Microsoft and 343 Industries showed off Halo 5: Guardians for the first time and the game looks incredible. The developer only gave fans a peek of the multiplayer, and so far while it does look excellent, not every Halo fan is in agreement with the many changes.
Overall, the game is very similar to other Halo games on the surface. Folks who have played the old games can jump right in and have a lot of fun. However, they will have to learn the new mechanics as they are very crucial to the game's multiplayer.
One new game-changing mechanic 343 Industries dropped in the game is the ability to aim down the sights of a weapon. The studio calls this feature, Smart Scope, and it is quite different when compared to aiming down the sights in games such as Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare.
The plan here by the developer is to balance things out, so if a player is aiming down their scope but get shot in the process, they'll be de-scoped and forced to fire from the hip. Furthermore, firing from the scope or the hip does not change how accurate weapons are, so whatever advantage Smart Scope brings to the table is miniscule at best.
There are other new features such as Sprinting, Strafing, Charging, and Ground-pounding. We'll dig more into these new mechanics in another article as they are quite intriguing to be very honest.
We should point out that 343 Industries and Microsoft are aiming for the eSport scene with Halo 5: Guardians, and it appears professional gamers are quite impressed with what they have seen and played.
The graphics.
The game at the moment is in beta, yet it looks so beautiful and very pleasing to the eyes. From our experience, the single player aspect of a game tends to look a lot better when compared to the multiplayer aspect, so we can't wait to see what the single player looks like in action.
If Halo 4 is anything to go by, it is clear that 343 Industries knows how get great graphics out of a console. The game was probably the most beautiful title on the Xbox 360, and no one believed the console was capable of delivering such wonders.
As it stands right now, Halo 5: Guardians multiplayer is looking great, and it can only improve from here. The beta 343 Industries plan to throw at gamers will not include vehicles, but we understand that will come in another beta sometime in 2015.
