Halo 5: Guardians (Xbox One) Review

The Halo series continues to proceed down its known reputation of futuristic and heavily themed visuals. Giant cities, alien structures, and outdoor areas all manage to maintain the Halo style, while utilising the Xbox One's engine. Halo 5: Guardians seems to take no interest in disappointing long-time fans in the overall aesthetic many have come to love and recognise. The orchestrated music from start to finish will please ears, thanks to newcomer composers Kazuma Jinnouchi and Sotaro Tojima, who take the helm after Martin O'Donnell.

Combat has evolved once again. Halo 5 steps the game up with a plethora of new combat and movement mechanics that may please, or even disappoint, many Halo fans. Spartans all include the ability to shoulder tackle and sprint by default, and dual wielding remains a feature that has not returned. There is the option to do a short "Directional Thruster Pack Boost" to help evade or even pursue players and creatures alike in combat, climb up walls, and hover in mid-air, while performing a Ground Pound attack to destroy unaware players and hostiles. This is a far cry from the previous Halo entry, almost as if it is an entirely new or different game completely.

The implementation of aiming down a gun's sights is certainly something that feels unwelcome in Halo, since the speed and movements in Spartan competitive multiplayer is unnatural with all the jumping and boosting. In most cases, players will imminently switch to the side arm magnum, which clearly is far more versatile and powerful than the assault rifle in just about every situation. That includes close range firefights when able to perform consistent head-shots. It's a rather unbalanced weapon, but fun to use, nonetheless.

In many ways, Halo 5: Guardians seems to have a lot in common with Call of Duty and Titanfall. All the additions to the gameplay seem to be well known mechanics of the former - most notably, the ability to aim down sights, and thruster pack manoeuvres. Luckily, their execution here converts into excellent mechanics and always seems to compliment Halo's floaty feel of movement.