2015/12/12: Xbox One: Halo 5: Guardians

[Steve]

I'm curious about something......if Microsoft went back to having split screen co-op and all the other 'missing' features in Halo 6 or even as an add-on to Halo 5, would people go back to the franchise or is this another instance of not forgiving the company for such a miscalculation?

[VideoGameCritic]

I suspect Microsoft has burned that bridge. People who like to play online will continue with Halo 6, but those who lamented the split-screen omission may have already written the franchise off by then.

[ActRaiser]

They burnt the bridge of pre-ordering a Halo game with Master Chief Collection. With Halo 5 they burnt the bridge of any decent story telling.

For me Halo 6 will need to launch with the solid fundamentals that make a Halo game what it is. In my humble opinion it's being able to play with friends in the same room.

Imagine Nintendo releasing a Wii Sports title that was single player only. You're initial impressions would be WTF. I'd sure as heck not buy another Wii Sports game after that without fully reading everything about it.

Again these are my opinions if they can get back to the basics then there's hope. But with their current leadership, I'm not holding my breath.

[BlasteroidAli]

They burnt the bridge of pre-ordering a Halo game with Master Chief Collection. With Halo 5 they burnt the bridge of any decent story telling.

For me Halo 6 will need to launch with the solid fundamentals that make a Halo game what it is. In my humble opinion it's being able to play with friends in the same room.

Imagine Nintendo releasing a Wii Sports title that was single player only. You're initial impressions would be WTF. I'd sure as heck not buy another Wii Sports game after that without fully reading everything about it.

Again these are my opinions if they can get back to the basics then there's hope. But with their current leadership, I'm not holding my breath.

What you have said is what I feel about the game.
Add to that it was so off the wall. I think they should have called it Halo nobodies. Just dreadful.... though at least I have not been suckered into getting Rainbow 6 Snore siege or SW...

[ActRaiser]

Critic,

Did you try playing Halo 5 online? I'm curious what you think of the controls compared to, well, any other FPS in the last decade.

It's incredibly easy for me to go to back to Halo: Reach or 3 or Black Ops and the play control is smooth. I normally play on sensitivity 5 which feels fast enough and not too crazy. On Guardians it's really slow at 5 but seems to work. At least until I reach the 70% or so stick movement and then all heck breaks lose.

If you did try online would you consider dropping the letter grade due to controls? The campaign doesn't require any sort of up close and smoothly adjusting compared with playing a real live human that can be above or below you at various times. It's a whole other animal. I'm probably not explaining this well, but just a thought.

[VideoGameCritic]

Actraiser, I did not try the online modes. I don't have the Xbox Live Gold membership.
I got fed up with Xbox Live in the last generation (360). I do have my PS4 online.

[Steve]

Actraiser, I've tried the online portion just a small amount and I have no idea what you are talking about. Are these settings that are configurable (".....slow at 5", ".... the 70% or so stick movement")? I'm not criticizing your comments, I'm just not familiar with these numbers. I don't play online much, mostly online co-op campaign, because I am not good but I did notice something different in Halo 5 compared to other shooters and that is that I made an actual contribution to my team by scoring some kills. While I probably won't get into the online component much, I found the controls just about the same as always.

[BlasteroidAli]

Actraiser, I've tried the online portion just a small amount and I have no idea what you are talking about. Are these settings that are configurable (".....slow at 5", ".... the 70% or so stick movement")? I'm not criticizing your comments, I'm just not familiar with these numbers. I don't play online much, mostly online co-op campaign, because I am not good but I did notice something different in Halo 5 compared to other shooters and that is that I made an actual contribution to my team by scoring some kills. While I probably won't get into the online component much, I found the controls just about the same as always.

Yeah all my halo fan friends have been bit*hing and moaning about this one.

Though for me it is the first one I have played online a lot as the campaign was so atrocious. It seems okay but I never played the other ones that much.

[ActRaiser]

Actraiser, I've tried the online portion just a small amount and I have no idea what you are talking about. Are these settings that are configurable (".....slow at 5", ".... the 70% or so stick movement")? I'm not criticizing your comments, I'm just not familiar with these numbers. I don't play online much, mostly online co-op campaign, because I am not good but I did notice something different in Halo 5 compared to other shooters and that is that I made an actual contribution to my team by scoring some kills. While I probably won't get into the online component much, I found the controls just about the same as always.

Sorry for the delay in responding, I've been trying to stay away from the Internet until after watching Star Wars.

There's a problem with the default dead zone. The dead zone is how much space you have before movement is accepted based on a controllers initial drift. Halo 5's default dead zone is supper large.

Now, combine that with as you approach the edge of the stick's maximum range spinning left or right speeds up a great deal. The acceleration can be gradual or extremely high. When the game shipped the acceleration was set really high. Now, combine that with a super large dead zone. The effect is a spastic play for up close gaming.

There was a really good Youtube clip showing the effect in action. However, I can't seem to find it now. The links below spell out the various problems.

On the plus side it appears that 343 has come out with a patch in the December 16th update to allow you to configure the deadzones and acceleration parameters. When I was able to look at the initial settings they were 12 for the deadzone and 10 for the acceleration. Based on what I've been reading, past Halo games are more like 2 and 2.

I'm not sure if the settings will resolve the wonky x/y problem but am guessing that will fix it if the settings are tweaked appropriately. With X-Box Live being down for a couple of days I haven't tested anything to confirm one way or the other.


https://www.reddit.com/r/halo/comments/ ... iming_bug/

https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/foru ... 9a25/posts

https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/foru ... sts?page=3

http://xboxdvr.com/gamer/z0oinks/video/12468202

https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/foru ... 8ffa/posts

https://www.reddit.com/r/halo/comments/ ... iming_bug/

https://www.reddit.com/r/xboxone/commen ... addressed/

Now, that there's a fix the game probably doesn't deserve my F- rating; but, then again, if you're only grading based on what's shipped...

[Steve]

Actraiser, thanks for posting those links. It's all very interesting but I still don't think I have a problem with it. Maybe it ultimately explains my high levels of sucking on the easier difficulty levels as well as online but it certainly doesn't feel uncomfortable. Maybe I will take a look in the settings later. What I am more curious about is if these improvements and the Forge release, which you seem to like if I recall, will change your feelings towards the game. Personally, as I already mentioned, it is one of my favorites.....at least in a few aspects.