A full video of a multiplayer match in the upcoming Halo 5: Guardians beta has been released, and it looks like it’s going to be a very different Halo game indeed.
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The footage was recorded at HaloFest at LA, and shows a game of Slayer taking place on the new map Empire. The map is an industrial setting, featuring plenty of narrow corridors and tight corners.
Here’s a rundown of the fundamental changes that have been made to Halo‘s multiplayer in Halo 5:
- Boosting. The video shows players being able to boost from left to right whilst in mid-air, allowing for more agile movement. This feature seems to operate in the same way as the Exo abilities in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare.
- Sprinting. Love it or hate it, sprinting is now a part of Halo 5.
- Change of pace. The addition of boosting and sprinting make the game’s multiplayer a whole lot more fast-paced, as noted by the video’s commentator.
- Spartans talk to each other. Spartans now talk to each other during the match, alerting one another to the positioning of the enemy and when they’ve picked up a new weapon on the map.
- New medals. Medals such as ‘Perfect’ (killing an enemy with one shot), ‘Top Gun’ (the first player on a team to get 10 kills) and ‘Big Game Hunter’ (killing two players with power weapons before you die) have been added.
- Ground Pound. By holding the crouch button in mid-air players can perform a ground pound, which hits enemies directly beneath them. The power of this move is countered by the player becoming vulnerable for a few seconds whilst they perform it.
All in all, Halo 5: Guardians seems to be a very different beast. While it still retains a lot of the features that have made Halo one of the most popular FPS series ever, developers 343 Industries have added a lot more to the old formula in the hopes of keeping it fresh. While veteran Halo players will likely be a little disappointed with these changes, I personally think that the game is looking great, even if I’m admittedly not a fan of the addition of sprinting.
