Now begins the good and not good, as multiplayer is what people are more interested in. If you see neither good or not good next to something, I had no particular opinion. This is Part 2 of my look at the multiplayer of Halo 5: Guardians, to read about the Campaign in Part 1, click here!
An Evolving Multiplayer
I have spent many hours playing this multiplayer, just from sheer amusement. Halo 5 brings back the Ranked and Social playlists as well as a new type called Warzone. Most of the classic Halo game types are under Ranked games: Team Arena, Slayer, Doubles, Snipers, SWAT, Free-for-all, and the new type, Breakout. Other playlists fall under Social games: Team Skirmish, Big Team Battle, Super Fiesta (random weapons), Action Sack (personal favorite), Infection, and Grifball. With the implementation of REQ points and packs, there is now a reward system for finishing games.
WARZONE
Warzone is the place to use the REQ cards you get from REQ packs, which you buy with REQ points. It is a currency you earn after completing every match, which you can then use to buy packs that contain armor, emblems, power weapons, vehicles, armor mods, power ups, and boosts. In Warzone, your REQ level will increase based on your performance, enabling you to use your cards at the cost of the level. The levels regenerate too, promoting you to use your REQs. And seriously, people need to use them more. Do not be one of those players that collects them and lets them pile up while complaining about being killed over and over again. Because in Warzone, it will happen, a lot. But, it is definitely addicting.
When I found myself playing Warzone, which was often, the majority of people seem to go capture the base on their side first and then rush for the base in the center. There are AI targets to kill for larger points, but hardly anyone focuses on them. Everyone is too predictable, minus the people who actually know what they are doing.
Not good: There was only three maps at launch, Battle of Noctus, March on Stormbreak, and Apex 7. You could imagine that it got old real fast, but I did learn the ins and outs of each map.
Good: Two more maps were added since launch, as well as the Warzone Firefight playlist which adds a few more only used for Firefight.
ARENA
If you are the competitive type, then Ranked Arena is for you. If you would rather enjoy Halo with your friends, much like me, you should be playing Social Arena. Why, you might ask? Well, the answer is simple. In a Ranked playlist, everyone is your enemy. Your teammates are more of the verbal ones. They will complain when you die, blame you for losses, and betray you for power weapons. And, your enemies will often commit the most recognized Halo celebration: a nice gentle (or viciously violent) tea-bagging depending on your level of skill in the game. It could be a revenge-bagging or a taunt-bagging, which is more common. Or, you could try for an assassination on the guy who last killed you, giving you a retribution medal. So much more satisfying.
Assassinations are quick and flashy ways to take enemies out. It feels good to catch another player with their back turned.
My Wal-Mart connection at college caused me to rubber band around the map in one game I was playing, and there was a two second delay whenever I shot someone. I, on the other hand, would get shot through walls. My direct response was in fact, "WTF was that?" My suggestion, if you sense lag, do not play the multiplayer. It will leave you raging and quitting, otherwise known as rage quitting. So, as I died over and over again, and we were losing about 10-6, a teammate of mine decided to plug in his mic just to yell at me to get a kill and that it was easy to do so. With a laugh and a few choice words, I left the game, and I have never returned to competitive Arena since. So much for being a good teammate.
Good: Now, Breakout, my favorite of the competitive games, is a 4v4 one life per round, best of 9 rounds, with a flag in the middle of the map. Great for fast-paced play. Grab your buddies and tackle this playlist, it is more fun that way. If you go in solo, at least have a mic in. Chances are you will go up against a group of people who are all communicating. So, if you do not want to get stomped, I suggest at least a little bit of using that mic that you always say is broken or that you don’t have.
Not good: At launch, favored playlists such as Infection and Grifball were not included. It took the developers a little while to make a heroic return of the fan-favored game types.
Grifball!
FORGE
At launch, this was not accessible until the following year, 2016. I never spent much time in Forge, as my lack of creative thoughts for game types and maps would surely get snuffed out by members of the community. Even still, the things that people have created are AMAZING. Racetracks, challenge courses, awesome recreations of classic Halo maps, you will find it all in Forge.
CUSTOMIZATION
There is just too much. Nobody needs over 250 each of armors, helmets, and emblems. Nobody gives a damn, it is just an aesthetic to give you a feel of individuality. Even then, that individuality is wiped off the table when one person in every other lobby has the same armor you have on. I was lucky enough to start off my multiplayer experience with the Helioskrill armor, a Legendary set which came from a gold REQ pack, an armor that mimics the Elites.
Not good: Too much stuff to collect, when you only really use one at a time.
The Red Spartan, wearing the Mk. V armor, and the Blue Spartan, wearing the Helioskrill armor. Both are Legendary sets.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Halo 5 did not have a lot of content at its launch, but promised to regularly update and add maps, game types, armors, and other goodies for free with the implementation of the REQ packs. With the game offering microtransactions for packs, a new step for Halo, all dlc comes free, for everyone. This, I like. People like me do not have to pay a cent for new content, even though most of it should have been there from the start. The eradication of the armor abilities from Halo 4 opened the door for the great strife boost, a burst of speed in any direction, so that you can evade grenades, gunfire, or being splattered by that one kid who is always driving around like the Dukes of Hazard in a ghost.
And as for the stuff that make up the game: The graphics are beautiful, and the best for any Halo game to date. The 60 FPS is consistent, until you start to lag and your screen freezes when you die.
There was a time that I played the multiplayer before writing about it, and I had left it for a year because of the lack of maps and diversity. However, I was brought back after a lot of the fan-favored content reemerged. Seems like 343 had to keep the Bungie fans, like myself, content.
