Halo 5 was released on October 27, 2015 for the Xbox One console. Halo 5: Guardians is a first-person shooter video game created by 343 Industries and published by Microsoft Studios. It is the latest installment to the Halo franchise and is second installment from the developers 343 Industries.

Before the release of Halo 5: Guardians, the main focus was on the character Spartan Locke along with his team, Osiris. The team are on a search to find out what exactly happened to Master Chief after the events of Halo 4. Master Chief is absent without leave and is to be returned to the UNSC.

Halo is known for being great story-wise, well, mainly for those who know of the lore and have read the novels behind it. Halo 5: Guardians is a prime example of an installment that could cause confusion for the average typical gamer. The story surely felt rushed and forced with the amount of characters pushed into the story also made it puzzling nor was any light shed upon what anyone of their objectives were. Overall, the story was short but the cinematic cut scenes were amazingly done well.

The advertisement also created a lot of built-up hype, that didn’t deliver. 343 Industries released a series of trailers branding the Master Chief as “rogue’ or a “traitor” against his home, while other trailers show the Master Chief as being hunted by fellow Spartans. This very hunt was anticlimactic as there weren’t a case of the main character being in danger by the Spartans at all. 343 Industries created trailers that weren’t even showcased in the video game at all.

The multiplayer aspect of Halo does indeed make up for it, being action-packed, competitive, and does bring nostalgia to old Halo fans. The game has also fixed mistakes that were made in Halo: The Master Chief Collection with bugs, and connection problems. It runs smoothly at 60 frames per second and at 1080p which is great, but felt unneeded as the option split-screen was removed to reach these specifications. The multiplayer consists of two game modes, one called Warzone, the other being Arena Multiplayer. Warzone is a new gametype that goes up to 24-players, your objective is to battle against enemy AI, Covenant, Forerunners, and Spartans along with your own. Arena Multiplayer is a mode of 4v4 competitive combat.
Based on how Halo 5: Guardians turned out, I felt it built hype it could not reach. However, the multiplayer aspect really made it a great game. I rate this game a 3 out of 5.