Players who have read into the lore of Halo got a little treat today with the new footage from Halo 5: Guardians. We get a look at Sanghelios, the homeworld of the iconic elites that have been the backbone of the covenants army since the events of Halo: Reach. We have never been able to see any of the covenant races’ homeworlds, so this level is very refreshing and makes us wonder what other worlds we will explore in this action-packed game.
However, once the initial “woah” of the scenery fades away, there doesn’t seem to be much going on. The game feels like it is missing something.
There are new features and weapons here and there like a plasma grenade launcher and a charging ability that Spartan Locke is able to use.
But the enemies do not seem to be very formidable… at all.
343 industries should take a note from the earlier installments of Halo.
When you saw one of these guys back in the original Halo, you knew you were in for a bad time.
Grunts are one thing, but Elites are supposed to be fearsome and terrifying. Standing at up to eight feet tall, they dwarf even the Master Chief. They are a force to be reckoned with that anyone should fear, but we do not really see that at all in this trailer.
Locke and his Spartans effortlessly steamroll through their opponents, and at some points of the footage it is downright boring to watch as nothing life-threatening is going on. I almost think that charging through a wall ability was simply added in there to try to catch our attention.
Another thing we noticed is the regenerating health bar.
While most Halo games featured regenerating shields, health was taken away after Halo: Combat Evolved, undoubtedly the hardest entry in the series, and it was reintroduced in Halo: Reach.
However, the series has never featured regenerating health, and this seems like another feature that will just make the already leisurely gameplay even easier.
While this Elite may look scarier than the one from 2001, this one is two melee attacks away from being a blood spatter on the floor
All in all, Halo 5 still has a lot of work to do before it can win the hearts of the older fans of the series. With Halo 4 receiving mixed reviews, 343 will have to step it up with this title. The gameplay does not look bad per se, but so far it is not very impressive either.
