Halo 5: What's new?
December 19 2015
Halo 5 launched this year and it's been quite the roller coaster of nostalgic emotions--both positive and negative (like usual, that's why this is fun). But let me tell you, there are A TON of changes to the way Halo is played this time around. As a long time player, I felt it was time to go over some of the major changes to the game and on top of that, we got some input from Halo professional, Kyle “Chig” Lawson, to catch up on his thoughts.
Disclaimer: Chig is a Halo professional for Team Liquid and has started competing in Halo 5. I myself have been playing Halo online since Halo: CE on XBConnect and have placed Diamond in all playlists so far in Halo 5.
Show Me Your Moves
Sprint and thruster return as a standard, but the new armor abilities, like hover and slide, are the most noticeable change to Halo 5.
They act as additional moves to consider when transitioning off a sprint or jump and give the game a faster feel. "Thrusters and sprint add to the speed of the 'Arena' feel that Halo 5 is going for," Chig says. "They work really well in this game. Unlike past Halos, sprint is very well balanced. You’ll find yourself not getting your shields back because you start to sprint before they start to charge.”
Now, we’ve had sprint since Reach, but slide is totally new and is a neat way to end a sprint. Clamber, the ability to scale ledges, does add more verticality to the gameplay. There’s unfortunately not a whole lot to do with clamber. It does open up some interesting routes, but all of the routes are by design. Sprint and clamber are necessities to getting around but aren’t nearly as flashy as the other abilities.
According to Chig, “Ground Pound and Spartan Charge are a fun addition, adding to some of the “wow” factors in watching the game.” Spartan Charge doesn’t feel like anything new. While it is just a melee attack that drops shields, there is a minor damage increase and some knockback. If you’re already sprinting and run into an enemy it’s useful, but otherwise your gun is going to be the better option. I have seen it used by pros, but I’m hesitant to call it anything other than pubstomping.
Ground Pound is more threatening than Spartan Charge. It can kill from full shields and is something you have to keep in mind when engaging in any area with height differences. That said, it still requires fairly specific situations to be optimal: it takes time to charge up the Ground Pound and if you’re hurt, you’re probably going to die before you actually land the attack.
New Battlegrounds
We’ve lost a few classic game types with this new Halo. Assault, Oddball, and King of the Hill are gone. While they will be missed, we do have a couple of new game types to take their places: Strongholds and Breakout.
Strongholds is not a foreign concept to oldschool Halo players, particularly those who spent a reasonable amout of time in any big team playlist. Strongholds is essentially Territories 2.0: teams fight over control of three hills on the map and the team that controls at least two hills will score points over time. It has done a solid job of bringing a fairly lackluster big team gametype into competitive play. Forcing teams to hold a majority of territories to score provides for some spectacular comebacks and tense end game situations. Chig tells us, “It’s made for some really intense games in Arena so far.” Intense games in high level matchmaking is a good sign for competitive play; make sure to keep an eye on this game type in tournaments.
Breakout is an entirely new game type to the Halo franchise. Each player gets one life per round and the team with the most players left alive at the end of the round or the first team to bring the neutral flag to the opponent’s base wins the round.
According to Chig, it’s been a big hit so far: “Breakout is one of my favorite things about Halo 5. So fun. I can’t wait to see strategies and how teams evolve the meta of the game type.”
It comes with very unconventional Halo rules, but they make it work with a best of nine format. With one life per round, map control and teamwork is paramount. The maps also have some of the longest sight lines and fastest routes in all of arena, making it difficult to force one on one fights when you’re down on numbers. With no shields and increased health, kill times are essentially halved. This makes poor positioning and routing extremely punishing as well. Look for this game type to make for some thrilling series in tournament play.
Upgraded Arsenal
“You won’t find a weapon in this game that is bad or that doesn’t have a purpose. The Plasma Caster, Hydra, and Splinter grenades are no different,” Chig says. The Plasma Caster and Hydra both fire explosive rounds with special properties.
The Plasma Caster’s default fire lobs bouncing Plasma Grenades, making it great for dealing with enemies around corners or in tight quarters. A charged shot will stick to surfaces and explode a short time later releasing even more minor explosions—great for covering routes or preemptive firing. It’s a serious threat in any situation, but really shines while fighting in hallways or firing around corners.
The Hydra is essentially a miniature Rocket Launcher with homing capabilities. While the Hydra fires a similar projectile as the Rocket Launcher, the difference in damage is substantial. With two body shots required to kill a player from full shields, the Hydra is unimpressive at midrange. It is a rare weapon in its usefulness at both extremely close range and longer distances though. With a high rate of fire and splash damage, firing “dumb” rockets can be very lethal when an enemy doesn’t have time to dodge them. At longer ranges, if you can catch someone unaware with lock-on, most people will die before they can react. It has the additional functionality of curving the rockets around walls and corners after locking on by firing away from your target. While that sounds amazing, the gun would be sub-par without this feature.
Splinter Grenades are probably the most impactful new weapon. The Plasma Caster may be the new Power Weapon, but the Splinter Grenade allows a player to completely deny a route or location for a non-trivial amount of time with the residual explosive nodes left behind after the initial burst. Between the significant damage the nodes do and the hit indicator immediately alerting the other team someone walked through their Splinter Grenade, this little grenade is going to have a big impact on the game.
Back to Basics
It's been well over a decade, but after 4 additional Halo games, we are finally returning to AR/Pistol start.
“AR/Pistol start is good because they are actually good weapons now," Chig explains. Following their dominance in Halo 1, both from a forced yet statistical standpoint, there hasn't really been a chance for the ole' Pistol to shine.
Chig continues, "Back in Halo 2 and Halo 3, we went to BR start because the SMG and AR in those games were garbage. So now that they’re good weapons in Halo 5, BR’s being scattered across the map makes perfect sense.”
While the AR hasn’t changed much, it’s a bit better than before yet still holds the spot as the designated close quarters weapon. On the other hand, we may have had a Pistol in every Halo since its inception, but never one like this. With a minor scope and a five shot kill that's faster than all the precision weapons, except the carbine, it is a true utility weapon deserving of starting weapon status.
The BR and DMR are still the same weapons we’re used to (thankfully with no bloom on the DMR) but keeping the starting weapons in line with public play is a large step toward getting the casual player interested in the competitive scene.
To Be the Best
We’ve moved on from the 1-50 Ranking system of Halo 2 and 3. We now have divisions much like Starcraft and League of Legends. The new ranking system is based on MMR (Match Making Rating), which allows for a much wider range of skills to be represented.
“I absolutely love the ranking system. You consistently play teams and players that are at about the same caliber. Yeah I think it’ll give up-and-coming players a chance, because they want to fight for that top 200 Champion spot, which will force them to match better players, and in the end, get noticed if they play well.”
Chig is a fan of the new system and I am as well. The old system definitely had its perks, but had issues keeping the matches on either end of the spectrum balanced. The MMR based ranking systems have been around for a while now and have shown to consistently provide much better matches.
The new system also helps up-and-coming players make a name for themselves. Instead of the ranks being capped at level 50, the top players now have influence over how large the ranking gap is from the general population. With no cap in place in the rankings there is much more distinction for new players with high ratings. I think this ranking system alone will do a lot for keeping the game competitive and keeping people playing.
And In Conclusion
All of the new things we have in Halo 5 make for a much different game than what we’re used to having. Granted, with the way Reach and Halo 4 went, this isn’t a bad thing at all. The reception from the competitive community has been largely positive, and for good reason. We don’t have traditional Halo anymore, but we do have an arena shooter than plays at about the same pace, if not a bit faster. There are always going to be minor gripes when a new title is released in a competitive franchise, but as long as 343 Industries listens and works with the community we will have a fun, solid game for hopefully years to come.
Team Liquid is off to a good start as well. There haven’t been any major tournaments yet but we’ve taken both ESL Go4Halo cups so far. The Halo Championship Series and Halo World Championships are coming up, so keep an eye out for the dates being announced and make sure to cheer on our boys!