10 things you need to know about the Halo 5: Guardians beta [UPDATED]

Updated 5/1/2015 - Week 2 Update page added
Updated 13/1/2015 - Final Update page added

Halo 5: Guardians FAQ

At HardwareZone, we may do reviews and tech news but one thing you might not know about us is that some of us are also hardcore gamers. While our sister publication GameAxis is covering the majority of the gaming beat, we felt that something as big as Halo deserves a feature by itself from our perspective. So we went out and did one. Of course, nobody has access to the complete game yet (unless you have a time machine), so we're doing a feature based on the current beta edition. We figure it's different enough to warrant a write-up as well as a FAQ to get those of you who haven't been keeping tabs up to speed. On the next page, we've 10 gameplay tips, but first, we'll start with the game FAQ:-

How do you get in the beta?

Buy the Halo: Master Chief Collection on the Xbox One and you get instant beta access via an option in the game's main menu.

Is that the only way?

Yes. Unless there's another way we've not heard of, the current Beta is only accessible via the Master Chief Collection. The beta had an early access period which allowed you to download the beta client, but that's only for selected individuals.

How long will the beta last?

It'll last till Jan 18, 2015.

What console is it on?

The Xbox One. There's no Xbox 360 beta and anybody claiming to have codes for a Halo 5 Xbox 360 beta is lying. We've heard of scams going around with offers of Xbox 360 keys for entering your Gamertag at a website and such. Don't listen to them, there's no Halo 5 for the Xbox 360.

What modes are there?

As of right now, Team Slayer. More will be added as the beta goes on.



What's Team Slayer?

It's a game mode where two teams of four players battle against each other to a certain score. First team to reach the score (or has the higher score when time runs out) is the winner.

How many maps are there?

As of right now, two. Seven by the time the beta has run its course.

What are the two maps currently available?

Empire and Truth.

Are loadouts from Halo 4 in?

Nope. The current plan is to just offer armor customization and abilities.

Do you unlock them as you level up?

Yes, if you're talking about armor parts. Armor sets come in multiple sections so you can mix and match your desired look.  Abilities are unlocked for everybody from the get go, so you don't need to be a certain level to get access to a certain move.



Any gameplay advantages to having a higher level?

None whatsoever. Levels only affect cosmetic unlocks this time around.



What editions of Halo 5 will there be?

There'll be three different editions. Normal is just the game itself. Nothing fancy or special. It'll retail for the same price as any other Xbox One game. Then there's the Limited Edition, which comes in a steel case and has special exclusives (nobody knows the details yet) that the standard edition doesn't have. At the top of the mountain is the Limited Collector's Edition. This is the top tier Halo 5 experience. It comes with a numbered statue (again, nobody knows what it looks like), a copy of the Limited Edition plus extras exclusive to the Limited Collector's Edition.

How limited will the Limited Editions be?

It's anybody's guess and nobody at 343 Industries is talking. Since Halo 5 will undoubtedly be a blockbuster title, it stands to reason that the limited edition won't be limited at all. Perhaps there will be a less units made than the normal copies, but chances are unless you buy the game months after release, it probably won't be hard to get. On the other hand, the Limited Collector's Edition (the one with the statue) will be the one you're aiming for if you're looking to collect. If Halo: Reach's Legendary Edition statue is anything to go by, it'll fetch a pretty penny in the resale market. New copies of the Legendary Edition regularly sell for upwards of US$200 (on Amazon), depending on condition. It's a good bet that Halo 5 will fare similarly.

What are the prices and when's the release date?

Halo 5's pricing has only been announced for the US right now. It's US$59.99 for the normal edition, US$99.99 for the Limited Edition and US$249.99 for the Limited Collector's Edition. There's no current release date for the game yet beyond a vague '2015' given by 343 Industries. We don't know if Singapore will have these versions so if you're interested in any of the Limited Editions, you can view Microsoft's website for the recommended list of retailers. Of course, the majority of them won't ship to Singapore, but there's a way around it by using freight forwarders. Read up on them in our previous Black Friday article.

Current Beta Maps

There are only two maps in rotation in the Halo 5 playlist at the moment. That will change any day now as 343 Industries' set to introduce more as the beta progresses. A total of 7 maps and the 3 gameplay modes are planned for the beta, though that number is not set in stone and might change as the beta progresses. For now though, we give you a small breakdown of the maps that are available, Empire and Truth.

 

Empire Map

Empire's a map with human architecture. You're playing in an industrial facility of some sort with a single balcony in the middle that shows a view of the outside. Directly opposite it is a control center of sorts. Both the balcony and the control center spawn the map's power weapon, a sniper rifle. The map is a mix of long range combat and close range fisticuffs, with the lower part of the map obscuring vision from the high ground as it's filled with low walls. Climbable objects  can be used to break sight lines or to ambush unsuspecting foes. The other weapon in the map is the Battle Rifle. Its usefulness is limited however as the slow rate of fire combined with tight spaces for the majority of the map, makes whittling down foes risky.

Truth Map

Truth is actually a remake of Halo 2 map Midship. As before, the circular arena affords lots of opportunities to take the other team by surprise. The Prophet's Bane, this map's power weapon spawns on the middle platform, which can only be accessed by the two rooms connected to it. Like before, the four chambers at the sides of the map are two stories, with a gravity lift inside the lower level to allow easy access to the next floor. With its long open spaces, weapons accurate over long distances like the Battle Rifle or the DMR (or even the Magnum), do very well here.

This is just scratching the surface of the beta. On the next page we give you the 10 most important things you should know while playing the game. It may not seem like much, but it can (and probably will) save your life a few times.

Better Beta Worlds

Halo 5: Guardians will be running on an all new engine, built form the ground up to take advantage of the Xbox One. While it was made in a time before the loss of the Kinect (Microsoft originally packed in a Kinect with every Xbox One), it probably won't be hamstrung in any way now that Kinect integration is no longer mandatory. In fact, it might even perform better. To put it simply, Halo 5 looks gorgeous. While the Master Chief Collection gave us a glimpse on how pretty a high resolution version of Halo could look like, the graphical difference between the Spartan models in the Halo 5 beta and Halo 4 (on the Master Chief Collection as it's a bit unfair to compare it to Halo 4 on the Xbox 360) are worlds apart. The texture work alone is on a whole new level when compared to the work done on the reworked Halo 4. Even better than that, the frame rate stays constant the whole time, with only a stuttering here and there in the initial stages as the players are loaded into the map.

But in the end, a game's looks can only carry it so far if the gameplay isn't up to snuff. In that regard, Halo 5 is safe. Whatever shortcomings it may have in the full retail release, if the beta is any indication of the multiplayer gameplay, it'll be arguably the best multiplayer experience in the whole series (yes, even surpassing that of Halo 2). After all, Halo 5's multiplayer seems to take all of the best parts from Halo 2 (the frantic run and gun, small tight maps, the balanced gameplay) and then mixes it with the customization options present the later Halo games.

Thus far, from what we know, the abilities like jetpacks or stealth capabilities have been given the boot. 343 Industries have made everybody equal. No more abilities unlocked only when you rank up to a high enough level. Now everything's unlocked at level one. Halo's ranks are still there, but this time they only serve to unlock cosmetic upgrades like new visor HUDs or armor pieces. We initially started with the Recruit armor but as we climbed up the ranks in the Beta, we soon got more and more armor pieces as we went up the Spartan Ranks, even netting the legendary Mjolnir Mark VI (the one Master Chief uses in Halo 4) armor set.



We've mentioned earlier that everybody's on the same footing regarding abilities. What we didn't mention is that some of them aren't really new. There are a total of seven different abilities in the Halo 5 beta (though this might change in the final version). We've broken them down below:-

1 - Sprint

Sprint is basically running. You run really fast but you can't shoot and your shields won't recharge. It's also infinite now and you can run around the whole map like a headless chicken on steroids if you choose.

2 - Charge

A new move you can do only when you've been sprinting for a certain time (you'll know you've run enough when there's a brief flash on-screen). The Charge basically turns you into a battering ram. Anybody in front of you while you're charging is splattered. It's a one hit kill move but the trade off is that there's a brief recovery time after the Charge and the Charge itself needs to be precisely aimed or it'll miss. Charge uses the special ability meter so you can't abuse it repeatedly.

3 - Smart Scope

This is just a fancy way of saying 'aiming down the sights' or zooming in. It was possible with certain guns in past Halo games (like the sniper rifle or the magnum pistol) but now it's possible with all guns. Using smart scope doesn't penalize your movement or abilities in anyway. You still move the same speed and can do the same things. Smart Scope allows you to zoom in to hit targets from further away, but the downside is that you get kicked out the mode once you get hit.

4 - Ground Pound

Another new move. You jump up in the air and then smash into the ground. If you hit anybody on your way down, they're dead. Like Charge, it uses the special ability meter and it also leaves you vulnerable in the air for a few seconds as you build up the power needed to execute the move. You can aim in a limited area around you, but that's the extent of movement choices.

5 - Thruster Pack

Think of these as an emergency dodge move. A quick tap of the button and a direction and you'll be immediately boosted in the direction you specify. It's not something you can spam so you should only use this in emergencies. There's also a secondary use of the pack in the the air. If you jump and then use Smart Scope, your Spartan will use your Thruster Pack to hover for a while, allowing you to aim and shoot while in the air. Of course, this makes you a prime target but it looks pretty cool. Of course, like most abilities, this one uses the special ability meter too.

6 - Clamber

This allows you to climb up ledges, provided you can reach them. Since there are no double jumps or jetpacks (anymore), Clamber will be your best friend as your navigate the multiplayer maps of Halo 5.

7 - Slide

Sliding is done similar to Spartan Charge with one major difference, instead of of pressing the Melee button, you press the crouch button. If done right, your Spartan will immediately slide along the ground for a considerable distance, allowing you to rapidly close the distance on enemies who haven't adjusted their aim.

That's 7 new abilities you need to know to play well in Halo 5. We promised you 10 things, didn't we? The rest are below:-

No Lunges

You do not lunge forward when you're melee-ing somebody. In past Halo games, doing a melee attack while in close proximity with your opponent, your character moves a few steps forward so you don't need to be right up to someone to bash them. Now you do. Make sure to adjust accordingly or you'll end up being an easy target as you recover.

Prophet's Bane

Prophet's Bane is the name of the new energy sword. Now not only does the sword have a name, it also allows the whoever wields it to move faster. To compensate for that, it seems like the lock-on distance (to get the aiming indicator to turn red) has been dramatically reduced so you have to be much nearer to your foe before you can do the dashing instant kill attack.

Call Outs

Your squad will now call out the action automatically. You can have your whole team muted but you'll still hear the A.I. call out if an enemy is flanking you or they're under fire. Extremely useful to get a better read on the situation without listening to prepubescent teens on the mic.

And that's that. 10 key gameplay related functions you should know about the Halo 5 Beta. Note that whatever is in this article is subject to change as 343 Industries tweaks and prods the beta to get it into final shape for the retail release. Also, if you have feedback about the beta you want to send to 343 Industries, you can use the Halo Channel app to send it. Oh, if you see somebody with the Gamertag Shael (Spartan ID MEOW, with a cat as the emblem) running around in the beta, be sure to say hi. That's the author of this article, Tech Writer Salehuddin Husin.

Have fun!

Update: Week 2 - 5/1/2015

The first in a line of beta updates rolled out for the Halo 5 Beta last week. We didn't have enough time to do a write up on them (since we were busy playing) but now that the weekend's over and we're hard at work again, here are the details for what's new. We even included a bonus, a video of us playing on the Regret map. We're not that good, so keep that in mind when you watch the video and cringe at the stupid (and there are many of those) mistakes made.

There are a couple of major changes made to the beta in the Week 2 update. Two reskins of maps were added into the rotation, as well as two more new maps (one's a reskin actually, though there are technical differences) and a completely different gameplay mode called Breakout. One of the new reskins (Regret) also gives us a peek at a new Halo 5 power weapon, the Hydra launcher. Players now also start with the Battle Rifle equipped as the default weapon (as opposed to the Assault Rifle previously), with the magnum pistol still as a secondary.

Breakout is a more strategic take on Halo 5's multiplayer. All guns do more damage, players start with a SMG and magnum and have only a single life to complete the objective (eliminate the opposing team) with. First team to reach 5 points (points are earned every time the other team is wiped out), wins the game. Breakout is only playable (as of now) on the two new maps added in the Week 1 Update, Crossfire and Trench.

Regret Map

Last week's update added in a new (ish) map for the those playing in the beta. Regret is a reskin of Truth but with a couple of significant differences. First, the whole area looks totally different. Whereas Truth was cold and clinical, Regret is warm and inviting. The greenery on the stage makes it appear as if you're playing in a jungle ruin (which technically it is) of a Covenant cruiser. The power weapon placement's been changed though. Instead of appearing on the top platform like in Truth, the power weapon now appears at the bottom of the middle structure. Prophet's Bane is no longer available on the map and is instead replaced by an all new weapon called the Hydra. The Hydra is a lightweight rocket launcher. You can fire the payload much faster than the typical rocket launcher from past games, though they're much weaker, have smaller blast radius and appear to travel (at least from our perception) slower.

Eden Map

Eden's a reskin of Empire, much like Regret was a reskin of Truth, though the difference isn't night and day. Well, technically it is (Empire's set in the day, Eden's at night), but the visual overhaul doesn't make the map feel like a totally new one like Regret did for Truth. Apart from the time of day difference, Eden changes up the power weapon allocation. While Empire had both power weapon nodes spawn the sniper rifle, in Eden, the node in the control room spawn the Prophet's Bane instead. So while long range sniping is still viable, the team with Prophet's Bane can also rush down the opposing team in a melee onslaught.

Crossfire map

Crossfire and Trench are both set in the Spartan training ground facility, which basically means they look similar since they use the same assets. Crossfire is similar to Empire (or Eden) in that there are lots of walls and blind spots, as well as lots of opportunities for vertical movement. Since both teams start with SMGs, it's not uncommon for players to use the magnum in the initial stages (due to its ability to zoom) to whittle down the enemy team's shields on the other side.

Trench map

The last map from the newest update is Trench. Like the reskins Regret and Eden, Trench is a reskin of Crossfire, with a big difference. The visuals remain the same, but this time around, the map is switched around a bit. More options for clambering abound and combat takes place as much horizontally as it does vertically now. Again like Crossfire, Trench is only currently playable in the Breakout game mode.

That's all there is to report for the latest update to the Halo 5 beta. Make sure to come back next week as we break down the upcoming week's beta additions. In the meantime, as promised, here's a look at us running and gunning on Regret.

Play

Update: Final Week - 13/1/15

It has finally come to this. As the saying goes, all good things come to an end and this week marks the final week of the Halo 5 Beta. As promised, 343 Industries have released another game type, a new map (and a return of an old Week One map) as well as a new power weapon.

The final week seems to be a bit of letdown, at least in updates. Truth has been added back into the rotation (though we much prefer Regret over it) and with its return, has brought back the Prophet's Bane. Truth is untouched, with all the spawns and weapons being as it was from earlier in the beta. Battle Rifle starts still remain. Many of the player base had hoped for DMR starts, especially since AR starts were replaced by BR starts last week. It seems like it wasn't to be though. There's also no new Halo 5 weapon this week. Instead we're treated to the reappearance of an old stalwart friend, the Rocket Launcher. It plays and handles the same so there's really not much to say about it other than you point, you shoot and something goes boom.

The new game type that's been introduced this week is called Strongholds. It's similar to veteran Halo game type King of the Hill, except there are three points you need to hold and you play in a team. First team to get to a score limit, or has a higher score when time expires wins. It's fun but the limited number of players per match (at least in the beta) makes it feel a bit empty, especially if teams decide to group together. Stronghold games are only played on two maps, Regret and Empire, which were introduced in last week's update.

Pegasus Map

Pegasus is interesting for a number of reasons. The main one being it being a Forge map. If you're new to Halo, Forge is a mode first introduced in Halo 3, which allowed the creation of custom levels. The creator usually assumes the role of a Monitor and can place structures, weapons and other things into a wide open area to customize the environment. Of course, you can't do that in the Halo 5 beta, but you'll be able to in the final game.

Pegasus is a Forge map, which of course means it'll be using the Forge tileset, though it's still unknown how wide open the new Forge location will be. Pegasus looks like to be a small sampling but that's another matter for another time. Like Empire or Eden, Pegasus uses the human architecture models, though the clean pastel colors and open sky gives it a more airy feel compared to the claustrophobic Eden or Empire.

There are two power weapons on the level, the Sniper Rifle and the newly added Rocket Launcher. Pegasus is a mix of long range and close quarters combat, though the high ground offers a significant advantage over the lower part of the stage. There's some decent cover on the lower part, with choke points scattered throughout the maps that lead directly to the power weapons.

We personally feel that while Pegasus looks quite drab and plain, it's also the most exciting, mainly due to the Rocket Launcher. Sure, the Hydra from Regret looks more impressive, but we've always had a soft spot for gaming's go to power weapon. Whether it's blowing away the Tyrant atop the Spencer Mansion or taking down a horde of Xenomorphs, the Rocket Launcher rarely disappoints in any game that has it and Halo 5 (even in the Beta) is no different. Despite the same player count, Pegasus and the Rocket Launcher (and the ensuing chaos it inevitably brings) makes it seem as if you're playing in a Big Team Battle mode instead of the smaller player count of the beta.

Final Impressions

After weeks of playing the Beta (and the Early Access beta before that), we've really grown to like (we won't say love since there's too much still unknown) Halo 5's multiplayer. We like the new additions and streamlined abilities. We like clambering all over the maps and then Ground Pounding enemy Spartans into mush. We like the Hydra and want more of it.  We love a ton of stuff about the game. The maps (while a bit small to our liking) aren't bad either, though we could've gone without Eden. We felt that as if 343 wanted to do reskins, a totally different look like Regret was from Truth would've been a more preferable option. Best of all, we love the new smoother frame rate. We don't know if the beta maintains a constant 60 FPS, but it sure felt like it.

There are things we didn't like about the Beta and we really hope that 343 Industries hears our pleas (and the pleas of countless other Halo players) for a more in-depth character customization system. We don't mind that Spartan Ranks are pretty much just a number for unlocking new parts, but we hope there's a lot more parts and a lot more options on what parts to use where instead of just the generic helmet, body and visor placement we have now. The Beta was also plagued with lag at certain times and it got so bad in the initial stages that we die multiple times without seeing anybody shooting us. It's much better now but we'd have preferred it if Microsoft at least had dedicated servers in our part of the world, similar to what Titanfall did (and continues to do).

In conclusion, we're eagerly looking forward to what 343 Industries has in store for the second part of the Reclaimer Trilogy. After all, Bungie only hit their stride from the second game in the series and Halo 4 might just repeat that feat with 343 Industries. But before that, we're going to enjoy the time remaining in the beta (it ends next week, though rumors abound that there might be a slight extension).

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