Halo 5: Guardians

[Chris3123]

Yep, it will have a number and a subtitle. How innovative!

Here's the official announcement from Bonnie Ross, General manager at 343:

I’m happy to reveal that “Halo 5: Guardians,” the next installment in the legendary saga of the Master Chief, will launch on Xbox One in fall of 2015. In the tradition of every “Halo” game since its debut in 2001, it is a massive and exciting project.

“Halo 5: Guardians” is a bigger effort than “Halo 4.” That applies to the content and scope of the game, as well as the technology in what’s now a brand new and more powerful engine. Certainly there are some core elements carried over from prior games, but we’ve invested a huge effort in retooling our tech to take full advantage of the Xbox One’s hardware and ecosystem to create worlds and experiences worthy of next-gen.

It’s a game that will hopefully demonstrate the talent, learnings and abilities of the 343 Industries team. A game that will incorporate the things we learned from “Halo 4” about technology, aesthetics, performance and scale – and perhaps more importantly, understanding and embracing a community of gamers who love what lies at the heart of this game, and the limitless potential of the “Halo” universe.

Xbox Wire

Teaser poster:

 

[PsychoPere]

And here's Frank O'Connor:

As you’re probably aware, my boss and studio head for 343, Bonnie Ross, officially announced the next installment in the Halo saga: Halo 5: Guardians, coming in fall 2015 for Xbox One. I will be up front and admit that I don’t have much more detail to add, but here at Waypoint, our conversations tend to be a little more insider, a little more familiar. And this is no exception.

Last year at E3, Bonnie famously said, “Your journey begins in 2014…” Wait – hang on – you thought: “What journey is she talking about and why is Chief wearing a poncho?” Okay, some might call it a cloak, but the fact remains – you knew something more nuanced was afoot. So it’s quite likely that Bonnie’s 2015 release announcement today surprised no one in the Halo community. In fact, I suspect most of you who read the Halo Bulletin regularly anticipate there’s even more to come.

Well you might be right, but we’ll have significantly more to say about that at E3 and beyond. Suffice it to say, another shoe has yet to drop.

Also at the link is the first piece of concept art from the game, and a link to the teaser image as wallpaper.

 

[-Brett-]

So the next Halo is a crossover with Titanfall?

 

[Yoda]

Personally I find this news to be more interesting. http://kotaku.com/report-halos-1-4-coming-to-xbox-one-this-year-in-hd-1577664919

I still haven't gotten around to playing Halo 4. I think I'll do ODST and Reach sometime this year on 360 (since they're not included) before doing a full mainline playthrough with the Xbox One collection.

 

[SPCTRE]

I think I'll do ODST and Reach sometime this year on 360 (since they're not included) before doing a full mainline playthrough with the Xbox One collection.

Which is quite a crime, they're both part of my personal Top3 games in the franchise.

 

[FPAlpha]

So since i'm switching over to PS4 i probably won't get to play it but Halo 4 already left me kinda cold.

The graphics were boring as were the enemies and weapons and it lacked the epic tale of the original trilogy, at least in my opinion.

So my option will be to watch the cutscenes on Youtube once it's released to get the story and see some ingame gameplay and that's ok for me. I certainly won't buy a console just for one game franchise.

 

[SPCTRE]

I certainly won't buy a console just for one game franchise.

I did precisely that with the original Xbox and Halo 2 after playing Halo (PC).

In a way, you could say that I'll do the same with the XBONE and Halo 5, although I'll eventually get both current-gen consoles anyways, it's just a matter of which one to get first.

 

[Kelthaz]

I certainly won't buy a console just for one game franchise.

I did precisely that with the original Xbox and Halo 2 after playing Halo (PC).

In a way, you could say that I'll do the same with the XBONE and Halo 5, although I'll eventually get both current-gen consoles anyways, it's just a matter of which one to get first.

There's three current gen consoles. Counting is hard, I know, but do try to keep up.

 

[ATimson]

There's three current gen consoles. Counting is hard, I know, but do try to keep up.

The Wii U is only current insofar as it's Nintendo's newest console. Technologically, it's part of the prior generation with the PS3 & Xbox 360.

 

[TheGodBen]

The graphics were boring as were the enemies and weapons and it lacked the epic tale of the original trilogy, at least in my opinion.

I disagree on the graphics, I thought it was one of the best looking games on the 360, but I agree on everything else. The story was a mess, as someone that hasn't read any of the books I had little idea who the villain was, or even why the Covenant were baddies again. The Prometheans just weren't a fun enemy to fight, and their weapons didn't feel satisfying to use. Overall, the game just didn't have the same epic feel that the original trilogy had.

 

[SPCTRE]

There's three current gen consoles. Counting is hard, I know, but do try to keep up.

The Wii U is only current insofar as it's Nintendo's newest console. Technologically, it's part of the prior generation with the PS3 & Xbox 360.

Exactly. My statement was very much deliberate in only counting the major contenders (which is not meant as a slight towards Nintendo, I actually quite like the Wii U as a first-party machine for Nintendo games and I'm considering getting one).

It's all semantics, is what I'm saying.

 

[Sephiroth]

looks like the Chief's gonna be gettin some forerunner upgrades soon

 

[Chris3123]

And here's the E3 trailer:

[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ijw3N676yWY[/yt]

That was the Arbiter talking to an unknown armored figure. This individual appears to be the same one we saw in the teaser poster.

Also, access to the MP beta will come with The Master Chief Collection. The MCC will come out in November, and the Beta begins in December.

 

[SPCTRE]

looks like the Chief's gonna be gettin some forerunner upgrades soon

Nope, the character depicted is a new introduction into the franchise called Agent Locke.

343 studio boss Bonnie Ross told Eurogamer that Halo 5: Guardians features a new Spartan character, called Agent Locke. He plays a "key role" in the game, she said. But what role? Halo Nightfall, the digital series produced by Ridley Scott, will tell his origin story. Expect the first episode to come out with Halo: The Master Chief Collection on 11th November 2014, with subsequent episodes released in the weeks after the game's launch.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-06-16-343s-master-plan-for-halo-5-guardians

I would very much enjoy playing an ONI agent, if he indeed turns out to be one.

 

[Skywalker]

So I actually just recently played Halo 4 for the first time. I know, I'm waaaaaaay behind. I really enjoyed it, though. I'm a lot more confident about 343i handling Halo now than I was going in. Though I get the sense that a good amount of people from Bungie stayed on at 343i (I know Frank O'Connor did, but I don't know of anyone else).

Alas, I plan on purchasing a PS4 before an Xbox One. So I'll probably be almost two years behind again by the time I finally get to play Halo 5.

 

[SPCTRE]

Though I get the sense that a good amount of people from Bungie stayed on at 343i (I know Frank O'Connor did, but I don't know of anyone else).

I'd say Frankie's the highest profile of the ex-Bungie guys. There's more than a handful more, Chad Armstrong for example. Also a couple of ex-Bungie contract workers.

Say what you will about the way they told the story (which merits a lot of very valid criticism), they sure did maintain a coherent, Halo-typical look and feel to everything IMHO.

 

[Skywalker]

I was totally cool with the story. I get the criticisms about the ending, but...eh. There are far worse offenders out there when it comes to not sticking the landing.

 

[SPCTRE]

I didn't mind the ending, and the story itself, just the way they chose to tell it (with a lot of pretty damn important details left for accompanying media such as the novels, see also TGB's comments above).

 

[Skywalker]

Ah, gotcha. Yeah, I can see that. To be honest I didn't feel all that lost, but I knew ahead of time that the Covenant forces were some sort of loyalist faction leftover from the war, so that probably helped. I did think that the Librarian kind of came out of nowhere, but I didn't have any issues with the Didact since it seemed pretty clear he'd been trapped inside Requiem all that time.

I guess 343i is going for more of an interconnected multimedia method of storytelling this time around, whereas under Bungie's regime the books and such were technically canon, but the games paid little heed to them.

 

[ATimson]

Say what you will about the way they told the story (which merits a lot of very valid criticism), they sure did maintain a coherent, Halo-typical look and feel to everything IMHO.

Most things. Not the music. I liked it, but it didn't feel like the initial trilogy.