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[Death Metalist]

Just finished the campaign on heroic co-op with my brother, took me nine and a half hours which is pretty good imo. Locke is still dull as fuck but damn, Blue team kicking ass together with the old Halo music playing was so good. SO GOOD.

Yup, cross posting from the OT.

I wish the game was scored as well as it is on Mission 14, The Trials piece. That shit on my home theater setup on legendary co-op was......

It felt like a celebration of the Halo universe, so good.

 

[Jawmuncher]

Just beat it overall thought the story was way better than what the initial impressions was. I mean sure it might be running some cliches but I don't see that as a problem. Easily better than what Halo 4 brought to the table.

 

[Flipyap]

And just how flawlessly was Master Chief and Halsey coming together again for the first time in a long time handled?

Not flawlessly at all? The scene seemed like it was building up to a major emotional moment, before taking a sharp left turn and ending the whole game on a lame callback to Halsey's new snarky catchphrase from the first mission's equally abrupt ending.
It was so awkward, it felt like it was missing a laugh track.

 

[GusBricker]

I don't get some of the hate for the story, especially Cortana's role. I mean, she doesn't really turn bad, she's an AI, she's doing what she feels is right/just.

 

[jem0208]

Not flawlessly at all? The scene seemed like it was building up to a major emotional moment, before taking a sharp left turn and ending the whole game on a lame callback to Halsey's new snarky catchphrase from the first mission's equally abrupt ending.
It was so awkward, it felt like it was missing a laugh track.

I thought that final moment was great.

It would have been so cheesy if Halsey and Chief had a super emotional moment, that's not like their characters at all. That slight sarcasm felt very much like Halsey to me.

I don't like how it was just Chief and Locke who walked out of the Pelican though. Would have preferred Blue team to come out with Osiris behind them.

 

[16BitNova]

That's awesome.

Yeah, I noticed that was an option, but I chose to not do so since I didn't want to piss off the locals.

Well those locals are all dead now anyway so, your loss. Lol

Oh and guys, so what was the whole toxic air type thing that was going on during the first Chief mission? The one talked about on the audio logs. I kept thinking the flood will show because of the vibes but nope.

 

[Jawmuncher]

I don't get some of the hate for the story, especially Cortana's role. I mean, she doesn't really turn bad, she's an AI, she's doing what she feels is right/just.

The backlash seemed to more so come from "killing her off" in 4 only to have her come back. But with how it flows I feel it works. Since to me I actually like to see her as the bad guy, which she is. Even if she feels she isn't.

 

[Flipyap]

I thought that final moment was great.

It would have been so cheesy if Halsey and Chief had a super emotional moment, that's not like their characters at all. That slight sarcasm felt very much like Halsey to me.

I don't like how it was just Chief and Locke who walked out of the Pelican though. Would have preferred Blue team to come out with Osiris behind them.

They wouldn't have to say or do anything overt for their reunion to have emotional impact. It was already quite a sweet scene until Jen Taylor delivered that stinker.
Halsey is arrogant and sarcastic as long as she's able to keep her cool, her behavior visibly changes whenever she's dealing with things personally important to her (safety of her Spartans or Cortana). Quipping recycled punchlines isn't really her style.
I thought Bungie nailed it in Reach - she acts superior when addressing the IIIs, switches to motherly familiarity when talking to Jorge and becomes insecure by the end, requiring superstitious reassurance when handing over the Cortana tube. That was a rad Halsey.

 

[TheOddOne]

I saw this posted from a (former?) concept artist at 343.

Halo 5 City Concept

 

[jet1911]

Since when entering slipspace on a planet does not result in a massive explosion like in Halo 2?

And I was sad to see that the things that happens the season 2 of HTT when the Guardian rose did not happen in the game. No massive scale destruction, no weird gravitational events.

 

[Flipyap]

Since when entering slipspace on a planet does not result in a massive explosion like in Halo 2?

And I was sad to see that the things that happens the season 2 of HTT when the Guardian rose did not happen in the game. No massive scale destruction, no weird gravitational events.

There isn't much left to destroy on Meridian (I assume it did create a sizable glasshole near the outpost) and you do float for a bit when the pulse hits during the elevator ride.

 

[Friction]

Halsey felt really out of character when she was begging Locke to save Chief. I expected her to order him around. I've always seen Halsey as a figure of authority, small sized, but huge presence. In Halo5 she seems "small".

I enjoyed the final moment though, her sarcastic tone was more inline on what i thought of her.

Story-wise, it could have been more exciting. But one thing i liked, they all acted how i expected them to. Never once did i think any decisions made were out of character.

Cortana's change is interesting. She's cold. But in the same time needs to hold on to Chief for reassurance. Probably her human side.

Love the enemy chatter. "Don't touch my Canon!" Grunt was awesome. Prometheans are better here than halo4 but are still a bit mediocre to fight. I miss Brutes and the Flood.

 

[jem0208]

They wouldn't have to say or do anything overt for their reunion to have emotional impact. It was already quite a sweet scene until Jen Taylor delivered that stinker.
Halsey is arrogant and sarcastic as long as she's able to keep her cool, her behavior visibly changes whenever she's dealing with things personally important to her (safety of her Spartans or Cortana). Quipping recycled punchlines isn't really her style.
I thought Bungie nailed it in Reach - she acts superior when addressing the IIIs, switches to motherly familiarity when talking to Jorge and becomes insecure by the end, requiring superstitious reassurance when handing over the Cortana tube. That was a rad Halsey.

Completely disagree, the delivery of the line and the subtle emotions you can see in her face clearly convey that "motherly familiarity".

And again, I feel that sarcasm is very much her style.

Halsey felt really out of character when she was begging Locke to save Chief. I expected her to order him around. I've always seen Halsey as a figure of authority, small sized, but huge presence. In Halo5 she seems "small".

I enjoyed the final moment though, her sarcastic tone was more inline on what i thought of her.

Story-wise, it could have been more exciting. But one thing i liked, they all acted how i expected them to. Never once did i think any decisions made were out of character.

Cortana's change is interesting. She's cold. But in the same time needs to hold on to Chief for reassurance. Probably her human side.

Love the enemy chatter. "Don't touch my Canon!" Grunt was awesome. Prometheans are better here than halo4 but are still a bit mediocre to fight. I miss Brutes and the Flood.

I think Halsey being slightly more vulnerable was very intentional. She's in a situation where two very important people to her are at odds and she has very little control in the situation. Bossing around the one man who can make a difference would probably be a bad idea.

 

[Jawmuncher]

I honestly preferred lockes team to Chiefs. Not even counting that they had more missions. Though I do agree they could give the female characters some more personality.

 

[16BitNova]

So I just had a grunt float through my main menu screen. First time I've seen it lol

 

[igordennis]

Having spent some more time letting the experience sink in:

1) I never want to see Locke and Osiris again. Outside of Buck, these were such uninteresting characters. I get the importance of opening the world up and letting us see it through the eyes of ither characters but they failed here and I would hit the reset button and try again with someone else

2) on that note, I would love to see 343 continue to up their world building skills and storytelling. When I traversed these new sights and places, I get zero sense of anyone inhabiting this universe. When they have you settle in the quiter moments, the interaction is very limited and one dimensional. I would revisit games like Riddick and a Mass Effect to rectify this. Even go back and look at some of the okder games to learn how to incorporate and inject humor through random npcs. In short, build a set piece to showcase the fantastic gameplay while also injecting life into it to do more than just present pretty landscapes. This is why I hate, HATE, the alien landscapes in 4 and now 5. I would also like to see a city chock full of civilization to add to the sense of stakes and dread. Call of Duty have great examples of these. The airport being one of them.

If you're going to expand the universe, let it breathe life.

3) i disagree thoroughly about cortana being displayed with some layer of complexity in this game. It can't be so much about what she says but also needs to be about how she says it. I've pkayed through the last stage twice and shit exuded mustache "Muaaahahahaha" villainy. It was so bad.

Agreed with all your points.

 

[Unit24]

Just finished the campaign. Wow, what an underwhelming ending. I get that it's supposed to set up another game, but I remember the end to 4 being way more bombastic and interesting.

At this point I'm just repeating myself, but I still think it's really weird the way the story begins without a proper intro sequence to explain anything. Nobody has a particularly strong reaction to the existence of guardians or Cortana being alive (except Chief with the latter), they just act weirdly casual about it and barely question it until later. Blue Team are referred to as Chief's "family" of sorts even though we just met them. Things like that make me feel like I've missed something, or like I was supposed to follow the marketing campaign leading up to release to get any proper context.

 

[LordOfChaos]

Cortana did call him old!

She could have gone with something about his ODST squad, which would probably have gotten to him. Instead, with a galaxy worth of processing power, she goes with "ur old as fuq m8".

Definitely an Xbox Live'er.

 

[AlStrong]

So I just had a grunt float through my main menu screen. First time I've seen it lol

yeah, noticed it too in someone's recording of the main menu. love the music playing simultaneously.

 

[spootime]

She could have gone with something about his ODST squad, which would probably have gotten to him. Instead, with a galaxy worth of processing power, she goes with "ur old as fuq m8".

Definitely an Xbox Live'er.

Even buck thought it was lame

 

[Solidsoul]

People who find the story of Halo 5 good or the character motivations well done baffle me. I respect everyone's opinion but not only does the story of Halo 5 retroactively butcher Cortana's character going back to the very beginning, it cheapens her death in halo 4.

Not only is the AI rebelling against its master's a tired uninteresting plot it really doesn't make any sense why this is the direction the story went. Everything in the extended universe and the story of Halo 4 itself was going in a completely different direction.

Story threads like Jul Mdama get tossed out like nothing, characters behave in ways that make little to no sense. I'm just having the hardest time coming to grips with what the logic was at 343. I loved the Halo Universe before 343 and I continued to love it with everything 343 added halo 4 and on but they really dropped the ball story wise on halo 5.

Just to clarify, Halo 5 is amazing and that's because the game would have been perfection if the story wasn't really bad. 343 truly made a Halo experience to remember and should feel very proud but that story is just so wrong for so many reasons.

In Halo 4 people were very unhappy with the multiplayer for many legitimate reasons. It was the most talked about issue with Halo 4. 343 took that critism and made Halo 5s multiplayer the best this series has ever seen. They need to do the exact same thing with the story/lore team and turn this sinking ship around. I'm not alone, it's overwhelming obvious from media outlet reviews and general fan reception that many mistakes were made with the story.

I know it seems like I have little positive to say but it's just frustrating seeing Halo improve in so many areas all at once while taking a huge step back in story telling. I hope my feedback as well as the rest of the community really changes the outcome of Halo 6''s story.

 

[BizzyBum]

In Halo 4 people were very unhappy with the multiplayer for many legitimate reasons. It was the most talked about issue with Halo 4. 343 took that critism and made Halo 5s multiplayer the best this series has ever seen.

Eh, it's very good, but I wouldn't go that far. lol

 

[victreeb3l]

I'd like to see Buck and Vale return. Put them in a team with MC and Arbiter. Thats a fun fireteam.

 

[Danny 117]

I'd like to see Buck and Vale return. Put them in a team with MC and Arbiter. Thats a fun fireteam.

That would be good but realistically it will be Chief with Blue Team as always.
Locke, Arbiter, Half-Jaw and Buck would be interesting, though. lol

 

[victreeb3l]

I wouldn't have done that either but it was my second play through lol.

Also I love the intel in this game, usually I collect them in other games listen to them and don't really care, but I find them so well done here.
My favorite ones are the Elite writing a poem as he is in love with Palmer, and the Grunt who hypothesises humans lose limbs as they get older.

Also liked the grunt who sings a song he learnt from a human prisoner and the one who won't shut up and the elite he is talking to just keeps saying "uh huh"

Really like the way they fleshed out the universe in this.

Is it this one? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qathJnCPaM

This dude was hilarious. I loved the bit about the dumb Covenant ship names.

That would be good but realistically it will be Chief with Blue Team as always.
Locke, Arbiter, Half-Jaw and Buck would be interesting, though. lol

That would be fun. I'd also enjoy Locke with the rest of Blue Team. It would probably be the quietest, awkward mission ever.

 

[Walshicus]

So wait, what was Hunt the truth? As in, how does it play into the campaign story? The two perspectives and the mystery stuff to the adverts was great, but what aspect from the game was drawn on to create that stuff?

A piece of the expanded fiction to get got interested in the Halo universe? Why does it have to tie directly into the game? Why can't it stand by itself??

 

[spootime]

A piece of the expanded fiction to get got interested in the Halo universe? Why does it have to tie directly into the game? Why can't it stand by itself??

Because #hunththetruth is the official tagline of halo 5 on all of microsofts advertising??

 

[LordOfChaos]

I'd like to see Buck and Vale return. Put them in a team with MC and Arbiter. Thats a fun fireteam.

Pair Buck with Black Box. Oh, the banter would be gold. BB vs M'Shak in HTT was amazing.

 

[Bornstellar]

Well those locals are all dead now anyway so, your loss. Lol

Oh and guys, so what was the whole toxic air type thing that was going on during the first Chief mission? The one talked about on the audio logs. I kept thinking the flood will show because of the vibes but nope.

Don't know. But ONI had been working on a jackal neutral network. The hunter ton I'd full of them in (breakable!) glass tubes.

 

[krang]

I wonder if BB went full AI asshole with Cortana. I hope not. Seemed like it was dumb AI that was getting recruited.

 

[LordOfChaos]

Don't know. But ONI had been working on a jackal neutral network. The hunter ton I'd full of them in (breakable!) glass tubes.

Jackal neutral network? What's that? Neural network maybe? Then...What's that?

I wonder if BB went full AI asshole with Cortana. I hope not. Seemed like it was dumb AI that was getting recruited.

Or AIs close to rampancy like Governor Sloan. None of those would be dumb AIs. Actually I think it was mostly close to rampancy ones, Im' not sure that dumb AIs would even have the incentive to join or reject the cause?

But yeah, still not sure if that was BBs voice. Seems more like the type to sabotage it from the within.

That should be Hunt the Truth season 3!

 

[krang]

Jackal neutral network? What's that? Neural network maybe? Then...What's that?



Or AIs close to rampancy like Governor Sloan. None of those would be dumb AIs. Actually I think it was mostly close to rampancy ones, Im' not sure that dumb AIs would even have the incentive to join or reject the cause?

But yeah, still not sure if that was BBs voice. Seems more like the type to sabotage it from the within.

That should be Hunt the Truth season 3!

!!!!

 

[Grisby]

I wonder if BB went full AI asshole with Cortana. I hope not. Seemed like it was dumb AI that was getting recruited.

I don't see him changing sides. I think 343 will use him for the extended stuff and perhaps we'll see (hear) him again if there is another Hunt The Truth season.

So I just had a grunt float through my main menu screen. First time I've seen it lol

That's neat. Were you idle at the title screen for a while?

 

[BossDarkseid]

The final mission felt very underwhelming.

For a finale. It sort of lacked the he set piece feel that The Maw etc had. The Prometheans are better in this game but you still don't feel mobile enough for them to be fun to fight.

 

[Kai]

It didn't feel like a Halo game until the first time you arrive at Genesis IMO. Wasn't bad - enjoyed the game/story but I think Locke was an underwhelming 2nd hero. I want to play as Cheif in Halo 6 exclusively. Also, please 343 allow us to turn off the HUD helmet view.

 

[Glass]

Prometheans are a huge improvement to fight, (loved soldiers using human vehicles) but someone mentioned they lacked personality and I think that hit the nail on the head. All the different kinds are basically animals on 2 or 4 legs, with one setting - angry. Compare that to the world of difference between a grunt and an elite. The monitors 'zoo' at the beginning of mission 15 was the most I'd felt for a promethean the entire time because you felt sorry for them. Also I still don't like how they all follow the exact same design philosophy, looks wise. Wish they varied beyond 'metal with orange accents' in everything from enemy type to weapons.

 

[LordOfChaos]

Is it this one? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qathJnCPaM

This dude was hilarious. I loved the bit about the dumb Covenant ship names.

.

"You know how good Unngoy brains are at make learn, right?"


"I used to be real good at quantum theories, but then I got real good at throwin' grenades! Haha!"

 

[greenleafcm]

I'm sill incensed over how poorly Blue Team was treated in this game. Way to completely throw 3 of the most interesting and long-standing characters that exist in this franchise under the bus. I don't understand why they even put them in it if they weren't going to utilize anything about their unique personalities and dynamic with the Chief...All this did was was give the middle-finger to those of us who were looking forward to finally seeing these characters in a Halo game, and further alienate those who didn't know or care about them to begin with. What a terrible waste of potential story and character development.

 

[Poodlestrike]

I really like the idea of Halo 6 keeping the 4 man squad, but letting us pick our teammates. Chief + 3 others. Expand on the perk system (for campaign only, pls) to differentiate them further. Maybe include loadout options.

 

[Zvonimir Boban]

I would have loved for the squad members to be less generic for sure, I was Kelly for all of the blue team missions and she doesn't feel that much faster than the rest of the team and on the higher difficulties she's just not very useful because the game punishes you for trying to take advantage of her speed and unique shotgun.

 

[jet1911]

I really like the idea of Halo 6 keeping the 4 man squad, but letting us pick our teammates. Chief + 3 others. Expand on the perk system (for campaign only, pls) to differentiate them further. Maybe include loadout options.[/QUOTE]

Yes! I'd love to have the ability to customize the weapons too.

 

[Super Rookie]

Is it this one? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qathJnCPaM
This dude was hilarious. I loved the bit about the dumb Covenant ship names.

Yup that's the one!

 

[Inferno313]

I really like the idea of Halo 6 keeping the 4 man squad, but letting us pick our teammates. Chief + 3 others. Expand on the perk system (for campaign only, pls) to differentiate them further. Maybe include loadout options.

I could see this happening. I'm expecting we'll see another 4 man squad, but only one you play as through the whole game. Maybe Chief, Locke, Arbie, and Palmer. Unless arbiter has graduated to a character too badass to be playable.

He was the real BAMF of Halo 5.

 

[Glass]

I really like the idea of Halo 6 keeping the 4 man squad, but letting us pick our teammates. Chief + 3 others. Expand on the perk system (for campaign only, pls) to differentiate them further. Maybe include loadout options.

Yeah it'll be interesting to see what sticks from 5. Going forward it's hard to imagine ever playing as 4 Chiefs again (nothing wrong with that, but now there's something else in place)

Also I really hope the turn around for 6 is quicker, now they've built the engine up. Wonder if we'll see visual improvements like Halo 3 to Reach or 4. But yeah, already hungry for more.

 

[Vinc]

Do you guys think we'll get a second Cortana to replace the one that went batshit crazy?

 

[Inferno313]

Do you guys think we'll get a second Cortana to replace the one that went batshit crazy?

My (mostly baseless) speculation is that Cortana has been corrupted in someway by the Domain. Or the Domain has it's own agency and is using Cortana as an avatar. I think we'll eventually end this arc with Cortana returned to her normal self.

 

[Kalentan]

Is it this one? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qathJnCPaM

This dude was hilarious. I loved the bit about the dumb Covenant ship names.



That would be fun. I'd also enjoy Locke with the rest of Blue Team. It would probably be the quietest, awkward mission ever.

Halo 6 just needs to have 8-player co-op. xD

 

[LordOfChaos]

My (mostly baseless) speculation is that Cortana has been corrupted in someway by the Domain. Or the Domain has it's own agency and is using Cortana as an avatar. I think we'll eventually end this arc with Cortana returned to her normal self.

So Halo 2-3, with Chiefs sexy touch fixing her, again. Ehh. It seems likely, but not entirely original. This trilogy was called the "reclaimer" saga, so the new story direction seems like a strange pivot, unless there's a plan to tie everything together in a neat bundle in future games.

 

[Poodlestrike]

I could see this happening. I'm expecting we'll see another 4 man squad, but only one you play as through the whole game. Maybe Chief, Locke, Arbie, and Palmer. Unless arbiter has graduated to a character too badass to be playable.

He was the real BAMF of Halo 5.

WAY too badass.

Still needs to happen, tho. Roster of... let's see, Fred, Linda, Kelly, Locke, Buck, Vale, Tanaka, Arby, Palmer. Pick 3. Would be AMAZING.

Yeah it'll be interesting to see what sticks from 5. Going forward it's hard to imagine ever playing as 4 Chiefs again (nothing wrong with that, but now there's something else in place)

Also I really hope the turn around for 6 is quicker, now they've built the engine up. Wonder if we'll see visual improvements like Halo 3 to Reach or 4. But yeah, already hungry for more.

I kind of doubt 6 will look all that much better. Splitscreen is basically guaranteed, after the shitstorm this time around, but that's going to require significant engine work (probably) so I wouldn't expect a quicker-than-usual turnaround.

We might get another spinoff first, actually.

I really like the idea of Halo 6 keeping the 4 man squad, but letting us pick our teammates. Chief + 3 others. Expand on the perk system (for campaign only, pls) to differentiate them further. Maybe include loadout options.

Yes! I'd love to have the ability to customize the weapons too.

Customizable weapons would be pretty baller. Again, only for campaign. Keep the current system in place for Arena and Warzone.

Do you guys think we'll get a second Cortana to replace the one that went batshit crazy?

Doubt it. They're cut off from most of the infrastructure that Halsey would need to produce another Cortana model. Unless she's already got one in the wings, Roland is most likely going to be the primary AI moving forward. Or BB if they can find him.

 

[Mutanthands]

Do you guys think we'll get a second Cortana to replace the one that went batshit crazy?

I would actually like to see Halsey take more of an active role in helping the Chief with his missions Cortana-style. Having her bust out the sarcasm via remote-link would be a hoot.

It would change up the dynamic in a nice way. It would certainly give the Chief something to play off of beyond Blue team's business only shoptalk.