Halo 5: Guardians’ release is important for a number of reasons, none more important than it being 343 Industries' opportunity to prove that it can handle a top-tier franchise like Halo. You see, this isn't just another shooter franchise, it’s a cultural phenomenon. Halo: Combat Evolved propelled the Xbox brand into stardom at a time when it needed it most, and since then it has broken records with each subsequent release, totaling at over 65 million copies sold.
Bungie's departure from the franchise was a pivotal moment in its timeline. As the creator of the franchise, it cultured something that never stagnated, and always found new, clever ways to make the universe more enjoyable to play in.
Among the things Bungie was well-regarded for was its storytelling. Halo: Combat Evolved began what would become a series known for its mysterious worlds, interesting characters, and finely-crafted level design that promoted exploration. Although the series would hit a misstep with Halo 2's famous cliffhanger ending, which was the result of unrestrained ambition, it would deliver a saga that left a lasting impression with gamers.
Halo immediately established itself as not only a great multiplayer shooter, but one with a memorable story to tell.
343 Industries had a tough act to follow. Its first release, Halo 4, was its first crack at taking over the franchise. It made a strong effort to establish that it was going in a new direction, and on some fronts it was successful. However, its storytelling wasn't considered to be up to par for the franchise resulting in lost mind share with fans.
As much as 343 Industries gets a lot of flak for Halo 4, it was by no means a bad game; it didn’t earn a respectable 87 Metascore by mistake. What it wasn't was an industry-influencing, class-leading game like its predecessors. Being great simply wasn't enough.
Many fans weren’t happy with the way the series’ modernization was handled, leading to a large number of players playing the multiplayer for only a week or two before moving on. Equally as important, many didn't care for the new Promethean enemies and linear level design of the campaign. The change in style was noticeable to everyone who played it.
With this in mind, it isn't all that surprising that a lot of the talk of Halo during the past three years has been centered on whether or not 343 Industries can rise to the challenge and deliver something compelling like its forefathers.
There's a lot at stake with Halo 5's release.
Halo 5: Guardians represents a clean slate for 343 Industries. Many were willing to give the studio the benefit of the doubt on its first release in the series. Though, some have remained skeptical, and reasonably so.
After three years of development, Halo 5: Guardians has finally arrived. The good news is that it does a lot of things right. The gameplay is better than ever, which results in a fantastic minute-to-minute experience whether you're playing alone or with others. There are a lot of features, including casual and competitive online options, well-designed unlocks, and all the things you look for in a Halo game such as Skulls and Replays. It also rights some of the wrongs of Halo 4, including the design of Promethean enemies.
It's when you near the end of the campaign that 343 Industries' new direction hits some turbulence.
As you dive deeper into the experience, you begin to notice that you’re playing as Spartan Locke a whole lot more than fan-favorite Master Chief. In-fact, 12 of the 15 missions feature Spartan Locke and his team. It's fair to say that he's the star of the show this go-around. In a sense, it's reminiscent of Hideo Kojima's play on Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty where Solid Snake was sidelined for a less interesting Raiden.
If you don't know who Spartan Locke is, you definitely will by the end of the game.
Most of the time you're having so much fun enjoying the gameplay that it isn't a big deal. When cutscenes come around and you see what are by far the most beautiful character interactions in the series' history, it's easy to be come engrossed in Spartan Locke's hunt for Master Chief. Many players will be able to look past this questionable design choice.
It isn't until the end where your taste is put to the test. A shocking cliffhanger that only Halo 2 could possibly compare to is unleashed upon your senses. As you see it unfold, time slows. There's a moment where you want to believe that there's still room for gameplay, that you'll be able to play beyond this point of huge revelation.
As you stare at the credits that fall before your eyes, it becomes easy to forget the eight hours of pure shooter bliss that you experienced leading up to this moment in time. At that point it becomes clear that 343 Industries’ vision for the future of the Halo franchise is much different than Bungie, and you'll have to wait, yet again, to experience what's next.
The audacious ending of Halo 5 is sure to leave the community divided.
The problem is that Halo 5: Guardians is in no position where it can take risks of this magnitude. 343 Industries needed to deliver, and it needed to deliver now. This wasn't the time or place to make fans wait longer to see what comes next.
What's here lacks closure. It makes you feel as though you're only being given a piece of a pie that you paid top dollar for. Made worse, the final moments are the most disruptive that the Halo universe has ever seen. It's interesting, but in way that confounds reason. Halo 5: Guardians' ending will inevitably promote discussion, much of which will question the future of the franchise.
Whether the cliffhanger kills your experience or not is up to you. In the event that you don't primarily play Halo for its story, you can reasonably brush the cliffhanger off your shoulder and head back into the campaign with a friend or into the feature-rich multiplayer, both of which are places where the game's tastefully crafted gameplay brings joy unlike any other shooter in 2015. But for those who have been following the story for upward of a decade, and want the universe to be substantiated in a compelling way, what we're looking at has the potential to be either a rebirth or a death knell. We won't know until the next game arrives in a few years.
