Halo 5: Guardians fails spectacularly when it comes to delivering a satisfying campaign, both in terms of story and gameplay. This is largely due to the fact that the game’s advertising did not represent a final product whatsoever. The game supposedly revolves around the rivalry between veteran saviour of the galaxy Master Chief and newcomer Sergeant Locke, the latter tasked with hunting the iconic Spartan who is said to have gone rogue.
Turns out this conflict is all but solved and forgotten about a quarter way though the game, as is any reference to the rather intriguing audio web series Hunt the Truth, a promotional marketing campaign for the title that added a lot of depth to the Halo lore. Hunt the Truth gave us great insight into the intrigue and politics of mankind. Curiously, it painted a picture of us humans as the new bad guys in the universe. Unfortunately themes like these and the many questions raised by the series are almost entirely irrelevant to the plot.
The majority of the story follows Locke and his fireteam Osiris as they undertake various missions. An overwhelming feeling that this is more of side plot rather than the next chapter in a new trilogy quickly sets in. Even the three missions dedicated to Master Chief and Blue team do little to excite. All of this ultimately leads to a cliffhanger ending that is entirely unsatisfying.
“Halo 5 is at its best when fighting traditional covenant forces who as always brim with personality”
The gameplay is arguably the most radical change the series has seen thus far, adding in new abilities, weapons and enemies. Levels are designed so that combat situations can often be approached in a number of different ways and often make great use of the new abilities granted to the player. However other sections of the game feel very linear and lack the scope seen in previous Halo games. One section for example allows players to pilot the new Forerunner ‘Phaeton’, an awesome new airborne vehicle. However the game restricts its use to a series of enclosed tunnels populated with mere turrets and unthreatening ground forces.
The new Soldier class of Promethean enemies is another unwelcome addition to the Halo sandbox. This generic, teleporting bullet sponge makes entire sections of the game feel like a real chore.
Halo 5 is at its best when fighting traditional covenant forces who as always brim with personality 
and are overall more fun to fight. The campaign itself has 15 missions to complete, but even on Heroic, it only took me about 8 hours to finish the fight despite the promise of at least 16 on a Normal playthrough. That being said there are great moments to be had here gameplay wise, especially if you play cooperatively online. Split-Screen functionality is omitted this time around.
One place in which the game does succeed however is in its multiplayer. Halo 5 offers 4v4 competitive arena modes on a number of maps made to compliment the new abilities. The new mode ‘Breakout’ is a one life per round mode that is both infuriating and addictive and is clearly built with competitive players and e-sports in mind. ‘Warzone’ on the other hand is a 12v12 mode in which players can call in vehicles, weapons and power ups earned from buying ‘Requisition’ packs as they fight enemy Spartans, capture bases and fight AI controlled bosses. This does mean that there is a distinct lack of middle ground. There are, however more modes and free maps to be released at a later time.
In conclusion, Halo 5’s focus was clearly on making a great multiplayer game, which it has achieved, albeit at the apparent expense of its campaign mode. New players are hardly being catered to and for long term fans it feels like an energy sword has been shoved firmly into your back.