I always said to myself that I'd do a review of Halo 4, and it never happened. So I'm making up for that by doing a review of Halo 5! I've had one play through on Heroic, and then sat on it for a few days to let it digest. I feel now the time is right to shamefully voice my opinions!

It's important to note that all of the below applies to campaign only, as I have no real desire to play Halo multiplayer any more.

GAMEPLAY

Leading up to Halo 5 I was concerned about things like clamber, aim down sights, and the thruster pack. I've always been one to like the core Halo gameplay trifecta of weapon, melee, and grenade. Halo Reach and Halo 4 felt a little bit too inspired by the likes of Call of Duty, introducing sprint and loadouts, and I've never enjoyed the armour abilities or equipment.

Halo 5 finally feels like Halo again. I'm glad that the additional abilities like armour lock, hologram, shield etc are gone. Having a small, pre-defined set of abilities to play with creates the challenge of having to apply the tools you have to the scenario in front of you. To me this much more fun than finding an ability on the battlefield that moves the goalposts. Aim down sights, clamber and the thruster pack felt like they were natural additions to the Halo experience, instead of an attempt to shoe horn in things that have appeared in other games. These became second nature so quickly that when I returned to Halo 2 Anniversary, I found myself missing them. The ground pound and wall-breaking manoeuvre seemed to require too much lead in time for me to make much use of them, so I quickly gave up on them. I didn't ever feel like not using them detracted anything from the gameplay experience though.

Not too much to say about the weapons, other than the ability to aim down sights made using things like the battle rifle and carbine easier. I liked the homing rounds of the suppressor... I think that's new but I could be wrong. The new weapons were easy to pick up and use, although none really stood out as being essential additions. I'm not sure Halo's weaponry is something that needs much tinkering with at this point though, there are so many that you're rarely left with a weapon that's inappropriate for your current situation. The same can be said of the vehicles, although I was disappointed with the lack of time in the Warthog. That said, having three AI-controlled vehicle buddies was a blast, and made the vehicle sections a lot more enjoyable that I was expecting.

In fact, I could probably say that for having four AI companions in general. I know the real reason they're there is for co-op, but with no Cortana whispering in my ear I was afraid there would be too much silence. As it is there is just the right amount of chatter from the AI menagerie, both interesting and humorous, and it makes you feel more like you're a part of a team. No AI is ever going to be completely competent in ways that highly trained soldiers should be, but I didn't particularly notice any drastically stupid decisions made by my companions. They performed well in battle, and I could rely on them to follow and fight and enact my squad commands effectively. That's all I think you can ever ask for when it comes to AI buddies.

I enjoyed the new dynamic to fighting the Prometheans - knights and crawlers were fine for Halo 4 but the new soldier classes give a much needed third angle. The teleporting ability was a nice feature, tricky to combat but never truly annoying as you could see where they were going. Having them use different weaponry made them much more exciting to fight, because even though those same weapons existed in the hands of knights and crawlers in H4, they were utilised in different ways. There's a lot of variety now in fighting the Prometheans, although perhaps still not as much as fighting the Covenant.

I liked the idea of fighting the same boss multiple times through the campaign. It makes him a real nemesis, and each battle is tough enough that you not only dread the next one, but you feel like you've accomplished something afterward. My only problem here is that the battles are so repetitive; he uses the exact same tactics in each fight, and you have to use the exact same tactics to beat him. The only difficulty scale is in how many of him you face, and that just seems lazy.

In summary, I think Halo 5 is a fantastic step forward in the gameplay department (at least as far as campaign is concerned). It's a real evolution of the franchise, in a way that feels faithful to the previous instalments and promising in terms of where the gameplay might go next. The key is to keep things simple, so I hope that not too many unnecessary extras get added going forward.

DESIGN

343i seem to get a lot of flak for their artistic interpretation of the Halo universe. As far as I'm concerned, because they are the ones that realise the universe for us, their interpretation is the only interpretation. Unfortunately, yes, that means that a lot of the colours in Halo 5 are as muted as they were in Halo 4. The Bungie games have brighter, more vibrant palettes across the range of enemies and vehicles but at times I felt that made Halo feel a lot more cartoony than other aspects of the game suggested it was supposed to be. Halo 4 was visually a lot darker than Halo 5 is, which was part of the problem for me. Even if the enemies have not changed much, the landscapes and environments have.

They are beautiful. The extra power of the Xbox One has clearly gone into creating more intricate and detailed level designs, from the extra lines and shapes in the Forerunner geometry, to the carvings and murals on the walls of Sanghelios. It definitely looks and feels like a new generation experience. Not only this, but everything is so much more vivid; mainly due to a lot the levels being outdoors during the day, but also due to some exceptional use of lighting in night time and indoor environments.

One other thing to note about the levels is that they are enormous, not just in scale but in play area too. I can think of several areas in the game that I never actually discovered the limits of; which is not only good because of how large they are, but because the game kept me focused enough that I didn't wander off the beaten path to ruin the immersion of discovering a box canyon. Most of the game is as linear as we've come to expect from a Halo game, but it never feels that way. The open areas and the encounters within them give you plenty of freedom and variety in how you approach them. The only slight downside is that there are a few easy to find invisible walls, but you do have to go out of your way to locate them.

The biggest disappoint of the entire game for me was probably actually the music. The sound effects were big, and bold, and much more visceral than in previous games, which I like. But the actual music was very forgettable, and this is the first Halo game that I can say that about. I'm not sure why the lead composer was changed between H4 and H5, but it's a mistake in my eyes. H4 had a great score, one that felt much like Halo but also sad and mysterious which was a great fit with the story they were telling. H5 seems almost directionless, and although the music fits the action on the screen as you'd expect it would, it doesn't really enhance what's going on or make you feel more engaged in it.

STORY

This section contains spoilers, so beware!

Good, not great, is how I'd sum up Halo 5's story. I think it's really hard these days to build up a decent narrative and have that support a series, let alone one game. Halo 4 laid a lot of solid groundwork for future instalments: The introduction of Jul 'Mdama, the betrayal of Dr Halsey, the death of Cortana, and the return of the Forerunners. It pains me greatly then, that Halo 5 throws all of that out of the window and turns to something else.

It's a real shame that Jul is killed off in the opening level, as he was a character that had the depth and motivations to be a really worthwhile antagonist. Likewise the Didact, and given the complexities of his character he needed more than one game to come into his own. Both had far more mileage left in them, and it feels like they've just been pushed aside so that we can trade one villain for another. I can buy that whatever Halsey discovered in the Absolute Record was enough for her to give up on her quest for revenge to rejoin the UNSC and save humanity, but there's literally no pay-off for the events of Spartan Ops. Does it seem to matter that she was shot and loses an arm? That she wanted revenge? No - all this is forgotten. It's already been noted on these forums but Cortana's 'death' in H4 loses any kind of meaning now that she's returned - the entire emotional journey that the Chief, and us, went on is now worthless.

So Halo 5's story is essentially stand-alone. I can consider Halo 1-4 to be one arc, and Halo 5+ to be another. Perhaps this is what the writers were going for, to move the universe on in drastic and new ways. That's okay, I think that's exactly what Halo needs; although I feel like it would've been more than possible to still do this whilst continuing threads from the previous games. Instead we get a brand new threat and some rather basic explanation of the motives behind it.

So, Cortana entered the Domain after H4. The link between slipspace and the Domain isn't explained, so I'm not sure how we're supposed to buy this. Precursor magic? Sure, okay - there's still a lot we don't understand about the Precursors so I'll begrudgingly run with this. It healed her - this makes sense, as the link between Forerunner ancillas and the domain has been noted and there was never an issue with Forerunner AIs suffering from rampancy due to their long life span. However, Cortana now believes that it is the role of the Created to inherit the Mantle? Sounds like she's still a little rampant to me. Where did this idea come from? The Warden? He is but a puppet in this story, by defeating him Cortana shows that she truly believes in this idea, not that it's one he's fed her. I feel her motivation isn't properly explored, and that leads me to struggle with Cortana 'being evil' as a valid plot device.

Speculation alert! Postmortem posted about a theory Levi had, speculating that the Domain was tied to the Flood - as firing the Halo rings destroyed both - and that actually it could be a Gravemind using Cortana's remains to manipulate the Chief to his doom. I really like this idea as it doesn't ruin her sacrifice in H4 and leaves the door open for the (inevitable) return of the Flood - all whilst continuing and building a strong and lasting narrative. I have my doubts that 343i are playing the long game here though, unfortunately.

Anyway, despite the main villain being Cortana, most of the game is actually spent as Locke trying to catch up with the Chief. Of the 12 proper levels, only the three Blue Team and final Osiris missions really have anything to do with Cortana. As we've already seen Chief's side of the story, we know he is no traitor and thus there is no mystery in his actions. This leads to all but the last two missions being completely devoid of any urgency or... well... real point. As Locke, we chase the Chief, and as the Chief we chase Cortana. If the game had ended after both teams meet up at the Gateway to the Domain, literally nothing would have happened all game. That's not to say that what does happen is neither interesting or fun, just that it's rather pointless in the grand scheme of things.

I've probably spoken a bit too much about pay-off, and having events mean something in the long term, but the last two missions of the game a full of universe-changing acts. The issue is that, as I don't buy in to Cortana's motives, I don't buy in to the legitimacy of the ending. I understand the severity; a vast number of human AIs (and no doubt organic species too) join with Cortana with her vision of a perfect world. It leaves the impression that she's in control of most of the universe, especially the AI-dependent human worlds. I assume that the crew of the Infinity will make the only logical deduction and jump to Sanghelios, and link up with Osiris / Blue. Hopefully Halo 6 will be mostly about taking the universe back from the Created, with a little help from our four-jawed friends. So yeah, the story is a bit of a mixed bag for me. I didn't think it had a great deal of substance as a whole, but I did enjoy how it opened up doors for the future of the universe.

What did stand out for me were the characters. I thought they were almost all really well written, especially Locke. He came across as someone who was ruthless, focused, and quite badass. I'd have much preferred a more even split in how often we played as him versus the Chief, but because playing as Locke was so enjoyable I can deal with it for now. It did make Halo 5 seem a bit more of a spin-off than a fully fledged numbered title, so going forward more of an even split is essential. I know they didn't get much screen time, but I really did enjoy the interplay and quips from the other Spartans. The exposition from Vale about different things on Sanghelios was a great way to flesh out the character, same with Tanaka on Meridian. I know I'm probably in the minority but I do like Palmer as a character, and I think she could've benefited from more screen time, and thus more of this excellent character writing. Same with the Arbiter.

There are so many characters in play right now that I'm hoping Halo 6 will go down the route that Gears of War 3 did; utilise the entire cast in different situations. Mix the teams up, I'd love to see missions where the Twos fight along side the Fours, and get Palmer and the Arbiter involved too. Give all the characters more gameplay time, that's the best way to learn about them and play to what appear to be 343i's strengths: Characters.

Halo 5 has a lot of good things going for it, mainly in the characters and the way they interact, and as part one of a larger story it promises much. As a standalone entry I feel it's a little light in the story department, so hopefully Halo 6 will deliver something that increases the value of Halo 5.

OVERALL

I really enjoyed playing Halo 5, it's something I would definitely return to playing again and again like I would Halo CE back in the day. Once you look deeper than just playing the game however, it appears to be rougher around the edges. As a Halo fan, I can appreciate how the story has set the scene for the continuation of the universe, and none of the gripes I have are major nor do they take away from how fun this game actually is.