Day 3 of EGX was the morning I braved to Goliath of the Xbox area, I took to dive and I arrived early to try and get my hands on Halo 5: Guardians. When the doors opened and the masses poured into the halls I made a bee-line straight for the booth, I was even fortunate enough to be one of the first 24 of the day to get in on the 12v12 war-zone match. The game was extremely pretty for a demo build and is setting up to be a multi player experience like no other Halo game.
The Warzone mode is a 12 versus 12 massive attrition style base capture mode, once a team has possession of all 3 areas the enemy core is exposed and you can then attempt to destroy it and win the match; though that is not the only stipulation for winning. The first team that reaches the 1000 point mark is another way to win the match, though killing the opposite team is not the only options for scoring points; players will have AI enemies (Covenant and Prometheans) blanket the battlefield allowing players more targets and obstacles to deal with.
The game was off to a great start and the team started off strong, the new REQ system replaces pre-set load outs that can be changed mid-level or when you re-spawn into the game from a death. Weapons and vehicles are the greatest assets to obtain in the large open levels where venturing into an uncovered area means almost certain death. The match passed faster than I would have liked it to, though this could also means I was happy to finally get my hands on a game that I have been waiting an extremely long time to play (Halo 5 Beta not withstanding).
Communication can be one of your greatest allies in the massive warzone map and the lack of linked microphones was something I had experienced in other games at EGX this year. The games pacing style did seem to deviate from the Halo 4’s where instant re-spawn after death was removed, though this could have possibly been for the benefit of the show floor.
I expect to have a greater hands on and exploration of the new maps, game modes and of course the campaign when Halo 5 is released next month.
//
