Halo 5: Guardians

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"The quest of the hunter and the hunted has begun."

— Official summary

Halo 5: Guardians is the upcoming ninth installment in the Halo franchise. It is the second game in the Reclaimer Saga and continues the story of the Master Chief. Originally alluded to in a teaser trailer shown at Microsoft's E3 Media Briefing on June 10, 2013, Guardians was officially announced on May 16, 2014. Exclusive to the Xbox One, the game is in development and is set to be released on October 27, 2015, with the first major coverage of the game unveiled at E3 2014.

Development

John-117 holding Cortana's data chip in the first teaser trailer.

What would later be revealed as Halo 5: Guardians was first revealed with a teaser released on June 10, 2013 during that year's Electronic Entertainment Expo. The trailer indicated that a major Halo release would occur for the Xbox One console in 2014, leading many to believe that this particular game would be the next entry in the Reclaimer Saga and the sequel to Halo 4. However, Microsoft stressed the trailer's phrasing that 2014 would mark the beginning of a "journey", with the implication that this may not mean the release of the then still officially unannounced Halo 5.

Halo 5: Guardians was formally announced on May 16, 2014 by 343 Industries General Manager Bonnie Ross. Ross describes Halo 5: Guardians as a bigger effort than the preceding Halo 4 in terms of the content and scope of the game as well as the technology underpinning it. The game's engine is said to have been completely retooled to take full advantage of the Xbox One's hardware and ecosystem; according to Frank O'Connor, the engine is all-new apart from a number of core features retained from the previous one. Ross states that Halo 5 will incorporate lessons the 343 Industries team learned from Halo 4 with regard to technology, performance, aesthetics, and scale in response to feedback received from the fan community. She also mentioned that the game will run at 60 frames per second and will feature dedicated servers.

In E3 2014, 343 Industries' statements about a "journey" beginning in the fall of 2014 were revealed to be referring to a multimedia project dubbed Halo: The Journey by 343 Industries, set to begin with the release of Halo: The Master Chief Collection, containing remastered "Anniversary" editions of Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2, as well as high-resolution versions of Halo 3 and Halo 4. Additionally, it was announced that a multiplayer beta of Guardians is set to be released on December 29, 2014. Exclusive unlockable content for the beta is to be available via The Master Chief Collection and the digital series Halo: Nightfall.

Since the development of Halo 4, the 343 Industries team has undergone several internal changes. Nicolas "Sparth" Bouvier has replaced Kenneth Scott as senior art director, although Scott has been stated to continue serving in an advisory role. Josh Holmes has also been replaced by Tim Longo (known for his previous work on Star Wars: Republic Commando and the 2013 Tomb Raider reboot) as creative director. Christopher Schlerf has been supplanted by Brian Reed as Halo franchise lead writer after Schlerf's departure from 343 Industries. Most of the game's soundtrack is to be composed by Kazuma Jinnouchi, replacing Halo 4's Neil Davidge as the principal composer.

On April 28, 2015 the final cover art was revealed.

Synopsis

"Peace is shattered when colony worlds are unexpectedly attacked. And when humanity’s greatest hero goes missing, Spartan Locke is tasked with hunting the Master Chief and solving a mystery that threatens the entire galaxy."

— Official summary

Story and characters

Full version of the game's final cover art, depicting the central cast of characters in the game.

The primary protagonist of the Halo series, Spartan-II supersoldier Master Chief Petty Officer John-117, returns in Halo 5: Guardians following the end of Halo 4. It has been noted that John has begun to question all of his former beliefs and has disappeared following the events of "The Next 72 Hours", a story arc of the comic series Halo: Escalation during which he reunites with his longtime Spartan-II unit Blue Team, comprising Kelly-087, Fred-104 and Linda-058. Halo 5: Guardians marks the in-game debut of Blue Team, who will fight alongside the Master Chief throughout the campaign. In the beginning of the campaign, Blue Team will still be operating under the UNSC. The second mission, "Blue Team", has them investigating an ONI research vessel called Argent Moon. In the initial teaser trailer, the Master Chief is seen in the possession of an empty data crystal chip on a chain, alluding to his loss of Cortana at the end of Halo 4. Although Frank O'Connor has confirmed Cortana as dead, her "ghost" will appear to John-117 in the game, including a sequence in which she speaks the following line: "The Domain is open. Meridian is next. You only have three days. John, the Reclamation is about to begin."

Halo 5: Guardians also features another playable protagonist, Agent Locke, a "legendary manhunter" on a mission to find the Master Chief after several colonies are unexpectedly attacked. Locke is accompanied by Fireteam Osiris, which includes Spartans Edward Buck, Holly Tanaka and Olympia Vale. Locke's role in the story is to act as a counterpoint for John-117's legendary and larger-than-life character, as well as a vehicle to contextualize both the Master Chief and the wider story from an outsider perspective. Locke was introduced in Ridley Scott's digital series Halo: Nightfall, which has narrative connections to Halo 5. Although he will be a prominent character, Locke will not be replacing John-117 as the protagonist; much like that of Halo 2, the campaign of Halo 5 alternates between the perspectives of the two main characters. Locke was first shown in promotional artwork unveiled with the game's formal announcement, clad in his HUNTER-class armor. He is also featured in Halo 2 Anniversary's terminals and new bookend cinematics, which have links to the story of Guardians. In the bookend cutscenes, Locke is seen interacting with Arbiter Thel 'Vadam during his mission to track down the Master Chief.

The titular Guardians are enormous, winged Forerunner machines which have awakened recently and are supposedly tied to the cataclysmic events occurring throughout the galaxy. Frank O'Connor has stated that the game will feature "plenty of strong female characters".

Locations

Several visually diverse locations have been shown in media released so far. The 2013 teaser trailer shows a desolate, deserted location as the setting of John-117's encounter with a Guardian. A piece of concept art by Sparth depicts a human urban settlement in a mountainous location, with the UNSC Infinity hovering overhead. D79-TC Pelicans and other craft are seen flying nearby. Another concept piece by Sparth, unveiled with the game's formal announcement, depicts a cavern with several structures of an alien design with a statue of a Sangheili and what appear to be two suns are seen looming in the sky. The background of the preliminary box artwork shows an arid location with angular, towering vertical structures. While the background of the wallpaper version is similar in mood and lighting, the structures are different, including a dish-like structure and a cupola similar to those seen in the concept with the Sangheili statue.

Appearances

Note: all subjects below are listed tentatively based on their appearance in media released so far; as such, the following does not reflect the full feature list of the final game.

Characters Cortana (Data chip only) Edward Buck Fred-104 Holly Tanaka Jameson Locke John-117 Jul 'Mdama Kelly-087 Linda-058 Olympia Vale Thel 'Vadam Species Forerunner (Technology only) Human Kig-Yar (Ibie'shan) Lekgolo Mgalekgolo San'Shyuum (Holographic projection only) Sangheili Unggoy Organizations United Earth Government United Nations Space Command Spartan SPARTAN-IV program Fireteam Osiris UNSC Marine Corps UNSC Navy Naval Special Weapons SPARTAN-II program Blue Team Office of Naval Intelligence Covenant Covenant military Fleet of Particular Justice (Simulation only) Covenant remnants Jul 'Mdama's Covenant faction Swords of Sanghelios Locations Epsilon Eridani system Beta Gabriel Meridian Urs system Sanghelios

Vehicles Argent Moon (First appearance) Type-25 Spirit Type-26 Banshee CAS-class assault carrier D79-TC Pelican Halcyon-class light cruiser UNSC Pillar of Autumn (Holographic projection only) M808 Scorpion Phaeton (First appearance) Splendid Intention (First mentioned) Type-32 Ghost Type-52 Phantom (Simulation only) Unidentified light Covenant ship (Simulation only) Unidentified heavy Covenant ship (Simulation only) UNSC Fathom (First appearance) UNSC Infinity UNSC Of Uncommon Courage (First mentioned) Weapons BR85HB battle rifle Hydra MLRS (First appearance) M41 rocket launcher M395 DMR M6 Spartan Laser Unidentified variant (First appearance) M6H2 magnum (First appearance) M7 SMG Unidentified variant (First appearance) M9 fragmentation grenade MA5D assault rifle SRS99-S5 AM sniper rifle Type-1 energy sword Prophets' Bane (First appearance) Type-1 plasma grenade Type-25 plasma pistol Unidentified plasma pistol variant Type-33 needler Type-51 carbine Type-55 storm rifle Unidentified dual-fire mode weapon Unidentified rocket launcher (First appearance) Z-250 lightrifle Equipment and technology Artemis Tracking System (First appearance) Data crystal chip Guardian Kig-Yar combat harness Storm variant Heavy variant Kig-Yar point defense gauntlet MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor MJOLNIR [GEN1] EVA variant Linda-058's custom variant Mark VI (Original and modified variants) MJOLNIR [GEN2] Air Assault variant Athlon variant (First appearance) Aviator variant Centurion variant Defender variant Helioskrill variant (First appearance) Hunter variant Nightfall variant Recon variant Recruit variant Scout variant Soldier variant Tanaka's armor Warrior variant Unidentified variant Sangheili combat harness Arbiter variant Commander variant Major variant Storm variant Warrior variant Zealot variant Unggoy combat harness Imperial variant

Gameplay

Spartan abilities listed, with slide showcased.

In Halo 5: Guardians, armor abilities are replaced by a new set of gameplay enhancements known as Spartan abilities, which are available to all players at any time. Both the campaign and multiplayer are developed around Spartan abilities. There is an increased focus on player mobility; players can now use the thruster pack (which allows omnidirectional movement) at all times, vault ledges, rapidly dash for cover or charge an enemy, or generate a shockwave by striking the ground. The sprint function is still present but the player's shields do not recharge while sprinting. Additionally, the charge and slide abilities are executed as sprint reaches terminal velocity. A new feature called the "smart scope" allows players to aim down the weapon's sights in a manner similar to many other modern shooters, although with non-scope weapons this is purely a cosmetic effect and provides little to no actual accuracy enhancement; 343 Industries used the Multiplayer Beta to gauge the effects of this feature on the game's gameplay balance. The heads-up display once again allows the player to see what other weapon they have but are not currently using, a feature that had been removed in Halo 4. Additionally, Halo 5: Guardians will support up to two players on splitscreen multiplayer. Cooperative play is only available via Xbox LIVE due to lower performance in splitscreen, marking Halo 5: Guardians as the first major Halo release to lack splitscreen campaign. Contrary to a confusion that arose with Game Informer's June 2015 issue, online co-op will only be available via Xbox LIVE Gold membership.

Campaign

The campaign mode of Halo 5: Guardians will alternate between the perspectives of John-117's Blue Team and Spartan Locke's Fireteam Osiris. In single player campaign, the player will be able to give commands to the members of their fireteam with the D-pad, such as ordering them to target a certain enemy, entering a vehicle, or picking up a certain weapon. Members of the fireteam can also revive one another; this includes AI-controlled Spartans reviving the player. The heads-up displays of each team member will have a unique design. In cooperative play, players will assume the roles of different fireteam members, with each having their own distinct loadout; for example, Linda-058 always spawns with a sniper rifle. The campaign difficulty will now scale according to the number of players.

The campaign missions will feature a variety of possible alternate routes. When playing as Locke's team, players have access to the Artemis Tracking System, which will highlight these alternate paths.

As a notable change from Halo 4, the Covenant enemies of Jul 'Mdama's faction now speak English as they did in the original Halo trilogy. This is explained as 'Mdama's authority over his followers diminishing, as they have lately begun to ignore his mandate forbidding the use of human languages.

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Multiplayer

With Halo 5: Guardians multiplayer, 343 Industries seeks to highlight the "arena shooter" aspects of classic Halo multiplayer gameplay. The unlockable custom loadouts and killstreak rewards present in Halo 4 have been disposed of in favor of a "level playing field"; all players start with identical equipment as in the pre-Halo: Reach games, with a focus on controlling weapons present on the map. The new Spartan abilities also play a large role in the multiplayer; the thruster pack in particular increases player mobility significantly. Another new feature is battle-chatter, automatic dialog among the team in which Spartans call out enemy locations and kills. The multiplayer also includes the name of the segment of the map that the player is currently in being displayed near the motion sensor as in Halo 2 Anniversary and Halo: Reach. When a team wins a match the SPARTAN-IVs on said team will congratulate each other with high fives and clap.

In addition to the staple UNSC and Covenant weapons, the Forerunner Z-250 lightrifle, introduced in Halo 4, returns in Halo 5. A number of new weapons have been added to the multiplayer sandbox, among them unique weapons including the Legendary weapon Arbiter's personal energy sword, Prophets' Bane. Other new weapons include the Hydra multi launch missile launcher, and a new model of the rocket launcher.

The Halo 5: Guardians Multiplayer Beta will be used to gather data and feedback on the new multiplayer model as well as some of the new features. The beta will feature two new multiplayer modes: Breakout, in which two teams are thrown into a training arena via man cannons and each player has only a single life with no respawns; and Strongholds, in which two teams will control moving territories.

The ground pound ability, used on the map Crossfire.

The game's ranking system is similar to Halo 4's dual-ranking system composed of a progression-based rank and a competitive skill rank based on wins and losses in addition to a new unlock system.

Multiplayer maps

• Crossfire – A dedicated map used in the Breakout mode in the beta, set in an orbital UNSC training arena with a holographic floor.
• Eden – A nighttime human urban themed map.
• Empire – A daytime remake of Eden.
• Fathom - A map set in an undersea base.
• Orion – A Forge map.
• Pegasus – A Forge map.
• Regret – A multiplayer map based on one of the Arbiter's ships that crashed on a Halo ring after a space battle.
• Trench – Dedicated to the game mode Breakout.
• Truth – A remake of the Halo 2 map Midship.

Marketing

E3 2013 teaser

Main article: Halo Xbox One announcement trailer

In their E3 2013 conference, Microsoft showed a teaser trailer intended to showcase the future direction of the Halo franchise on the Xbox One. Rather than announcing Halo 5 in particular, the trailer announced the presence of the Halo franchise on the new console, set to debut in 2014 with a then-unspecified Halo title.

The teaser opens with a hooded figure journeying through a desert on an alien world. The figure, revealed to be John-117 clad in battered MJOLNIR armor, clutches Cortana's empty data crystal chip as he encounters an enormous Forerunner machine rising from the sand.

Multiplayer Beta teaser

Main article: Halo 5: Guardians Multiplayer Beta announcement trailer

First shown during Microsoft's E3 2014 press conference, this announcement trailer unveils the Halo 5: Guardians Multiplayer Beta. It depicts Blue and Red teams of SPARTAN-IVs in War Games training aboard a dedicated space station.

Multiplayer Beta First Look

Main article: Halo 5: Guardians Multiplayer Beta First Look

First shown during Microsoft's Gamescom 2014, this trailer presents the first details of the Halo 5: Guardians Multiplayer Beta available in Halo: The Master Chief Collection.

Multiplayer Beta: Behind the Scenes

Main article: Halo 5: Guardians Multiplayer Beta: Behind the Scenes

A Behind The Scenes feature released on November 10, 2014, detailing the new features and development of the Halo 5: Guardians multiplayer beta.

The Sprint

Main article: The Sprint

The Sprint is an ongoing digital series which presents the development of Halo 5: Guardians, with the first six episodes focusing on the Multiplayer Beta.

Multiplayer Beta Trailer

Main article: Halo 5: Guardians Multiplayer Beta trailer

The trailer was revealed in December 18, 2014, and presents new gameplay of several weapons, game modes and maps.

Hunt the Truth

Main article: Hunt the Truth

Hunt the Truth, stylized as HUNT the TRUTH, is an ongoing marketing campaign for the upcoming release of Halo 5: Guardians. It tells journalist Benjamin Giraud's hunt for the truth about the story of Master Chief.

Character advertisements

Main articles: All Hail, The Cost

Two live-action trailers featuring a confrontation between Agent Locke and the Master Chief from both characters' respective points of view were released on March 29, 2015.

Spartan Locke Armor Ad

Main article: Halo 5: Guardians Spartan Locke Armor Set Gamestop Ad

An advertisement for the pre-order bonus from Gamestop.

A CGI trailer featuring Spartan Locke fighting Jul 'Mdama's Covenant forces on Sanghelios was released on April 20, 2015.

Merchandise

A limited edition Xbox One based on the game is in the works.

Editions

On December 28, 2014, Microsoft announced three editions of Halo 5: Guardians that are available for preorder. The standard edition will include a poster for those who preorder and will retail at $59.99 USD. The limited edition, retailing at $99.99 USD, will include digital content, exclusive items, and is packaged in a steel case. Available for $249.99 USD, the Limited Collector's Edition is the most prestigious edition of the game. Not only will it include all bonuses given to the Limited Edition, but it will also offer a commemorative numbered statue, designed by 343 Industries. More details on the Limited Collector's Edition will be shared at a later date.

Pre-order bonuses

Those who pre-order from Gamestop will receive MJOLNIR Hunter armor for use in multiplayer upon launch.

Gallery

Promotional artwork

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  Halo 5: Guardians logo on a dark background

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  The logo on a white background

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  Angled view of the preliminary game case

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  Preliminary box art for the Limited Edition

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  Preliminary box art for the Limited Collector's Edition

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  Promotional wallpaper released upon the announcement of the Halo 5: Guardians title

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  Preliminary box art

• H5 TeaserArt John-117.jpg

  John-117 from the promotional piece

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  Agent Locke depicted in the announcement image.

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  Promotional poster depicting Master Chief and Agent Locke.

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  A promotional image for the beta.

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  Hunt the Truth promotional wallpaper.

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  Final cover art for the game.

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  Game Informer cover art.

Screenshots

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  The heads-up display in Halo 5: Guardians

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  Blue Team engaged in combat

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  Another shot of Blue Team

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  Blue Team; note the digital camouflage pattern in the bodysuit

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  Fred-104

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  Kelly-087

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  Linda-058

• H5G-TheMasterChief GI.jpg

  John-117

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  Blue Team facing a Sangheili Commander in a cutscene

Renders

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  Agent Jameson Locke and the Master Chief

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  The playable characters in the game; Fireteam Osiris and Blue Team

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  Fireteam Osiris

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  Holly Tanaka and Olympia Vale

Concept art

• Sparth unknown future project.jpg

  UNSC Infinity stationed above a human settlement.

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  Concept art of a location on Sanghelios.

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  Concept art of the multiplayer map Empire.

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  Another concept art of Empire.

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  Concept art of the multiplayer map Truth.

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  Concept art of a competitive multiplayer encounter.

• H5G - Child's Play Charity concept art.jpg

  Concept art sold at Child's Play Charity.

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  Concept art of a human city for All Hail and The Cost.

Multiplayer

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  The map Truth.

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  The map Empire.

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  The map Crossfire.

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  The map Eden.

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  Two Spartans in the Breakout mode.

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  A first person view.

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  Red Team.

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  A Spartan sporting a skin on his armor.

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  Spartans engaging in a fight.

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  A Spartan in Recon armor wielding the new rocket launcher.

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  Red Team wins a match.