The opportunity to play the beta for Halo 5 early was never going to be an opportunity I’d turn up. I’ve been itching to see was 343 would do on the Xbox One after being very impressed with the amount they got out of the 360 with Halo 4. Having said that, I, along with many others was concerned after seeing the leaked footage of the gameplay. It all looked a bit….COD? I don’t know, but it didn’t look very Halo. Within 2 minutes with the game all of my concerns were immediately eased, and I was fully excited for Halo again.
Let me put this out there to start with – this feels like a Halo game. It has been updated and brought into the present day to make people who are now more comfortable with more modern mechanics feel a bit more at ease, but first and foremost this is Halo. In fact, you probably feel more like a super soldier than ever before with the new moves that are available. You can now clamber up higher ledges, make use of the booster pack to give yourself improved movement and again you can sprint. Of course some of these have made appearances in more recent Halo games, but the combination of all is actually, feels pretty good. One of the main bug bears of the internet keyboard warrior is the new aiming down sights. This seems to be an aesthetic addition rather than functional. You have the same accuracy by not using the scope at all. And de-scoping is present, and soon as you’re shot the scope will be put down.
The early access period of the beta provided 2 maps, and one game mode – Slayer, in quick 4v4 action. You’ll quickly realise that Halo now moves along at phenomenal speeds, and the new moveset quickly becomes a necessity rather than an option. But as soon as the classic voiceovers come into play Halo fans will feel at home. The first ‘triple kill’ I heard filled me with immense happiness, I felt I was finally getting to grips with the game, but also, the grenade and melee which led to 2 of the kills felt so natural, and it’s these things that hammer home that, while some influences have been taken from other popular games, this is still very much Halo.
Graphically the game is top notch. Everything is very smooth and the visuals look great. The purples of 'Truth' - the Midship map remake are vivid, and the more industrial looking 'Empire' demonstrate the stark differences we can expect in the games environments. The look and sound of the weapons fit nicely and the character models have all been brought up to date aswell. There were no noticeable frame rate dips with gameplay staying sharp and crisp even at the most demanding of moments.
It’s difficult to gauge a full impression with limited exposure to the game, but what I’ve seen so far feels like a real evolution of the game. I very much enjoyed Halo 4, but there was something that seemed a little missing for me, and I’m now getting the excitement about Halo 5 that was missing from the run up to its predecessor, it’s release can’t come quick enough, and it will hopefully re-introduce me to a genre I’ve gotten a bit bored of over the last few years.