Halo 5: Guardians

A poorly executed storyline finds itself awkwardly lodged in a very short and uninspired series of missions that exist for nothing more than to include content at the games 2015 launch; because there sure wasn't any to be found in the multiplayer at the time. However, credit where it's due, over the course of a year, free updates (unfortunately a rarity in the modern game industry) gradually added to the variety of the matchmaking and it became a pretty fun and addicting side-attraction to whatever other game you might've been playing. The unbalanced and unappreciated in game micro transactions took away from the fulfillment of getting new gear for your multiplayer spartan that can be found in the pre-2012 titles in the series. 6/10. Only slightly above average.

I've played almost all the halo games and to me this one has the worst story. Don't get me wrong, I still play this game and enjoy it but in my opinion, the multiplayer is the best part. I love the new controls better than the way that the older games are played.

As much as I really don't care for the multiplayer game type selection, armor customization and rank progression, it's probably the only redeeming aspect to this game. I do enjoy the big team battle, warzone and firefight modes when the servers can actually stay populated- which just seems to stop after being several minutes into a match.

Been running through the Halo games in preparation for Infinite and my excitement has now been stomped into cautious optimism after this stark reminder of a campaign.

The story relies heavily on details never mentioned in the games, flat and meaningless dialog and just piss poor choreography. Seriously though, what was that intro? The entire campaign doesn't even make a single reference to a Halo ring. Even 4 managed to do that. By comparison, this makes 4 look like a masterpiece. The over the top abilities of Locke's team devalues all the crazy stunts Master Chief pulled off in previous games and insults the audience that's old enough to remember the original trilogy when they were new. They then become completely useless when Master Chief is standing right in front of them. I hope the lead writers never touch a Halo project again because they're simply an incompetent group.

A few final constructive criticisms are the music is easily the worst of any Halo game, the T rating and lack of any blood is not a good trade-off just so kids can have easier access to it (I played CE when I was 7, I wonder how?) and finally- and I completely forgot this prior to replaying it, but you only play as Master Chief for 3 missions. If Locke was as well written as the Arbiter back in Halo 2 I could forgive this point, but I literally couldn't care in the slightest for him or his team. I don't remember the names of the two females (promise I'm not sexist) but their involvement in the game meant nothing to me. At least Buck didn't come out of left field with meaningless details sprinkled here and there. Don't get me started on the Chief's team, they simply should NOT have been in the game.

Here's to hoping Infinite doesn't suffer from several of the same mistakes- and believe me, there are many more..

I am not sure why so many people are hating on this game. Sure it does not have the best story of any Halo game, but it is not terrible either. I think people just expect the same thing over and over again. They want another Halo 3, but what game franchise will last if it is simply the same over and over again? The gameplay here is perfect, the mechanics and graphics are amazing, and the multiplayer experience is by far the best I have played in any FPS. People are constantly complaining about microtransactions as well. However, I was able to move up through the ranks pretty easily without spending an extra dime. And if you do not want to unlock anything, just play arena as everyone gets the same gear there. I absolutely loved Halo 5 for its multiplayer experience (especially Warzone) and the campaign was not bad either. Time to stop complaining about a 2015 game being different from a 2007 game and start enjoying the greatest FPS gameplay of all time.

Making a halo campaign with master chief not being the main character should be a sin!