Four more complaints I have with Halo 5: Guardians that I didn’t mention in Parts 1, 2, or 3 are (1) its replacement of in-game terminals with audio logs, (2) its removal of split-screen compatibility, (3) its soundtrack, and (4) the length of its campaign.
The in-game terminals are worth mentioning because they were compelling, well-crafted augmentations of the Halo universe. They were first introduced in Halo 3 as a series of ancient dialogue transcripts hidden throughout the campaign. The terminals in Halo CE: Anniversary, Halo 2: Anniversary, and Halo 4, animated by The Sequence Group, added some fascinating story bits and clever retro-continuity. For instance, we got to learn about what 343 Guilty Spark was up to for the past 100,000 years, the physical and psychological torture the Gravemind inflicted upon Captain Keyes, and why the Heretic leader betrayed the Prophets. However, Halo 5 discontinues this trend by opting to replace these beautifully animated short films with boring, lazy, 144p audio logs that nobody listened to or cared about.
Secondly, the game’s alarming lack of split-screen compatibility is simply unforgiveable. There is no excuse for 343’s inability to program such a basic and essential feature. Furthermore, the campaign was built with cooperative play in mind, but when you can’t play on the same television set as someone else, then what’s the point? Why market the game as being “pro-co-op” when people are forced to pay for a $60 LIVE subscription and a brand new Xbox One console just so they can play with their friends again?
Split-screen is also a feature in the list of features that were unavailable at launch; there was no working Theater mode, no Forge mode, no Big Team Battle or other social game types, and to this day no veto system. Halo has always shipped with these features, but Halo 5 was the first game in the series where we had to wait for them to be added months later.
Third, there was always something seriously off-putting about Halo 5’s soundtrack that I could never quite put my finger on. Of course, it doesn’t feel like a traditional Halo soundtrack, and the luster and atmosphere that made previous Halo soundtracks so memorable are missing from Halo 5’s soundtrack. But even both these explanations are insufficient.
The real reason? There are too many damn STRINGS!
Unfortunately, not a single track in Halo 5 stands out to me, and Kazuma Jinnouchi’s direction is a huge downgrade from the works of Marty O’Donnell and Michael Salvatori. However, since Mr. O’Donnell is no longer employed at Bungie studios, I sincerely hope that 343 hires him to compose future Halo soundtracks. In my mind, there is nobody else in the world who can do it better. He was destined to compose the music of Halo.
Lastly, Josh Holmes was once quoted with saying that Halo 5: Guardians has the longest and most ambitious campaign to date, when in fact it has the shortest and most half-assed Halo campaign to date. Did the man straight up lie to our faces, or was content cut from the game last minute? Whatever the case may be, a solo run of Halo 5’s campaign can be completed, on average, in 6 hours or fewer on Heroic or Legendary difficulty, assuming that you rarely die and skip over all of the audio logs, skulls, and other Easter eggs. On Easy or Normal difficulty, you’ll probably finish the game in around 3 or 4 hours, which is pathetic considering Halo’s history of lengthy campaigns. Ironically enough, the shortened campaign is a good thing because if I had to sit through this shit for any longer, I would lose my mind.
And now that I’ve gotten all that out of the way, it’s time for my final word.
I try not to write a predominately negative review without at least ending it on a somewhat positive note. In truth, I wouldn’t have dedicated this much time to complaining about Halo 5’s campaign if I didn’t believe the franchise could still be saved.
The key issue with Halo 5 is not that it killed the franchise, but that it took the franchise in the wrong direction. If it is revealed in a twist that Cortana is under the control of the Ur-Didact in Halo 6, then that could undo the contrivances in Halo 5. Cortana’s motives would therefore make sense, and the writers could explore an interesting dynamic between her and the Didact. Although, as I alluded to earlier, if 343 continues making everything up as they go along without any forethought, then Halo 6 is going to flop even worse than Halo 5.
I would like to thank you for making it this far and reading all that I had to say on the story of Halo 5: Guardians. It’s no secret by now that it sucks, but as a lifelong Halo fan I simply couldn’t let this one slide. I felt that I would be doing massive a disservice to not speak up on it and vent my frustration to the public, because I don’t want Halo to fall into the same traps as the Fable games or The Terminator films did.
This review was important to me because Halo is a part of my history and ultimately my understanding of who I am. More importantly, Halo was once a game that all other games on the market aspired to emulate, but seeing where the franchise has been, where it is right now, and where it’s going? It’s a damn shame, and I want, hope, and prey for future installments to improve.
But what do you think? Can 343 climb out of the hole that it dug itself? Can Halo become the quintessential console-seller that it once was, or is the franchise forever doomed?
