WARNING Halo 5: Guardians spoilers ahead
OKAY. So after playing through the campaign a second time and taking a moment to scrape away the crusty salt build up, I can now talk about the great things that it had to offer!
First, the level design. Bigger is better. And for someone like me who goes about exploring before advancing through the game, its a playground. You can climb here and there, smash through walls that lead to different routes, and its literally eye candy everywhere you turn. The worlds, the landscapes and just the atmosphere itself is breathtaking. I found myself staring out into the scarlet canyons of Sanghelios, Genesis as a whole was a beautiful marriage between Forerunner technology and nature, and Sunaion being a city in the middle of an ocean was surreal as fuck. Running along the spine of a Guardian was probably my favorite level. The graphics are highly impressive. The details put into the armor, the people, the worlds, cortana, it was all beautiful. And the COLORS. Some people thought this game was too saturated in its color but it just made the game look…delicious. If you’re familiar with Forge, campaign offered colors that where filtered with Forge’s “Juicy” option. The colors were darker, richer and gave these levels life. Its design is probably one of the best since Halo CE.
Second, the score. Music can speak to you in many ways and the music in this game told me to have all the feels. A definite improvement from Halo 4. Halo 5 probably offers one of the best soundtracks in the franchise. It’s epic. Moments in the game had me filled with either nostalgia, adrenaline pumping action or chills running down my spine thanks to the music. The score features some Halo classics remixed into the tracks that was pleasantly nostalgic to listen to. For example, listen to The Trials and tell me it doesn’t sound familiar. They also brought back the famous Halo Canticles. This song never fails to turn me to an emotional pile of goop. The music also gave an essence to each level. You got this Sanghelios vibe when Warrior World played in the background, The Dominion has a slight eerie/tragic feeling to it, and Walk Softly got my blood pumping and is probably one of my all time favorite tracks. Kazuma Jinnouchi did a fantastic job. Bravo, sir. Here’s the rest of my favorite tracks:
Third, the gameplay. Its fun, its fast and my God do I love smashing through everything with the new Spartan Charge and Ground Pound. Sprinting plus using the boost makes you feel untouchable.
The aiming is also different but in a good way. There’s always a satisfying pop! whenever you score a headshot. The midair aim is not really something I use but it does help if you master it. The enemy AI are far more challenging. Hunters take a bit more to take down than they normally would in the previous installments. I really also enjoyed the interactions you can have with the Swords of Sanghelios, pressing a button and hearing them speak. Your ally AI are somewhat smart. I haven’t had a problem with the revive system like others have. The AI seem to react accordingly and swiftly when you’re downed. They pull some of the weight in taking down enemies but not enough that you’re forced into the sidelines. They mount vehicles and help out throughout the mission the best they can. The gameplay is addicting and probably one of the best.
Female Sangheili Mahkee ‘Chava
Olympia Vale speaking Sangheili
Locke referring to the Arbiter and Chief as ‘sir’
Team Osiris’ reactions to singing grunt
Singing grunts in Sunaion
“Do not ignore the words of those who saw the Sun before you.”
Sangheili Love poem to Commander Sarah Palmer
031 Exuberant Witness, my precious baby
Edward Buck starring as the comedian of Fireteam Osiris
Firefly reference: Your sudden but inevitable betrayal
Grunt and Elite sitting at the ledge conversing
Cortana’s new character design
Grunt humming while holding a skull
Hearing Sangheili being spoken
Linda stepping in between John and Cortana
Arbiter sending his greetings to Master Chief
ALL THE UNGGOY AND SANGHEILI
“The Arbiter’s an ally so I recon these sangheili are our brothers” - Buck 2015
Fred calling Chief ‘brother’
This campaign is far from perfect and definitely not my favorite but it has enough to keep me in love with its universe and keep me playing for a while.
izzy806
stormborns
blakekathryn
discoholicmusic
ellievsbear
