a game engine that scales its resolution to maintain a frame rate of 60 frames per second.
Microsoft announced Halo 5 for the Xbox One at Electronic Entertainment Expo 2013. A podcast titled Hunt the Truth marketed the game, focusing on Master Chief's backstory. The game and its related hardware grossed over US$400 million in its first twenty-four hours and US$500 million in its first week, outselling Halo 4, which then held the best-selling record for the franchise. Upon release, Halo 5 received generally positive reviews from critics, with praise directed at its gameplay, visuals, level design and multiplayer modes. However, the game's single-player campaign met divided responses, with criticism directed at its short length, story, writing and ending.
Contents
[hide]
1 Gameplay
2 Synopsis
2.1 Setting and characters
2.2 Plot
3 Development
3.1 Technology
3.2 Story
3.3 Art
3.4 Audio
3.5 Multiplayer
3.6 The Sprint
4 Marketing
4.1 Hunt the Truth
4.2 E3 2015
5 Release
6 Post-release content
6.1 Halo 5: Forge
7 Professional competition
8 Reception
8.1 Sales
8.2 Awards
9 References
10 External links
Gameplay[edit]
Halo 5: Guardians gameplay
Halo 5: Guardians is a first-person shooter, with players experiencing most gameplay through the eyes of a playable character. The camera switches to a third-person view for some cinematics and gameplay sequences.
The game preserves many of the core features of the Halo franchise's gameplay experience. Players step into the MJOLNIR powered armor of a Spartan and control that character's actions. MJOLNIR armor provides deflector shields, which diminish whilst protecting the wearer from weapons fire but recharge after a short recovery. Spartans may only carry two personal weapons at a time, but may swap them out at any time for any other weapon (including those dropped by slain enemies) and may also carry and fire a crew-served weapon (discarded when the player switches back to a personal weapon). Spartans may also throw grenades and use their weapons for pistol-whipping. Finally, some of the vehicles and their mounted weapons are available for use.
New to the series are "Spartan Abilities", replacing the Armor Abilities of previous games. In-universe, the characters' MJOLNIR armor has been upgraded with various thrusters that allow them increased mobility options in all three axes of movement. They are context-dependent and can be used for attack, defense and evasion. Additionally, all Halo 5 firearms can be aimed by looking down their iron sights, a capability restricted to specific weapons in previous games.[3]
Previous games in the franchise have featured brief gameplay segments where the player character is accompanied by non-player character (NPC) companions in the form of United Nations Space Command (UNSC) Marines, non-human allies like the Arbiter, and other Spartans. Halo 5 also equips the player with a persistent fireteam of NPC Spartans, who are present at all times and can receive limited orders using the Xbox controller.[4] During cooperative play, other players assume control of these Spartans; each Spartan has different gameplay attributes. If any Spartan, player-controlled or not, takes too much damage, they enter an incapacitated state, and a teammate must rush over and revive them before they die.
Unlike previous first-person shooters in the Halo franchise, Halo 5: Guardians does not feature any offline capabilities, including split-screen cooperative campaign and multiplayer modes;[5] it also does not have any local networking options.[6] Microsoft Studios corporate vice president Phil Spencer commented on the lack of split-screen, stating "We see the robustness of what Xbox Live is today and where people are playing across Xbox Live—you at your house, me at our house. We know that's the vast majority of the co-op play. With Halo 5, the team really wanted to focus on making that experience great, both visually on the screen that you're looking at, and all the systems in place."[7]
Synopsis[edit]
Setting and characters[edit]
Halo 5: Guardians takes place in the year 2558, and is set eight months after the events of Halo 4. The game follows the human fireteams Blue Team and Fireteam Osiris.[8] Blue Team is led by Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 (Steve Downes) and is composed of the Spartan-II teammates he fought alongside in the timeframe before Halo: Combat Evolved:[9] Linda-058 (Brittany Uomoleale), an elite sniper; Kelly-087 (Michelle Lukes), a scout known for her incredible speed and John's closest friend; and Frederic-104 (Travis Willingham), who is Blue Team's highest-ranking officer, but defers to Master Chief.[10] The members of Blue Team are all Spartan-IIs, augmented super soldiers whom were abducted and trained as children; they are among the last Spartan-IIs left alive.[10] Fireteam Osiris comprises Spartan-IVs, a newer generation of Spartans who joined the program as adult members of the military. Fireteam Osiris is led by Jameson Locke (Ike Amadi), a former agent of the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) and skilled tracker. The other members of Fireteam Osiris are: Holly Tanaka (Cynthia McWilliams), a survivor of a Covenant attack on her world; Olympia Vale (Laura Bailey), who can speak many of the Covenant's dialects; and Edward Buck (Nathan Fillion), a veteran former Orbital Drop Shock Trooper, who was a main character in Halo 3: ODST.[11]
Supporting characters include Infinity's commanding officer, Captain Thomas Lasky (Darren O'Hare); Commander Sarah Palmer (Jennifer Hale), head of operations for all Spartan IV teams on board Infinity; Roland, Infinity's shipboard AI, and Dr. Catherine Halsey (Jen Taylor), a scientist who created the SPARTAN-II program. Other returning characters include the Arbiter Thel 'Vadam (Keith David),[12] now leading the Sangheili species against the Covenant remnants, led by Jul 'Mdama (Travis Willingham). Cortana (Jen Taylor), John's former AI companion who was presumed dead after the events of Halo 4, also returns.[13]
Plot[edit]
Fireteam Osiris is deployed to the Jul 'Mdama's splinter Covenant faction-controlled planet of Kamchatka to retrieve the rogue Dr. Halsey, who claims to have information on a series of devastating attacks on several human worlds, during a battle between Covenant forces and the Prometheans. While the team is successful in retrieving Halsey and eliminating the Covenant leader Jul 'Mdama, Halsey informs them that a new threat is about to emerge.
Elsewhere, the Master Chief leads Blue Team on a mission to secure a derelict ONI research station known as Argent Moon. The arrival of a Covenant fleet forces Blue Team to scuttle the station instead. During the sabotage, the Chief receives a cryptic message from Cortana, directing him to the planet Meridian. John is ordered to return to Infinity upon destroying Argent Moon, but he and Blue Team disobey orders and set out after Cortana, forcing Captain Lasky to list the rogue Spartans as AWOL. This causes consternation aboard Infinity, as Halsey believes that Cortana's survival through the use of Forerunner technology makes her unpredictable and untrustworthy.
Lasky gives Fireteam Osiris the aim of finding and capturing Blue Team. Osiris is deployed to Meridian to pursue Blue Team, where they find a human colony under attack by Promethean forces. During their pursuit, they encounter the Warden Eternal, a Promethean serving as Cortana's enforcer. After temporarily defeating the Warden, Osiris catches up to Blue Team, ordering them to stand down and return to Infinity. Chief bests Locke in hand-to-hand combat and flees with the rest of Blue Team as they board a Guardian, a kind of large Forerunner constructs built as enforcers of entire worlds. Osiris barely escape the colony's collapse as the Guardian activates and disappears. The Guardian emerges on the Forerunner planet Genesis, where John and Cortana reunite. Cortana says her terminal rampancy was cured by the same Forerunner technology that saved her.
Osiris is deployed to the Sangheili homeworld of Sanghelios, where they plan to use a dormant Guardian that resides there to travel to Blue Team's location. However, the planet is engulfed in civil war; the remaining forces of the Covenant have chosen to make their last stand there. To hurry their mission, Osiris joins forces with the Arbiter and help him strike a crucial blow at the Covenant remnant. Osiris boards a Guardian with the help of Commander Palmer while the Arbiter finishes off the last Covenant troops.
On Genesis, Osiris encounters the planet's caretaker, the artificial intelligence 031 Exuberant Witness, who allies with them to stop Cortana. Osiris catches up to Blue Team, who reveal Cortana is planning on using the Guardians to achieve galactic peace through forcible disarmament. Master Chief, aware of the massive devastation Cortana's plan will cause, attempts to convince Cortana to stand down. She refuses and confines Blue Team in a Forerunner prison, to prevent them from interfering with her plan. Osiris manages to transfer control of Genesis back to Exuberant, who wrests the prison from Cortana as she leaves the planet via a Guardian.
Artificial intelligences across the galaxy begin swearing allegiance to Cortana and her plans. Cortana locates Infinity and prepares to disable it, but Lasky has the ship's AI Roland, who is still loyal to Infinity, engage slipspace away from Earth and commit to random jumps until they can develop a way to combat Cortana. With Blue Team recovered, Osiris returns to Sanghelios to reunite the SPARTAN-IIs with an injured Commander Palmer, Thel'Vadam, and Halsey. If the player completes the game on Legendary, an extra cutscene shows an unknown Halo installation powering up while Cortana hums, before cutting to black.
Development[edit]
343 Industries general manager Bonnie Ross recalled that after Halo 4, the team spent a lot of time discussing where they wanted to take the Halo series, reflecting on feedback from fans about what they did and did not like. In late 2012, game leads Tim Longo, David Berger, and Chris Lee laid out the studio's vision for the next game from a creative and technical standpoint, setting key goals to focus on: utilizing the Xbox One's hardware and Microsoft's cloud infrastructure for larger campaign and multiplayer spaces, deeper player investment systems, and a frame rate of 60 frames per second (FPS).[14]
At Electronic Entertainment Expo 2013 (E3), Microsoft announced a new, then-untitled addition to the Halo series, along with a trailer appearing to depict a post-Halo 4 Master Chief.[15] After E3, Phil Spencer said the previously-announced "Reclaimer Trilogy" had been expanded into a longer series of games, explaining that the developers "[didn't] want to limit the Reclaimer story within a trilogy".[16] Ross confirmed the game's title and 2015 release date in a May 2014 blog post.[17] The game is exclusive to the Xbox One.[18]
Halo: The Master Chief Collection gave players exclusive access to the Halo 5: Guardians multiplayer beta,[19] which began December 29, 2014, and ran through January 18, 2015.[20] In response to the negative coverage of The Master Chief Collection's broken launch, O'Connor announced that Guardians would not be broken at launch.[21]
The game uses motion capture to animate characters, following its use in Halo 4. To record the performances, it used a 5,000-square-foot stage and fifty cameras, along with a 3D tracking system called OptiTrack.[22][23]
Technology[edit]
On the departure from the Xbox 360 hardware, Ross noted that the Xbox One allows 343 Industries to broaden the game's scope, as its matchmaking and four-player online campaign co-op modes utilize the console's dedicated server support.[24] Franchise development director Frank O'Connor explained that Halo 4 pushed its game engine to the limit, such that moving on to the Xbox One called for the development of a new engine.[25]
To maintain a frame rate of 60 FPS, Halo 5's engine uses a "progressive resolution system", which automatically lowers the resolution at which the game is rendered during graphically-intensive scenes, which are then upscaled back to the game's native resolution of 1080p. Art lead Justin Dinges explained that "some sections of a mission might be relatively quiet and achieving 60fps is straightforward, but there are many situations where we dial the intensity up to 11. At those times, we need to maintain 60fps and give players the total experience from both a design and artistic perspective".[26] To achieve this, 343 Industries made extensive use of Havok.[27][28]
Eager to take advantage of the hardware, the art team built fully animated cacti that responded to gunfire, blanketing the campaign maps with the succulents. Ultimately, they proved to be the largest single technical problem in the game and had to be removed.[29]
To support the drop-in/drop-out co-op, 343 Industries built a dynamic AI system for the fireteam companions to assist the player when a session is played alone.[30]
Story[edit]
Narrative designer Morgan Lockhart described the co-op nature of the campaign as the most difficult element of the game.[31] Speaking about Cortana's fate in Halo 4, O'Connor stated that Halo 4's story was focused on the effect that Cortana's sacrifice and loss would have on the Master Chief.[32] He also noted that this effect would be reflected in Halo 5: Guardians, with a story that explores how the Master Chief copes with loss and past memories.[32]
Creative director Tim Longo explained that one of the main goals for Halo 5: Guardians was to expand the universe.[30] To achieve this the studio created new main characters for Fireteam Osiris and introduced characters from the expanded fiction with Blue Team.[30] Early in development, the team decided that Spartan Locke would be used to present the player with a different perspective on the Master Chief.[30] The aim was to create a deliberate contrast between the two main characters.[30] In developing the characters of Fireteam Osiris, 343 Industries initially considered making the team Fireteam Majestic, using the same characters from the Halo 4 episodic series Spartan Ops. When Longo joined as creative director and the rest of the story developed, the developers decided that Majestic was the wrong team to use and set out to create a new fireteam with different characters.[33]
The unnamed fireteam comprised three Spartans: "Smith", "Jones", and "Brown". Initially, none of these characters' traits—not even their genders—were determined. The narrative team decided Smith (later Locke) would be a former ONI agent, a cross of James Bond and Lara Croft. Brian Reed recalled that at one point they had added Fireteam Majestic member Thorne, as well as Spartan leader Palmer, and a still-unnamed Jones, who would be an expert in alien languages. Spartan Jones turned into Spartan Vesper, and her character matured from a child prodigy to someone more serious, if innocent.[33]
Once part of the story became set on the planet Meridian, the narrative team decided that one of the Spartans should have grown up outside the UNSC and survived the destruction of her home planet to act as a conduit for understanding Meridian; this character, now known as Spartan Song, replaced Palmer. When Thorne's actor, Ethan Peck, was unavailable due to scheduling conflicts, 343 Industries decided to replace his character on the team roster rather than recast the role. Other suggestions included an entirely new Spartan or a member of Blue Team, but the developers decided on fan favorite Buck after Nathan Fillion became available. Spartan Smith became Spartan Locke, Vesper and Song became Vale and Tanaka, and Fireteam Osiris took shape after more than two years of changes.[33]
Art[edit]
Halo 4's art director, Kenneth Scott, stepped down from his role in January 2014. He was succeeded by Nicolas "Sparth" Bouvier,[34] a concept artist who joined Microsoft in 2009. Bouvier described the early stages of developing artistic concepts as akin to sculpting from marble: "[we] start with a very loose idea that has trickled down from the writers or studio creative director and begin chipping away at the problem."[35] Concept artist Kory Lynn Hubbell recalled that the game's art had to be justified. "If there's no plausible story behind something, it shouldn't be there," he said, recalling that an original plan for a fountain on the mining world of Meridian was changed to a holographic tree, to reflect the desire to simulate nature in the barren landscape.[35]
343's artist and designers focused on differentiating the members of each Spartan fireteam through their design. As Locke's mission is to find Master Chief, Bouvier recalled "he reflects that visually. The design of his armor is very nonintrusive. He doesn't have any bright tones. He's gray and dark to amplify the very nondisruptive nature of his armor." In comparison, Vale's armor was sleeker to reflect her agility, and painted magenta to imply nervousness and aggression.[35]
Audio[edit]
Sataro Tojima was the audio director for Halo 5: Guardians,[36] with Japanese composer Kazuma Jinnouchi composing the original score.[36] The music was recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London and the choir was recorded at the Rudolfinum in Prague.[36][37] Jinnouchi wanted to reintroduce the original Halo theme in Halo 5: Guardians, so he composed his own interpretation of the piece.[36] A larger emphasis has been placed on the use of a choir in Halo 5: Guardians' music than Halo 4's.[36]
For the first time in Halo's multiplayer, teammates will make voiced callouts.[37] Jul's Covenant faction have conversations.[37] The audio team worked closely with the AI and narrative departments when developing the Blue Team and Team Osiris in the campaign.[37]
[show]Halo 5: Guardians Original Soundtrack, CD 1[38]
No.
Title
Length
1. "Halo Canticles" 4:13
2. "Light Is Green" 3:28
3. "Kamchatka" 3:59
4. "Return to the Fold" 2:03
5. "Rock and Ice" 1:28
6. "Argent Moon" 2:24
7. "Scavengers" 3:34
8. "In Absentia" 1:33
9. "Meridean Crossing" 4:08
10. "Unearthed" 3:54
11. "Unconfirmed Reports" 2:09
12. "Keeper Of Secrets" 1:15
13. "Cavalier" 2:56
14. "Crossed Paths" 2:22
15. "Untethered" 3:46
16. "Skeleton Crew" 1:02
17. "Siren Song" 1:20
18. "Enemy of my Enemy" 1:41
19. "Honor's Song" 2:10
20. "Warrior World" 4:44
21. "Covenant Prayers" 3:43
22. "Cloud Chariot" 2:32
23. "Sentry Battle" 4:26
24. "Worldquake" 2:50
[show]Halo 5: Guardians Original Soundtrack, CD 2[38]
No.
Title
Length
1. "Advent" 3:10
2. "Walk Softly" 3:38
3. "Genesis" 4:12
4. "Dominion" 3:58
5. "The Trials" 4:13
6. "Sentinel Song" 1:54
7. "Crypt" 4:40
8. "End Game" 2:08
9. "Reunion" 0:39
10. "Blue Team" 4:37
11. "Jameson Locke" 4:26
12. "Osiris Suite, Act 1" 6:40
13. "Osiris Suite, Act 2" 5:58
14. "Osiris Suite, Act 3" 6:21
15. "Osiris Suite, Act 4" 8:34
Multiplayer[edit]
Executive producer, Josh Holmes stated that the development team wanted to provide lots of gameplay variety and support different play styles in multiplayer.[39] On launch, the game will include over twenty multiplayer maps, and the team plans to provide an additional fifteen maps as free downloadable content by June 2016.[39] 343 Industries chose to make additional maps freely available as they did not want to divide the player base.[39]
In Halo 5: Guardians' Arena mode, 343 Industries decided to exclude a loadout system so they could encourage the concept of a level playing field that was present in earlier Halo games.[30][39] The mode was inspired by older multiplayer shooters such as Quake.[40]
Warzone, one of the new multiplayer modes, was originally conceived in 2012 with a small demo set up as a four-versus-four player match with AI controlled enemies defending an objective.[41] Initially, the studio wanted to implement such a mode with Halo 4 on the Xbox 360 but they were unable to achieve their vision.[41]
A multiplayer beta for Halo 5: Guardians launched on December 29, 2014 and ran for three weeks.[42] The beta was a sample of Halo 5: Guardians' Arena gameplay, featuring three modes, seven maps and eleven weapons.[42] The development team wanted to launch a beta as early as possible so that players could test and give feedback on new gameplay elements.[30] This player feedback was used to make refinements to gameplay and adjustments to maps.[39][43] The beta used dedicated servers.[43]
The Sprint[edit]
The Sprint is a series about the development of Halo 5, which debuted in Xbox One's Halo Channel and was later uploaded to YouTube.[44] The first season was about the development of Halo 5's multiplayer;[45] the second season focused on the development of the Warzone game mode, and additional tweaks for the presentation at E3 2015.[46] The third season showed the development of the game's score and the use of motion capture.[47]
Marketing[edit]
Halo 5: Guardians demo booths at PAX Australia 2015
During The Walking Dead's fifth-season finale, two different live-action advertisements aired, revealing the October 27, 2015, release date of Halo 5: Guardians.[48] In its June 2015 cover story featuring the title, Game Informer revealed that the campaign would feature four-player cooperative gameplay, and that its story would center on Blue Team, led by Master Chief, and Fireteam Osiris, led by Spartan Locke. The magazine also revealed that Fireteam Osiris would include Holly Tanaka, a new character named Olympia Vale, and fan favorite Edward Buck from Halo 3: ODST.[49]
On the multiplayer side, it was revealed that there would be a new map called Fathom and that there would be changes to Empire, a map playable in the beta. A new mode that would combine all of the sandbox (later revealed as Warzone at E3 2015) was hinted at,[49] and it was revealed that the game would feature 20 maps at launch and that 15 downloadable maps would be added later for free.[50]
Halo 5 was also marketed in sports events: the football team of Seattle Sounders wore jerseys with the game's ads;[51] and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Jamie McMurray drove in the NASCAR competition in Halo 5-themed cars.[52]
The game's mainstream marketing received some criticism for being different from the game's plot.[53][54] Phil Hornshaw of Digital Trends wrote that Halo 5's marketing "suggests an emotional conflict between the questionably-loyal Chief and the 'traitor-hunting' Osiris leader, Locke, but those moments are barely in the game".[55]
Hunt the Truth[edit]
On March 22, 2015, Microsoft launched Hunt the Truth, a podcast similar to radio series such as This American Life. The first season followed the investigations of fictional journalist and war photographer Benjamin Giraud (voiced by Keegan-Michael Key), who investigates the Master Chief's background.[56] Giraud discovers that the official story of Master Chief's origins are false, and attempts to expose the coverup.[57]
The first season was highly successful, drawing an audience of 6.7 million listeners on iTunes and winning Hunt the Truth's ad agency a Clio Award.[58] A second season of the podcast began September 22, 2015, focusing upon the view point of ONI Agent Maya Sankar (Janina Gavankar), returning undercover as FERO, to investigate unidentified attacks on human colonies.[59]
E3 2015[edit]
Microsoft began their E3 2015 press conference with gameplay from the campaign of Halo 5: Guardians. This gameplay was from a mission known as "The Battle of Sunaion" and featured Fireteam Osiris. A new multiplayer mode known as "Warzone" was also shown off at E3.[60]
Release[edit]
Halo 5 is the first main installment in the Halo franchise to receive a "Teen" rating from the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) besides Halo Wars, rather than the "Mature" rating.[61] Microsoft Xbox division executive Aaron Greenberg felt that the M ratings on previous installments were surprising, "given the style of the game and the lack of real graphic violence and things like that", but that the "Teen" rating would theoretically enable Halo 5 to reach a broader audience of younger players who would have otherwise been unable to obtain the game.[62]
The game shipped in three different retail configurations: a standard edition, limited edition, and collector's edition. The limited edition came with a REQ bundle, dossiers on the game's characters, the Fall of Reach film, a statue of a Guardian, and a "steelbook" metal case. The collector's edition contained the REQ bundle, dossiers, Guardian statue, and Fall of Reach, plus a commemorative statue of Master Chief and Agent Locke.[63] The collector's edition comes with a digital code rather than a physical disc; fan feedback led Microsoft to offer a free trade-in program so collector's edition buyers could have the disc instead.[64]
Post-release content[edit]
Halo 5 is being supported by post-release content updates; 343 Industries stated that fifteen additional multiplayer maps would be added to the game at no extra charge through June 2016. 343 head Josh Holmes explained that the studio did not want to segregate the player base by distributing maps as paid downloadable content, a goal he felt was "really important to having a great multiplayer ecosystem".[65][66]
Update name
Release date
Additions
Website
Battle of Shadow and Light November 18, 2015 Big Team Battle (BTB) game mode, new player customization options, REQs [67]
Cartographer's Gift December 16, 2015 Forge mode, advanced controller settings, new player customization options, maps, and REQs[68][69]
Infinity's Armory January 27, 2016 New maps and REQs[70] [71]
Hammerstorm February 24, 2016 New game modes, new map, new REQs[72] [73]
Ghosts of Meridian March 6, 2016 New maps and REQs, Forge additions, balance updates[74] [75]
Memories of Reach May 16, 2016 Infection game mode, new REQs, matchmaking preferences customization [76]
Hog Wild (REQ Drop) May 27, 2016 New REQs [77]
Warzone Firefight June 29, 2016 Campaign Score Attack and Warzone Firefight game modes, new maps and REQs, new Forge canvas[78] [79]
Anvil's Legacy September 8, 2016 New maps and REQs[80]
Monitor's Bounty December 8, 2016 Custom Games Browser, Observer Mode, new REQs, new Warzone Firefight maps, bug fixes, balance changes [81]
Overtime November 2, 2017 Enhanced for Xbox One X, Oddball game mode, Local Server, New commendations, weapon tuning
Halo 5: Forge[edit]
Halo 5: Forge, a free version of Halo 5's map editing tool, was released for Windows 10 on September 8, 2016.[82]
Professional competition[edit]
In 2014, Microsoft announced the "Halo Championship Series", its own tournament. Prior to Halo 5: Guardians's release, Microsoft announced a competition with a US$1 million prize pool, and a focus on developing the game with competition in mind.[83] A portion of the proceeds from REQ packs bought with real currency contributes to prize pools; by November 4 REQ proceeds had added US$500,000 to the pool,[84] which climbed to US$700,000 by November 19.[85] At The Game Awards in early December, Microsoft announced a US$2 million prize pool, buoyed by sales of a special REQ pack.[86] By February 19, the total prize pool exceeded US$2,500,000.[87] The Halo World Championship began on December 6, 2015,[85] with the finals running March 18–20, 2016.[88]
After the Halo World Championship, Microsoft announced the Halo Pro League in partnership with Electronic Sports League as a way to grow Halo eSports.[89]
Reception[edit]
Reception
Aggregate score
Aggregator
Score
Metacritic 84/100[90]
Review scores
Publication
Score
Destructoid 7/10[91]
EGM 9/10[92]
Game Informer 8.75/10[94]
Game Revolution [95]
GameSpot 8/10[96]
GamesRadar+ [98]
GamesTM 6/10[93]
GameTrailers 9/10[97]
Giant Bomb [99]
IGN 9/10[100]
OXM (UK) [101]
Polygon 9/10[102]
VideoGamer.com 9/10[103]
VentureBeat 83/100[104]
Halo 5: Guardians received an aggregated score of 84 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 101 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[90]
Arthur Gies, writing for Polygon, wrote that 343 Industries had much to prove with Halo 5 after Halo 4's online population "evaporated", The Master Chief Collection's woes, and Microsoft's need for a strong title to sell more Xbox Ones. "343's response to that quagmire," Gies wrote, "[is] to return to the fundamentals of what made the series great in the first place. The studio has brought Halo's mechanics kicking and screaming into the modern era, while providing the most bombastic, co-op-driven campaign in Halo history."[102] GameSpot's Mike Mahardy agreed that 343 had produced some of the best iterations of the game series' facets with Halo 5. IGN's Brian Albert opined that 343 Industries had created an even bigger game than previous entries, with "the strongest combat Halo has ever seen".[96][100] Destructoid's Chris Carter felt that Halo 5 failed to grab him in the same way as previous games had, "but those of you who are still content with Master Chief and his wacky adventures across the galaxy will likely walk away satisfied."[91] More critically, the reviewers of GamesTM felt that Halo 5 was "sheepish and safe" and represented a series low.[93]
Halo 5's overall gameplay and multiplayer were strongly received. GameSpot praised Halo 5's multiplayer experience for being in the "best shape Halo's multiplayer has ever taken", and in particular, noting the game's return to "universal" weapon loadouts and obtaining stronger weapons spawning on-map, rather than unlocking weapons as in Halo 4. The Warzone mode was considered to be one of the "best new ideas" in both the Halo franchise and the genre, praising its MOBA-like mechanics and vast environments, explaining that "as with the rest of Halo 5, there is momentum here—but this is a force that shifts from side to side with each match. Warzone isn't so much about consistency—it's about adaptability. And the team that can roll with the punches, and punch back at the right moments, will have the upper hand."[96]
Halo 5's campaign and story received mixed reviews. Timothy J. Seppala of Engadget felt it was the first time in years that the campaign felt like a step backward compared to its predecessor; "instead of addressing what it got wrong with [Halo 4] and doubling down on what it did right, the team fundamentally altered how a Halo campaign works to horrendous results"[105] In contrast, Albert praised the campaign for challenging enemies and environments dense with secret pathways and hidden weapons. "This kind of design makes Halo 5's campaign ripe for replaying, and well suited for the [...] co-op it's clearly made for", he wrote.[100]
The game's artificial intelligence (AI) also received mixed impressions. Chris Carter found the squad controls rudimentary, but found the team chatter and their assistance welcome.[91] GamesTM pointed out flaws in enemies by criticizing overpowered bosses and saying that "the number of things that can kill you instantly—even on Normal difficulty—is exasperatingly high". Reviewers like Carter and GamesTM complained of ally teammates failing to revive players, even in instances such as when they were standing right next to the player.[91][93]
Time's Matt Peckham felt that in comparison to the setup in Halo 5's marketing and the Hunt the Truth series, which suggested a novel direction for the series, "What happens in Halo 5's story, by contrast, feels disappointingly by the numbers."[106] GameSpot's Mike Mahardy felt that while the plot had promise, the campaign did not effectively capitalize on its opportunities: "Cutscenes fade to black before they feel finished. Character motivations shift on a whim."[96] Forbes' Paul Thier and GamesRadar's David Houghton complained that players did not suitably impact the story's progression, and that the game's cliffhanger ended the plot at the conclusion of the first act.[107][108] Though he also found fault with parts of Halo 5's campaign, Albert praised Cortana's threat as "less black and white" in motives than previous antagonists, and the background chatter contributing to learning more about each character.[100]
Sales[edit]
First-week global sales of Halo 5 software and hardware totaled more than US$400 million, making it the fastest-selling Xbox One exclusive. Halo 5 made the biggest sales record in Xbox history, and was also the best-selling digital title.[109][110] Within its first five days of release, Halo 5 was the best-selling game of October in the United States, according to NPD Group,[111] which tracks physical sales from retailers. In November, Halo 5 was the eighth best selling game according to NPD's figures.[112]
In the United Kingdom, Halo 5 debuted on the top of the sales charts as measured by Chart-Track, besting the week's other new release, Assassin's Creed Syndicate. It outsold previous Halo release The Master Chief Collection by 50% in its first week.[113][114] The following week sales decreased 78 percent, and Halo 5 was displaced from the top of the charts by Call of Duty: Black Ops III.[115] The game was the tenth best selling title of 2015 in Australia.[116]
On June 9, 2016, Frank O'Connor said that the game managed to sell 5 million copies in the first 3 months of its release.[117]
Awards[edit]
List of awards and nominations
Award
Category
Result
Ref.
The Game Awards 2015 Best Multiplayer Nominated [118]
Best Shooter Nominated
Best Score/Soundtrack Nominated
Game Critics Awards 2015 Best Action Game Nominated [119]
Best Online Multiplayer Nominated
Game Revolution Best of 2015 Awards Best Multiplayer Won [120]
Best Shooter Won
Best Xbox Exclusive Nominated
Game of the Year Nominated
IGN Best of 2015 Awards Best Competitive Multiplayer Honorable mention (tie) [121]
Best Shooter Nominated [122]
OXM Game of the Year Awards 2015 Best Innovation Won [123]
Best Online Multiplayer Won
Ultimate Game of the Year Nominated
20th Satellite Awards Outstanding Action/Adventure Game Nominated [124]
12th BAFTA Games Awards Best Music Nominated [125]
References[edit]
Jump up ^ "The Halo Bulletin: 8.27.14". Halo Waypoint. Microsoft. August 27, 2014. Archived from the original on October 12, 2014. Retrieved May 5, 2015.
Jump up ^ Peckham, Matt (March 31, 2015). "Prepare to Endlessly Hear About Halo 5 Until October". Wired. Condé Nast. Retrieved March 31, 2015.
Jump up ^ O'Brien, Lucy (November 10, 2014). "7 New Abilities Coming to Halo 5". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
Jump up ^ Pereira, Chris (June 9, 2015). "In Halo 5's Campaign, You'll Always Have Three Companions". GameSpot. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
Jump up ^ Osborn, Alex (August 17, 2015). "343 Industries Responds to Complaints Over Halo 5: Guardians' Lack of Split-Screen". IGN. Retrieved July 13, 2017.
Jump up ^ Yin-Poole, Wesley (June 10, 2015). "Halo 5: There's good news and bad news". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Retrieved July 2, 2015.
Jump up ^ Makuch, Eddie (September 24, 2015). "Xbox Boss Explains Why Halo 5 Has No Split-Screen". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
Jump up ^ Morris, Tatiana (October 25, 2015). "Everything you need to know about Halo 5: Guardians". GameZone. GameZone Next. Archived from the original on January 7, 2016.
Jump up ^ Statt, Nick (September 23, 2015). "Halo 5: Guardians' story shows Master Chief at his most vulnerable". The Verge. Vox Media. Retrieved November 8, 2015.
^ Jump up to: a b Reeves, Ben (June 11, 2015). "Halo 5: Guardians – The Spartans Tough Enough To Work With Master Chief". Game Informer. GameStop. Retrieved November 8, 2015.
Jump up ^ Reeves, Ben (June 11, 2015). "Halo 5: Guardians – Unmasking The Fireteam Hunting Master Chief". Game Informer. GameStop. Retrieved November 8, 2015.
Jump up ^ Skrebels, Joe (March 30, 2015). "Halo 5: Guardians out on October 27 – watch the new footage now". GamesRadar. Retrieved January 30, 2016.
Jump up ^ Shea, Brian (September 23, 2015). "A Look At The Voices Behind Gaming's Iconic Characters". Game Informer. Retrieved February 3, 2016.
Jump up ^ Ross, Bonnie (October 23, 2015). "The Halo 5 Journey". Halo Waypoint. Microsoft. Archived from the original on October 26, 2015. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
Jump up ^ Drake, Audrey (June 10, 2013). "E3 2013: New Halo Coming in 2014". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved June 16, 2015.
Jump up ^ Makuch, Eddie (June 21, 2013). "Microsoft: New Halo for Xbox One is "legitimate"". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved July 1, 2013.
Jump up ^ Sliva, Marty (May 16, 2014). "Halo 5: Guardians Announced". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved May 16, 2014.
Jump up ^ Peckham, Matt (May 16, 2014). "Halo 5 Guardians Will Be the Xbox One's Maiden Halo". Time. Archived from the original on May 18, 2014. Retrieved May 19, 2014.
Jump up ^ Keith, Stuart (June 10, 2014). "E3 2014: Halo Master Chief Collection announced for Xbox One". The Guardian. Retrieved June 12, 2014.
Jump up ^ Makuch, Eddie (December 29, 2014). "Halo 5 Multiplayer Beta Available Today". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
Jump up ^ Hussain, Tamoor (May 8, 2015). "Halo: The Master Chief Collection Is "Black Eye For Us," Franchise Director Says". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
Jump up ^ Jarvis, Matthew (December 8, 2015). "OptiTrack motion capture tech used in Halo 5: Guardians". Retrieved July 10, 2017.
Jump up ^ "Microsoft's 343 Industries Deploys Mocap for 'Halo 5: Guardians'". Retrieved July 10, 2017.
Jump up ^ Ross, Bonnie (May 16, 2014). "The Halo Journey". Xbox Wire. Microsoft. Archived from the original on May 18, 2014. Retrieved May 19, 2014.
Jump up ^ Karmali, Luke (May 16, 2014). "Halo 5: Guardians Receives First Piece of Concept Art". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on May 31, 2014. Retrieved May 19, 2014.
Jump up ^ Tach, Dave (September 15, 2015). "The Halo 5 tech that scales resolution to ensure 60fps and 'large-scale destruction'". Polygon. Vox Media. Archived from the original on September 15, 2015. Retrieved September 15, 2015.
Jump up ^ Palumbo, Alessio (November 10, 2015). "Havok Technology Helped 343i's 60 FPS Goal In Halo 5: Guardians". Wccftech. Retrieved July 13, 2017.
Jump up ^ Sinha, Ravi (November 11, 2015). "Halo 5 Guardians Relied on Havok's "Efficient Toolset" for 60 FPS Gameplay". Gamingbolt. Retrieved July 13, 2017.
Jump up ^ Brustein, Joshua (October 22, 2015). "Can the Woman Behind Halo 5 Save the Xbox?". Bloomberg.com. Archived from the original on October 23, 2015. Retrieved November 11, 2015.
^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g Wojcik, Wade (June 10, 2015). "Evolved Combat: How Halo 5: Guardians Is Breaking Tradition". Game Informer. GameStop. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
Jump up ^ "What's Urs' is Ours". Halo Waypoint. Microsoft. September 18, 2015. Archived from the original on November 7, 2015. Retrieved November 7, 2015.
^ Jump up to: a b Wojcik, Wade (June 22, 2015). "Revealing The Story Of Halo 5: Guardians' Campaign". Game Informer. GameStop. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
^ Jump up to: a b c Easterling, Jeff (November 16, 2015). "Canon Fodder #50: Fifty Caliber". Halo Waypoint. Microsoft. Archived from the original on November 17, 2015. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
Jump up ^ Dyer, Mitch (January 8, 2014). "Halo 4 Art Director Steps Down at 343 Industries". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on January 9, 2014. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
^ Jump up to: a b c The Art of Halo 5. Insight Editions. 2015. pp. 26, 67, 115–117. ISBN 978-1608876495.
^ Jump up to: a b c d e Vore, Bryan (June 12, 2015). "The Halo 5: Guardians Cover Story". Game Informer. GameStop. p. 2. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
^ Jump up to: a b c d Wojcik, Wade (July 1, 2015). "An Epic Return: The Music And Sound Of Halo 5". Game Informer. GameStop. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
^ Jump up to: a b "Halo 5: Guardians Original Soundtrack". Amazon. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
^ Jump up to: a b c d e Vore, Bryan (June 12, 2015). "The Halo 5: Guardians Cover Story". Game Informer. GameStop. p. 4. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
Jump up ^ Reeves, Ben (June 26, 2015). "A Guided Tour Of Halo 5: Guardians' Newest Map, Fathom". Game Informer. GameStop. p. 1. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
^ Jump up to: a b Reeves, Ben (June 15, 2015). "Exclusive First Hands-On With Halo 5: Guardian's New 24-Player Mode, Warzone". Game Informer. GameStop. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
^ Jump up to: a b Welsh, Oli (August 12, 2014). "Halo 5: Guardians beta runs three weeks from December 29th". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
^ Jump up to: a b Vore, Bryan (June 12, 2015). "The Halo 5: Guardians Cover Story". Game Informer. GameStop. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
Jump up ^ Saed, Sherif (February 10, 2015). "Halo 5: Guardians documentary The Sprint is now available on YouTube". VG247. Retrieved July 11, 2017.
Jump up ^ Staff (December 18, 2014). "The Sprint Gives You an Inside Look at the Making of Halo 5: Guardians Multiplayer Beta". Xbox Wire. Microsoft. Retrieved July 11, 2017.
Jump up ^ "The Sprint - Season 2". Halo Waypoint. Microsoft. Retrieved July 11, 2017.
Jump up ^ "Watch The Sprint Season 3 to learn about motion-capture and score of Halo 5: Guardians". AR12Gaming.com. October 6, 2015. Retrieved July 11, 2017.
Jump up ^ Crecente, Brian (March 29, 2015). "Halo 5: Guardians launches Oct. 27, see the new live-action trailers". Polygon. Retrieved January 22, 2016.
^ Jump up to: a b Vore, Bryan (June 9, 2015). "July cover revealed – Halo 5: Guardians". Game Informer. Retrieved January 24, 2016.
Jump up ^ "All Halo 5: Guardians DLC Maps Will Be Free". IGN. June 9, 2016. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
Jump up ^ "Sounders FC to wear Halo 5: Guardians-themed jerseys for nationally televised match vs. LA Galaxy". September 29, 2015. Retrieved July 13, 2017.
Jump up ^ Makuch, Eddie (October 8, 2015). "Halo 5 Sponsoring NASCAR Event Next Weekend". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved July 13, 2017.
Jump up ^ Makuch, Eddie. "Halo 5 Dev Acknowledges "Disconnect" Between Marketing And Actual Game". GameSpot. Retrieved July 13, 2017.
Jump up ^ Dyer, Mitch (October 26, 2015). "Opinion: Halo 5's Ads Lied to You". IGN. Retrieved July 13, 2017.
Jump up ^ Hornshaw, Phil (October 27, 2015). "Halo 5: Guardians review". Digital Trends. Retrieved July 13, 2017.
Jump up ^ Yin-Poole, Wesley (March 23, 2015). "Halo 5 ARG includes Serial-style fictional podcast exposé on Master Chief". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Retrieved March 23, 2015.
Jump up ^ Peckham, Matt. "Exclusive Preview Halo 5 Hunt the Truth Season Two". Time.
Jump up ^ "Leo Burnett, R/GA, Droga5 Win Gold as Clio Awards Unveil OOH, Audio and PR Winners". Adweek.
Jump up ^ Peckham, Matt (September 21, 2015). "series of podcasts, the mythology of the Halo universe was thrown into tumult. What will happen next?". Time. Retrieved January 24, 2016.
Jump up ^ Nunnenly, Stephany (June 15, 2015). "Halo 5: Guardians – E3 2015 campaign and Warzone multiplayer demos". VG247. Retrieved January 25, 2016.
Jump up ^ Pereira, Chris (August 7, 2015). "Unlike Every Past Halo FPS, Halo 5 Earns a Teen ESRB Rating". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
Jump up ^ Makuch, Eddie (October 30, 2015). "Halo 5's Teen Rating Will Improve Sales, Xbox Exec Says". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on December 12, 2015. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
Jump up ^ Saed, Sherif (June 17, 2015). "Halo 5: Guardians – limited and collector's edition content confirmed". VG247. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
Jump up ^ McWhertor, Michael (July 17, 2015). "Halo 5 collector's edition buyers can exchange their digital code for a disc, 343 confirms". Polygon. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
Jump up ^ Stein, Zack (June 9, 2015). "All Halo 5: Guardians DLC Maps Will Be Free". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on August 21, 2015. Retrieved November 12, 2015.
Jump up ^ Hussain, Tamoor (October 29, 2015). "No Halo 5 Campaign DLC Planned, Says Dev". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on December 18, 2015. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
Jump up ^ "Battle of Shadow and Light". Halo Waypoint. Microsoft. 2015. Archived from the original on November 12, 2015. Retrieved November 12, 2015.
Jump up ^ Nunneley, Stephany (December 12, 2015). "Halo 5 Cartographer's Gift maps set on Andesia, Forge items include a whale and pig". VG247. Archived from the original on December 18, 2015. Retrieved December 17, 2015.
Jump up ^ Hillier, Brenna (December 16, 2015). "Forge arrives in Halo 5 with Cartographer's Gift update". VG247. Archived from the original on December 18, 2015. Retrieved December 17, 2015.
Jump up ^ Skrebels, Joe (January 27, 2016). "Halo 5's free January update is out - here's everything you get". Games Radar. Future plc. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
Jump up ^ "Infinity's Armory". Halo Waypoint. Microsoft. January 2016.
Jump up ^ Gies, Arthur (February 24, 2016). "Halo 5 adds Hammer Storm — and teases the return of Firefight". Polygon. Vox Media.
Jump up ^ "Hammer Storm". Halo Waypoint. Microsoft. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
Jump up ^ "Halo 5 Content, Ghosts Of Meridian, Available Today". Major Nelson. April 6, 2016.
Jump up ^ "Ghosts of Meridian". Halo Waypoint. Microsoft. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
Jump up ^ "Memories of Reach". Halo Waypoint. Microsoft. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
Jump up ^ "Hog Wild (REQ Drop)". Halo Waypoint. Microsoft. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
Jump up ^ "Warzone Firefight Comes to Halo 5: Guardians on June 29". Xbox Wire. Microsoft. June 23, 2016. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
Jump up ^ "Warzone Firefight". Halo Waypoint. Microsoft. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
Jump up ^ Makuch, Eddie. "Halo 5: New Xbox One Expansion Out Now, as Free Forge Tools Hit PC". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved September 9, 2016.
Jump up ^ "Monitor's Bounty". Halo Waypoint. Microsoft. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
Jump up ^ French, Tom (August 24, 2016). "Halo 5: Forge for Windows 10 PC Release Date Revealed". Xbox Wire. Microsoft. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
Jump up ^ Wingfield, Nick (August 4, 2015). "With Halo 5: Guardians, Microsoft Seeks to Lure E-Sports Players Back". The New York Times. Kirkland, Washington. Archived from the original on August 9, 2015. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
Jump up ^ Staff (November 4, 2015). "Halo World Championship Regions & Prizing Update". Halo Waypoint. Microsoft. Archived from the original on November 9, 2015.
^ Jump up to: a b "Halo World Championship Kicks Off in December". Xbox Wire. Microsoft. November 19, 2015. Archived from the original on November 19, 2015. Retrieved November 19, 2015.
Jump up ^ Grill, Scott (December 4, 2015). "Halo 5 December update brings Forge, new arena and Warzone maps". Inquisitr. Retrieved January 23, 2016.
Jump up ^ Makuch, Eddie (February 22, 2016). "Halo 5 Microtransactions Have Now Generated At Least $1.5 Million". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on March 2, 2016. Retrieved February 25, 2016.
Jump up ^ "The Halo World Championship preview". ESPN. Archived from the original on March 18, 2016.
Jump up ^ Makuch, Eddie (March 22, 2016). "New Halo 5 Pro Gaming Tournament Announced". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on March 23, 2016. Retrieved March 23, 2016.
^ Jump up to: a b "Halo 5: Guardians for Xbox One Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
^ Jump up to: a b c d Carter, Chris (October 26, 2015). "Review: Halo 5: Guardians". Destructoid. Retrieved October 26, 2015.
Jump up ^ Landa, Jeff (October 26, 2015). "Halo 5: Guardians review". Electronic Gaming Monthly. Retrieved October 26, 2015.
^ Jump up to: a b c Staff (December 6, 2015). "Halo 5: Guardians review". GamesTM. Archived from the original on December 12, 2015. Retrieved January 28, 2016.
Jump up ^ Miller, Matt (October 28, 2015). "Halo 5: Guardians". Game Informer. Retrieved October 28, 2015.
Jump up ^ Paras, Peter (October 26, 2015). "Halo 5: Guardians Review". Game Revolution. Crave Online. Retrieved October 26, 2015.
^ Jump up to: a b c d Mahardy, Mike (October 27, 2015). "Halo 5: Guardians Review". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved October 27, 2015.
Jump up ^ Moore, Ben (October 27, 2015). "Halo 5: Guardians - Review". GameTrailers. Retrieved October 27, 2015.
Jump up ^ Houghton, David (October 29, 2015). "Halo 5: Guardians - Final review". GamesRadar. Future plc. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
Jump up ^ Gerstmann, Jeff (October 26, 2015). "Halo 5: Guardians Review". Giant Bomb. CBS Interactive. Retrieved October 26, 2015.
^ Jump up to: a b c d Albert, Brian (October 26, 2015). "Halo 5: Guardians Review". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved October 26, 2015.
Jump up ^ Dale, Alex (October 26, 2015). "Halo 5: Guardians Campaign review (OXM)". Official Xbox Magazine. Future plc. Retrieved October 26, 2015.
^ Jump up to: a b Gies, Arthur (October 26, 2015). "Halo 5: Guardians review". Polygon. Vox Media. Archived from the original on October 26, 2015. Retrieved October 26, 2015.
Jump up ^ Orry, Tom (October 26, 2015). "Halo 5: Guardians Review". VideoGamer.com. Retrieved October 26, 2015.
Jump up ^ Takahashi, Dean (October 25, 2015). "Updated: Halo 5: Guardians takes Master Chief and his pursuer down a very strange path". VentureBeat. Retrieved January 20, 2016.
Jump up ^ Seppala, Timothy J. (October 29, 2015). "I played through 'Halo 5: Guardians' solo and hated it". Engadget. AOL. Retrieved November 8, 2015.
Jump up ^ Peckham, Matt (October 26, 2015). "Halo 5 Balances Its Mediocre Story With Smart Multiplayer". Time. Retrieved November 8, 2015.
Jump up ^ Thier, David (November 2, 2015). "Why Halo 5: Guardians' Ending Was So Controversial". Forbes. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
Jump up ^ Houghton, David (October 30, 2015). "Why Halo 5's Story Fails Completely". GamesRadar. Future plc. Archived from the original on November 10, 2015. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
Jump up ^ "Halo 5: Guardians Smashes Record with Biggest Halo Launch in History". Xbox Wire. Microsoft. November 4, 2015. Archived from the original on November 4, 2015. Retrieved November 4, 2015.
Jump up ^ Makuch, Eddie (November 4, 2015). "Halo 5 Reaches $400 Million in Sales to Become Biggest Halo Launch Ever". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved November 15, 2015.
Jump up ^ Macy, Seth G. (November 12, 2015). "The Best Selling Games for October Announced". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on November 13, 2015. Retrieved November 12, 2015.
Jump up ^ Grubb, Jeff (December 10, 2015). "November 2015 NPD: Call of Duty outsells Fallout 4 as PlayStation 4 takes November". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on December 11, 2015. Retrieved December 11, 2015.
Jump up ^ Martin, Matt. "Halo 5 outsells Master Chief Collection by 50% in first week". VG247. Retrieved November 2, 2015.
Jump up ^ Phillips, Tom (November 2, 2015). "Halo 5 tops chart, outsells Assassin's Creed Syndicate launch by 50%". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on November 7, 2015. Retrieved November 7, 2015.
Jump up ^ Staff (November 9, 2015). "Black Ops Friday". Chart-Track. Archived from the original on November 16, 2015. Retrieved November 16, 2015.
Jump up ^ Van Daal, Joel (January 11, 2016). "The 2015 Australia & New Zealand IGEA Top Ten Charts powered by NPD". MCV Pacific. Intent Media. Archived from the original on January 13, 2016. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
Jump up ^ "Halo 5 Sold Five Million Copies in Three Months". Gamingbolt. Retrieved 2016-06-17.
Jump up ^ "Nominees". The Game Awards. Ola Balola. 2015. Archived from the original on November 14, 2015. Retrieved November 13, 2015.
Jump up ^ Walker, Austin (July 7, 2015). "'Best of E3 2015' Game Critics Awards Announced". Giant Bomb. CBS Interactive. Retrieved June 15, 2016.
Jump up ^ GR Staff (January 1, 2016). "Best of 2015 Awards". Game Revolution. Retrieved January 25, 2016.
Jump up ^ "Best Competitive Multiplayer". IGN. January 9, 2016. Archived from the original on January 9, 2016. Retrieved May 26, 2016.
Jump up ^ "Best Shooter". IGN. January 9, 2016. Archived from the original on January 9, 2016. Retrieved May 26, 2016.
Jump up ^ Official Xbox Magazine (January 1, 2016). "The OXM Game of the Year Awards 2015". GamesRadar. Future plc. Retrieved June 16, 2016.
Jump up ^ "Satellite Awards (2015)". International Press Academy. IPA. December 2, 2015. pressacademy.com. Archived from the original on May 29, 2016. Retrieved July 13, 2017.
Jump up ^ Skrebels, Joe (March 10, 2016). "BAFTA Games Awards 2016 Nominees Revealed". IGN. Retrieved July 13, 2017.
External links[edit]
Halo 5: Guardians at Halo Waypoint
Halo 5: Guardians at Xbox.com
Wikiquote has quotations related to: Halo 5: Guardians
[show]
v
t
e
Halo series
Bungie
343 Industries
Games
Main series
Halo: Combat Evolved
Soundtrack
Anniversary
Halo 2
Soundtrack
Halo 3
Soundtrack
Marketing
Halo 4
Soundtrack
Halo 5: Guardians
Other games
Halo Wars
ODST
Reach
Spartan Assault
The Master Chief Collection
Halo Online
Spartan Strike
Halo Wars 2
Novels
The Fall of Reach
The Flood
First Strike
Ghosts of Onyx
Contact Harvest
Cryptum
Primordium
Silentium
Other media
Graphic Novel
Dead or Alive 4
Killer Instinct
Uprising
Legends
Halo 2600
Red vs. Blue
Forward Unto Dawn
The Fall of Reach
I Love Bees
Installation 01
The Life
Universe
Characters
Master Chief
Cortana
Arbiter
Gravemind
Factions
Covenant
Flood
Halo Array
Blood Gulch
Book
Category
Portal
[show]
v
t
e
343 Industries
Halo
Combat Evolved: Anniversary
Halo 4
Spartan Assault
The Master Chief Collection
Spartan Strike
5: Guardians
Halo Wars 2
People
Josh Holmes
Bonnie Ross
Corrinne Yu
[show]
v
t
e
Professional Halo competition
Games
Halo: Combat Evolved
Halo 2
Halo 3
Halo: Reach
Halo 4
Halo 5: Guardians
Competitions
ESL
Halo Championship Series
Defunct
Cyberathlete Professional League
Major League Gaming
Boost Mobile MLG Pro Circuit
World Cyber Games
Notable teams
Cloud9
Counter Logic Gaming
Denial eSports
Evil Geniuses
Renegades
OpTic Gaming
Team EnVyUs
Team Liquid
Winterfox
Str8 Rippin
Defunct
Final Boss/Team 3D
Fnatic
Team Carbon
Notable players
Aaron "Ace" Elam
Retired
Michael "StrongSide" Cavanaugh
Ryan "Saiyan" Danford
Eric "GH057ayame" Hewitt
Ben "Karma" Jackson
Matt "Zyos" Leto
Victor "Lil Poison" De Leon III
Carlos "Cpt Anarchy" Morales
Dan "OGRE 1" Ryan
Tom "OGRE 2" Ryan
Tom "Tsquared" Taylor
Dave "Walshy" Walsh
Halo portal
Video games portal
Xbox portal
Microsoft portal
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Halo_5:_Guardians&oldid=843430114"
Categories:
2015 video games
343 Industries games
First-person shooters
Halo games
Mecha video games
Microsoft games
Multiplayer and single-player video games
Science fiction video games
Video game sequels
Video games developed in the United States
Video games featuring female antagonists
Video games containing loot boxes
Xbox One games
Xbox One X enhanced games
Xbox One-only games
Hidden categories:
Use mdy dates from February 2016
Articles using Infobox video game using locally defined parameters
Articles using Wikidata infoboxes with locally defined images
Articles using Video game reviews template in single platform mode
Official website different in Wikidata and Wikipedia
Navigation menu
Personal tools
Not logged in
Talk
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Namespaces
Article
Talk
Variants
Views
Read
Edit
View history
More
Search
Navigation
Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikipedia store
Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page
Tools
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Wikidata item
Cite this page
Print/export
Create a book
Download as PDF
Printable version
In other projects
Wikiquote
Languages
العربية
Deutsch
Español
فارسی
Français
한국어
Italiano
日本語
Polski
Português
Русский
Suomi
Svenska
Українська
5 more
Edit links
This page was last edited on 29 May 2018, at 03:17.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Cookie statement
Mobile view
Enable previews

values: mw-page-base noprint

values: mw-head-base noprint

values: firstHeading firstHeading en

values: siteSub noprint

values: jump-to-nav mw-jump

attrs: colspan class style

attrs: scope style

values:
/wiki/Video_game_designer
mw-redirect
Video game designer

values: width:22em;float: right; width: 22em; font-size: 90%; text-align: left; border-spacing: 3px;

attrs: alt src width height class srcset data-file-width data-file-height

values:
/wiki/Third_person_(video_games)
mw-redirect
Third person (video games)

values:
/wiki/Powered_armor
mw-redirect
Powered armor

values:
/wiki/Thomas_Lasky
mw-redirect
Thomas Lasky

values:
/wiki/Video_game_beta
mw-redirect
Video game beta

values:
tlheader mbox-text
3
text-align:left;background-color:#fff

values: display: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);

values: display: none; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);

values:
/wiki/Dedicated_servers
mw-redirect
Dedicated servers

values:
/wiki/Seattle_Sounders
mw-redirect
Seattle Sounders

values:
/wiki/Dale_Earnhardt,_Jr.
mw-redirect
Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

values:
wikitable
1
width:99%; text-align:center;

values:
/wiki/Electronic_Sports_League
mw-redirect
Electronic Sports League

attrs: alt src title width height srcset data-file-width data-file-height

values: background:transparent;padding:0em;margin:0em 1em 1em 1em;text-align:center;float:right;clear:right;width:23em

values: background: #FDD; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center;

values: background: #99FF99; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center;

values:
/wiki/Wired_(website)
mw-redirect
Wired (website)

values:
/wiki/Amazon_(website)
mw-redirect
Amazon (website)

values:
/wiki/Gamer_Network
mw-redirect
Gamer Network

values:
/wiki/Crave_Online
mw-redirect
Crave Online

values:
nofollow
http://thegameawards.com/nominees/
external text

values: -moz-column-width: 30em; -webkit-column-width: 30em; column-width: 30em; list-style-type: decimal;

values: nowraplinks hlist collapsible autocollapse navbox-inner

values: nowraplinks collapsible autocollapse navbox-inner

values: Template talk:Professional Halo competition

values:
/wiki/Ryan_%22Saiyan%22_Danford
mw-redirect
Ryan "Saiyan" Danford

values:
/wiki/Eric_%22GH057ayame%22_Hewitt
mw-redirect
Eric "GH057ayame" Hewitt

values:
/wiki/Matt_%22Zyos%22_Leto
mw-redirect
Matt "Zyos" Leto

values:
/wiki/Tom_%22Tsquared%22_Taylor
mw-redirect
Tom "Tsquared" Taylor

values:
/wiki/Walshy_(Halo_player)
mw-redirect
Walshy (Halo player)

values:
noprint metadata navbox
navigation
Portals
font-weight:bold;padding:0.4em 2em

values: Category:Multiplayer and single-player video games

values: Category:Video games developed in the United States

values: Category:Video games featuring female antagonists

values: Category:Video games containing loot boxes

values: Category:Use mdy dates from February 2016

values: Category:Articles using Infobox video game using locally defined parameters

values: Category:Articles using Wikidata infoboxes with locally defined images

values: Category:Articles using Video game reviews template in single platform mode

values: Category:Official website different in Wikidata and Wikipedia

values: Discussion about edits from this IP address [ctrl-alt-n]

values: A list of edits made from this IP address [ctrl-alt-y]

values: You are encouraged to create an account and log in; however, it is not mandatory

values: You're encouraged to log in; however, it's not mandatory. [ctrl-alt-o]

values:
/wiki/Halo_5:_Guardians
View the content page [ctrl-alt-c]
c

values: Discussion about the content page [ctrl-alt-t]

values: p-namespaces navigation vectorTabs p-namespaces-label

values:
p-variants
navigation
vectorMenu emptyPortlet
p-variants-label

values: Past revisions of this page [ctrl-alt-h]

values: p-views navigation vectorTabs p-views-label

values:
p-cactions
navigation
vectorMenu emptyPortlet
p-cactions-label

values:
mw-wiki-logo
/wiki/Main_Page
Visit the main page

values:
/wiki/Main_Page
Visit the main page [ctrl-alt-z]
z

values: Featured content – the best of Wikipedia

values: Find background information on current events

values:
/wiki/Special:Random
Load a random article [ctrl-alt-x]
x

values: portal navigation p-navigation p-navigation-label

values: portal navigation p-wikibase-otherprojects p-wikibase-otherprojects-label

values: هيلو 5: غارديانز – Arabic

values: هیلو ۵: نگهبانان – Persian

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-fa
display: none;

values: 헤일로 5: 가디언즈 – Korean

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-it
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-pl
display: none;

values: interlanguage-link interwiki-fi badge-Q17437796 badge-featuredarticle

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-sv
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-uk
display: none;

values: All languages (initial selection from common choices by you and others)

values: mediawiki ltr sitedir-ltr mw-hide-empty-elt ns-0 ns-subject page-Halo_5_Guardians rootpage-Halo_5_Guardians skin-vector action-view