Halo 5: Guardians

 Xbox One
User Score
6.4

Mixed or average reviews- based on 3713 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,945 out of 3713
  2. Mixed: 747 out of 3713
  3. Negative: 1,021 out of 3713
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  1. HardX
    Oct 28, 2015
    10
    Great game. Graphics, sound, networking opportunities - all done at a high level. Fast and dynamic multiplayer, fun co-op. A worthy continuation of the magnificent series.
  2. chaddaddy
    Oct 28, 2015
    7
    So many people who complain about the story.. well, let's be honest here, Halo never had a really good or amazing story, it was always simple and ok at best.

    The reason why I play Halo is the gameplay, and if you played the game, you just can't say that Halo 5 is bad. Sure, the story is a bit more complex and harder to understand for newcomers or people who don't care about the lore,    So many people who complain about the story.. well, let's be honest here, Halo never had a really good or amazing story, it was always simple and ok at best.

    The reason why I play Halo is the gameplay, and if you played the game, you just can't say that Halo 5 is bad.
    Sure, the story is a bit more complex and harder to understand for newcomers or people who don't care about the lore, but in terms of gameplay or multiplayer, this is easily the best Halo game to date and as a result, also the best FPS game since 2001.    … Expand
  3. Karl2294
    Oct 28, 2015
    10
    Please ignore idiotic comments from people such as 'Sendal'.

    Halo 5 is fantastic. I had fallen out of love with the Halo franchise after Reach, I believe Halo 3 was the pinnacle and a game I played many, many hours of. However, this has brought my love right back. Titled Halo 5 (remove the obvious story link), I see this game as more of a follow on from the original trilogy. The    Please ignore idiotic comments from people such as 'Sendal'.

    Halo 5 is fantastic. I had fallen out of love with the Halo franchise after Reach, I believe Halo 3 was the pinnacle and a game I played many, many hours of. However, this has brought my love right back.

    Titled Halo 5 (remove the obvious story link), I see this game as more of a follow on from the original trilogy. The multiplayer is fantastic fun, very fast and easy to get very immersed in. The campaign is also great, and very challenging for players like myself who love legendary difficulty!

    My only gripe currently is the lack of game modes (WE WANT GRIFBALL!), but I'm led to believe they will be added in at a later date.    … Expand
  4. TimTams
    Oct 28, 2015
    9
    The best Halo Multiplayer so far by a long shot. Campaign is sweet but it's not quite the best. I really recommend Halo 5, I haven't had this much fun with a game in a LONG time. 9.5/10
  5. Muro
    Oct 28, 2015
    9
    The story does that annoying thing of finishing on a cliffhanger like Halo 2 did. Maybe this is the fate of the middle game in each Halo trilogy?
    But overall I enjoyed it. gameplay was smooth, nice new movement features, and nice visuals. The Warden Boss fight got a little repetitive but apart from that nothing jumps out as being a negative for me.
    Multipalyer is a treat though, Warzone    The story does that annoying thing of finishing on a cliffhanger like Halo 2 did. Maybe this is the fate of the middle game in each Halo trilogy?
    But overall I enjoyed it. gameplay was smooth, nice new movement features, and nice visuals. The Warden Boss fight got a little repetitive but apart from that nothing jumps out as being a negative for me.
    Multipalyer is a treat though, Warzone is a great addition and you now have the choice of scale with your multiplayer experience.
    I'm looking forward to playing a lot more multiplayer and getting through the campaign on Legendary and Heroic.    … Expand
  6. Gamertyrant123
    Oct 28, 2015
    10
    This game is damn near perfect. A fantastic campaign with an interesting story set up the game's fantastic game play mechanics that have been refined for 15 years, Halo really has never been so good in those regards.
    Now, the multiplayer, Lord have mercy, the multiplayer is the best I have ever played... Ever! This tops Call of Duty, Battlefield, Star Wars Battlefront and, the fabled Halo    This game is damn near perfect. A fantastic campaign with an interesting story set up the game's fantastic game play mechanics that have been refined for 15 years, Halo really has never been so good in those regards.
    Now, the multiplayer, Lord have mercy, the multiplayer is the best I have ever played... Ever! This tops Call of Duty, Battlefield, Star Wars Battlefront and, the fabled Halo 2 multiplayer.
    This game is a goddamn masterpiece.    … Expand
  7. FoeHammerLives
    Oct 28, 2015
    9
    Overall this game is a great addition to Halo. However, the story, while having important and universe changing moments, felt a bit underwhelming. And there were moments when the plot felt forced. But the campaigns mostly awesome level designs, weapons, and enemies combined with the new spartan abilities made the campaign a blast! As for the multiplayer, I have no qualms about it. WarzoneOverall this game is a great addition to Halo. However, the story, while having important and universe changing moments, felt a bit underwhelming. And there were moments when the plot felt forced. But the campaigns mostly awesome level designs, weapons, and enemies combined with the new spartan abilities made the campaign a blast! As for the multiplayer, I have no qualms about it. Warzone is an awesome addition, and arena has gone back to its roots.… Expand
  8. Neverwinter81
    Oct 28, 2015
    9
    Enjoyable game. Warzone mod specifically best. But i found some graphical issues at other mods. It has old-gen textures and looks so old. It might be better. But my last score is 9 for halo universe and their online features.
  9. SDS_IV
    Oct 28, 2015
    10
    We all knew this game was going to be different. Halo has jumped all over the map since the release of Reach. I am not trying to downplay any negative reviews of this game as everyone is entitled to their opinions. If you are a long time fan of Halo go ahead and leave your expectations at the door because 343 studios has gone a completely different direction with 5. If you are newer to theWe all knew this game was going to be different. Halo has jumped all over the map since the release of Reach. I am not trying to downplay any negative reviews of this game as everyone is entitled to their opinions. If you are a long time fan of Halo go ahead and leave your expectations at the door because 343 studios has gone a completely different direction with 5. If you are newer to the series this game has plenty enough content to suck you in. Rather than ramble on jumping from point to point I will rate each category by itself.

    Campaign: I haven't finished it yet but am very close to completion. The story so far is very good. Regardless of the limited Master Chief portion its still really good but has fallen just short of a masterpiece. As it relates to Halo 4 its a little bit longer and requires a bit more attention.

    Multiplayer: Multiplayer has and always will be what draws me to Halo so its important that this mode be really really good in order for me to give it a slam dunk review. Luckily the multiplayer is so good I can't begin to describe how impressed I am. Warzone provides a breath of fresh air to the slayer/btb/swat multiplayer modes which can still be found in the Arena section. The playing card system is still a little weird but doesn't draw away from the experience at all.

    Graphics: AMAZING. Nothing else to say.

    Sound: The weapons sound a bit different and the enemies sound really good. If you have surround sound you should pump it through your speakers to get what is in my opinion one of the best sounding games on the planet.

    Controls: The controls took me a little bit to get used to. They feel a little bit looser than the controls of more recent Halo games (Reach and 4). This isn't to say they are bad at all but the seasoned veteran will probably need an hour or so to get used to the loose control style. I don't dig aiming down the sights as much as I did in H4 but its still pretty good.

    Overall: 10/10 its everything I expected and more. I am really happy with my purchase and you should be too. If you are a CoD fanboy or haven't ever really liked Halo I doubt you will this time around, no sense in even sinking the dough into the game, But if you love Halo you will love this game for sure. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys sci-fi shooters. Don't let the negative reviews quell you, its absolutely worth the price tag and will provide hours of fun.    … Expand
  10. EPiiCx5587
    Oct 28, 2015
    8
    Has a few problems here and there, but ultimately it's still a great Halo game. Campaign falls a little short, but it was still a blast to play. Multiplayer respects the originals while still pushing the series forward giving a good balance of old and new.
  11. poimencriticer
    Oct 28, 2015
    10
    Halo 5 is not the best halo but is very good as a shooter the best ib 2015 .the 343 give to us a very gorgeus game with master multiplayer.singleplayer has very good story and plot.is little short at normal but if you play in heroic the things going better.the haloo can be with in or not master chieh.at that 343 did very good job.I can not think why the dingleplayer is disappointed ,theHalo 5 is not the best halo but is very good as a shooter the best ib 2015 .the 343 give to us a very gorgeus game with master multiplayer.singleplayer has very good story and plot.is little short at normal but if you play in heroic the things going better.the haloo can be with in or not master chieh.at that 343 did very good job.I can not think why the dingleplayer is disappointed ,the story is good , the guns is great the graphics is amazing and run at 60fps in eery part of the game.Of course the game is not halo 1 halo 2 halo 3 halo reach but is the best sequel for halo 4.10/10 for this game… Expand
  12. Axel293410
    Oct 28, 2015
    10
    8,5/10
    Game looks great, really fluid, great guns. I was kinda disappointed cause the Story. Was really looking foward to play this with my GF, ruined totally that experience. The Online saved this game thou....
    shouldn be below 8....
    I know people will be pissed off, Yeah, changes are hard. But playing the same game over and over (Halo 1,2,3,4 Reach etc etc) was really ruining the game.
  13. drysky05
    Oct 28, 2015
    8
    Halo 5 Guardians is somewhat of a side step. While the multiplayer is simply the best I have played to date...its story lacks so much what made the original games so amazing. Its not a bad campaign by any means. They way its told...just bluntly sucks. It really makes you wonder what the writers were really thinking. Everything to shallow characters, forced developments, the story notHalo 5 Guardians is somewhat of a side step. While the multiplayer is simply the best I have played to date...its story lacks so much what made the original games so amazing. Its not a bad campaign by any means. They way its told...just bluntly sucks. It really makes you wonder what the writers were really thinking. Everything to shallow characters, forced developments, the story not making an sense at times...the list goes on. Locke is gun for hire and you really just feel like that the entire story line. And you really don't care for Locke...which is kinda sad because he seems like an interesting guy.

    However, despite its many criticisms...the story does one good thing...it actually gets you hyped for halo 6! Its just really bad story telling. It feels too much like Cod which made me upset because the difference between Halo and Cod for me was the lore/story. I used to replay halo campaigns soo many times because I loved its world. Its characters. Sadly..halo 5 guardians will be the first campaign i won't play again. No replay value. Zero and don't even get me started on how short it was. 5 hours it took me to beat on normal. Halo 4 took me 12 hours. False advertising by microsoft's end.

    Halo used to suspenseful and mysterious in its story telling. Halo 5 has none of those. Its fast. Quick. Each mission feels like a distraction...to prolong the finale. The last 3 missions were great..really. They felt like old halo games. But the first 12...they felt like spartan ops missions. Just distractions so at the end..they can finally tell you what the freak is going on. Actually I take that back...spartan ops had better story telling. Halo 2 is no longer the worst campaign in the series. Actually...halo 5 makes halo 2 actually seem really good. That's how bad it is. And for those who say halo 5 is another halo 2...where halo 6 will make you like halo 5 are delusional fanboys. Because in all seriousness...halo 5's campaign isn't really needed. The last 3 missions could have been a dlc campaign...that's how pointless the story was.

    But one thing I will say...get halo 5 for its multiplayer. Its mechanics feel fresh and natural. its really amazing and great game to play with friends. I really can't praise it enough. I love warzone. Warzone is really a blast and its amazing how fast the momentum of the battlefield can change by just a few boss kills. And have no fear about people loading up on the req packs. Just because I purchase a rocket launcher at a req station...doesn't mean another player, boss, or what not is going to kill me before I get to use it. And if you die before you use it...tough luck. Gotta wait to build up more req points to buy another one.

    Team arena and slayer also feel like the old halo games, but spiced up. The new mechanics make it feel fresh. Spartan charging and pounding people are very effective and help a great deal. Assassinations are also back. One thing I do enjoy about slayer and team arena are how the map announces when a power weapon is going to be thrown into the battlefield. The maps turn into a power struggle to gain these weapons to control the battlefield. Very well thought out. I have not played breakout but what i can see of it...looks very much like search and destroy.

    Bottom line: If you are a halo fan like me...its worth the 60 dollars. Even if the campaign is not the best and not even close to being solid in my book...the multiplayer is worth the 60. That much I can tell you.    … Expand
  14. xbox44ever
    Oct 28, 2015
    3
    343 has finally killed one of the best games that was created, much like treyarch killed COD. When the game is not your creation (baby) than you give less attention to it and don't care if it is a joke. First of this is a review of the single player and not multiplayer (simply because I play halo for SP). The story is all over the place and does not make any sense. I get it they are trying343 has finally killed one of the best games that was created, much like treyarch killed COD. When the game is not your creation (baby) than you give less attention to it and don't care if it is a joke. First of this is a review of the single player and not multiplayer (simply because I play halo for SP). The story is all over the place and does not make any sense. I get it they are trying to go in a different direction but my god couldn't they have found a better formula. Locke was boring and just seemed liked a robot who takes orders and rarely questions. You rarely play as master chief and the ending is just a joke. Thy tried to pull off a shutter island type of ending which makes you think but the only thing I thought after that ending was NO HALO 6 for me. Oh for a game that I bought for 40 quid I smashed the game in 5 hours. Might replay it once more and then sell it on.… Expand
  15. worldcitizen19
    Oct 28, 2015
    10
    The game is clearly the best Halo there is with it being the first created ground up for the XBox One. Graphics 10/10 an I'm a graphics freak and own the best GPU's on PC and on XBox the graphics are excellent. Sound - again awesome but super awesome through stereo headphones. With my 360 Headphones it's like being there in person. Gameplay. 60 frames per second bliss. Never come across aThe game is clearly the best Halo there is with it being the first created ground up for the XBox One. Graphics 10/10 an I'm a graphics freak and own the best GPU's on PC and on XBox the graphics are excellent. Sound - again awesome but super awesome through stereo headphones. With my 360 Headphones it's like being there in person. Gameplay. 60 frames per second bliss. Never come across a shooter with so much action without any lag. You can get right into this game and not have to worry about performance or optimisations as its all been done perfectly. The story. Love that too. Not like a silly COD game where it's just shooting but this has a deep story with twists and turns which makes the game even more immersive. It's Halo through and through. Controls. Controls are smooth and responsive and what can you say about the 360 controller except it beats the crap out of a PS4 controller. I've only dabbled in multiplayer so I'll do a different review of it. Halo beats the crap out of inferior games of the same genre and unless you want to play them all your life, get an XBox One because this is the pinnacle of shooters with nothing else in its league.… Expand
  16. EasyTab
    Oct 27, 2015
    5
    Really? Really? This is what i have been hyping up for? Jesus. Never have i been this disappointed in a game. Im a big Halo fan, i absolutely adored all the Halo's up to reach, i even liked Halo 4 to an extent. Then along came Halo 5. The story is stale, flat and mediocre, the characters are weak, the multiplayer feels boring, heck the split screen co-op is gone too! This game just doesn'tReally? Really? This is what i have been hyping up for? Jesus. Never have i been this disappointed in a game. Im a big Halo fan, i absolutely adored all the Halo's up to reach, i even liked Halo 4 to an extent. Then along came Halo 5. The story is stale, flat and mediocre, the characters are weak, the multiplayer feels boring, heck the split screen co-op is gone too! This game just doesn't make you wanna play it. Man, if i had to some up this game in 1 word it would be "pretentious". Just because it sticks itself with the "Halo brand" doesn't indicate that it is anything special, well atleast this game doesn't.… Expand
  17. Falleax
    Oct 27, 2015
    7
    General game play:
    -Movement feels decently fast and fluid.
    -Almost every gun is viable and worth using in a variety of encounters, yet lack the "oomph" that makes firing a gun fun. -Vehicles are durable and easy to control, with the exception of the Scorpion tank, which has awkward turning. -The HUD is very clean and informative, but some of the HUD's sound elements are annoying. Too    General game play:
    -Movement feels decently fast and fluid.
    -Almost every gun is viable and worth using in a variety of encounters, yet lack the "oomph" that makes firing a gun fun.
    -Vehicles are durable and easy to control, with the exception of the Scorpion tank, which has awkward turning.
    -The HUD is very clean and informative, but some of the HUD's sound elements are annoying. Too many bleeps and bloops for dealing and receiving damage.

    Performance:
    -You will need to download a 9 GP patch on day one.
    -The game runs at a consistent 60 frames per second for the most part. Unfortunately it sacrifices resolution, texture quality and animation to achieve this.
    -The textures themselves are pretty bad, texture popping is everywhere and things in the distance are blurry.
    -Load times are surprisingly fast.

    Audio:
    -Halo 5's music has no identity. Most songs are either poorly made remixes of older Halo music, or just wander aimlessly until they end.
    -Voice acting is poor. This is not the fault of the voice actors, they clearly have talent, but whoever directed them did a poor job to capture my attention.
    -Grunt voices are annoyingly high pitched and try too hard to copy the humor of the grunts from the original trilogy. Jackals sound like cartoon birds.
    -General sound effects are pretty good.

    Campaign:
    -Halo 5's story is a confusing mess. It relies far too heavily on the assumption that the player is familiar with the expanded universe from the novels.
    If you haven't read any of the books, you wont have a clue who half the characters are. It just meanders along until it ends abruptly, almost as if a final level was cut.
    -The characters in the story are boring and lifeless, they never have anything clever or memorable to say and provide little reason to care about them.
    -Level design is mediocre. Most environments consist of hallways that lead into large open hallways with platforms to climb on.
    -There is a very good amount of enemy variety. The Forerunner enemies are especially improved since Halo 4, as are their weapons.
    -Enemy AI is nothing particularly impressive, yet some mechanics are very welcome. For example, a Hunter will now go berserk when their bond brother dies, becoming much more aggressive and powerful.
    -The 3 AI teammates are incredibly stupid and basically worthless.
    -You only play as Master Chief for 3 levels out of 15.

    Mutliplayer:
    -Most maps are too small and have poor map flow.
    -Spawning needs some work, especially for FFA. Too often have I spawned right next to an enemy player, or even in the middle of a gunfight and gotten killed.
    -Warzone is very fun. The maps for this gametype are very large and have a variety of paths to choose from to reach the objective.
    Fighting NPCs along with enemy players is a refreshing experience and very tense. Teamwork is especially important in this mode, though almost nobody every uses a mic to communicate with their teammates.
    -The matchmaking lobby is awful. When you join a lobby, nobody's name is visible, only their emblem. It's impossible to mute players in the lobby as well, so if someone is eating their mic, you have to wait for the game to start to mute them.
    -Matchmaking is pretty fast and runs on dedicated servers, so game ruining lag is rare.
    -Forge will not be in the game until December.

    Overall, Halo 5 is an alright game by itself, but a poor addition to the Halo series.
    It lacks the love and care that was put into the original trilogy and suffers from 343 Industries' attempts to make their version of Halo unique to the original Halo.    … Expand
  18. roach92
    Oct 27, 2015
    10
    El juego es muy frenético, me recuerda lo que fue halo 3 en su tiempo con las naves gigantescas y todas las vías que podías tener para completar el nivel. La historia está bien llevada -evitando spoilers-, pero debes jugarlo en heroico, excelente.
  19. 3dYoumad
    Oct 27, 2015
    0
    Is Halo up to the Challenge?
    On the levels where most games operate, it is. Here we get two interweaving stories – or perhaps one story told from two perspectives – as the game shifts perspective back and forth between Blue Team, led by the Master Chief, and Team Osiris, led by the ex-ONI agent, now Spartan, Jameson Locke.
    Not everything works perfectly. There's an absolutely awful    Is Halo up to the Challenge?
    On the levels where most games operate, it is. Here we get two interweaving stories – or perhaps one story told from two perspectives – as the game shifts perspective back and forth between Blue Team, led by the Master Chief, and Team Osiris, led by the ex-ONI agent, now Spartan, Jameson Locke.

    Not everything works perfectly. There's an absolutely awful section in a mining colony where you can eavesdrop on characters that are supposed to tell you nothing from a distance of two-feet away; a sequence that's perhaps supposed to remind you of Locke's background in intelligence, but leaving you wishing 343 had exercised more of theirs. There are two other missions later on where you do almost nothing bar wander somewhere and speak to an important NPC.
    With less experience we're even less inclined to say much about Warzone, except that it's mix of large-scale Battlefield-style warfare and almost Destiny-like co-op skirmishes and boss-battles has a lot of promise, with the action escalating nicely as new weapons and vehicles become available through the requisition system. We'll cover both Arena and Warzone in more depth, and look at server and matchmaking stability, in an update after launch.

    The Verdict:

    Halo 5 make a promise to the future, in Competitive mode.    … Expand
  20. cdd
    Oct 27, 2015
    2
    Halo 5 has lost everything that was halo, playing with your friends in one room and yelling at the guy next to you for assassinating you or screen peeking. and 2 people jumping on the guy with the tank so the other guy can kill the tank in game. its fun to play for one single person but because you cannot play splitscreen, in my opinion 343 industries you have ruined the HALO experience.Halo 5 has lost everything that was halo, playing with your friends in one room and yelling at the guy next to you for assassinating you or screen peeking. and 2 people jumping on the guy with the tank so the other guy can kill the tank in game. its fun to play for one single person but because you cannot play splitscreen, in my opinion 343 industries you have ruined the HALO experience. Just go back and look at your favorite halo games, halo 2 and halo 3, halo 2 had one of the best stories ever and this story doesnt match up, not even close. halo 3 has forge and crazy splitscreen local playability. i remember the first map me and my brother made and played together, he was always building these intricate race courses and i would test them for him. but it never got boring. there was always something different. and you could always call a friend to come over and have a game night and play some halo together, not anymore. HALO 5 is no longer HALO it is now RANDOM SPACE-AGE SHOOTER 5. I will not be buying this after playing it at a friends house expecting to play halo, was extremely dissapointed.… Expand
  21. Mudgee
    Oct 27, 2015
    9
    This is by far the most enjoyable Halo to date. Whilst I like to reminisce on nostalgia of old, the improvements and tweaks made to Halo 5 make it a strong contender for the FPS place to be in 2015 and beyond. I'm critical on many things, simply see my other reviews as an example, but Halo 5 truly captures an essence of something. It's truly hard to describe what it does so well as itThis is by far the most enjoyable Halo to date. Whilst I like to reminisce on nostalgia of old, the improvements and tweaks made to Halo 5 make it a strong contender for the FPS place to be in 2015 and beyond. I'm critical on many things, simply see my other reviews as an example, but Halo 5 truly captures an essence of something. It's truly hard to describe what it does so well as it beats rival shooters to date, hands down.
    My death ratio in multiplayer is so bad it's almost genocidal, but I still come back for more. Furthermore, whilst the campaign storyline is not fantastic, the mechanics within are second to none. I'm by no means a Halo fan but I would still reccomend this game as a must have for the Xbox One. 9/10    … Expand
  22. ll-ll-ll
    Oct 27, 2015
    10
    So Fun, Smooth & Tight. Halo 5 is a masterpiece in design and execution. Moving and gunning mechanics are top-notch, Warzone is super addictive & the campaign is riveting. Even the UI is slick…you can really tell that 343i put a ton of love into this one. I’m already looking forward to all of the post-launch support coming our way. This is hands down the best FPS I have ever played.
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Awards & Rankings

17
#17 Best Xbox One Game of 2015
1
#1 Most Discussed Xbox One Game of 2015
1
#1 Most Shared Xbox One Game of 2015

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
84

Generally favorable reviews - based on 101 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 89 out of 101
  2. Mixed: 12 out of 101
  3. Negative: 0 out of 101
  1. The Jimquisition
    Jan 20, 2016
    65
    Halo 5: Guardians is okay. Its campaign is rubbish, but the multiplayer is solid thanks to the foundation it’s built upon. Warzone is a really enjoyable experience, and while combat is still mostly about tossing grenades and hitting the melee button, the whole Requisition gimmick adds some much-needed flavor to proceedings.
    Read full review
  2. CD-Action
    Jan 12, 2016
    75
    The latest Halo is a big deal only for hardcore Halo fans. For me the single player campaign was unbearably pompous and despite 1080p and 60 fps the visuals are not as breathtaking as they once were in Halo 4. The game builds a solid foundation for Halo 6, but it’s not one of those games you absolutely have to play. [13/2015, p.48]
  3. Pelit (Finland)
    Jan 4, 2016
    91
    With a more accessible and engaging story and solid new designs for the Prometheans, Halo 5 is a major improvement over Halo 4. Warzone is a great addition to the multiplayer, though the mode seems to have some game balance issues. [Nov 2015]
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