Halo 5: Guardians

"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
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.

Audio
343 Industries' Sotaro Tojima returns as the audio director for Halo 5: Guardians, with the intentions to have the most realistic sound possible in gaming. Though Tojima's sound team used recordings for Halo 4 as reference, it was decided that reusing the recordings would not suffice for Halo 5: Guardians. Tojima stated "We decided to design the whole sound from scratch again to update the fidelity for the new-generation platform, Xbox One."

For high quality explosion sounds, Tojima's team recorded the sounds produced from various forms of debris dropped from a crane. For better bullet sounds, a microphone was placed behind a rock and an armed individual shot past it from 1,000 feet away. An accurate weapon tail was captured by utilizing the reflected sound from the environment when a gun was fired; Tojima's team shot off guns in a variety of interior and exterior spaces.

Kazuma Jinnouchi will serve as the game's sole composer, recording music at Abbey Road Studios in London and the Rudolfinum in Prague. The game's tracks are noted to "sound fresh, yet distinctly Halo". Jinnouchi expressed interest in bringing back the original Halo Theme into Halo 5: Guardians. After a number of discussions, it was determined that the "Halo choir" was to be implemented into the game in an obvious way, compared to the subtle manner the choir was implemented in Halo 4. Ultimately, Jinnouchi and his team composed their own interpretation of both the Halo Theme and its choir.

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
Halo 5: Guardians is set to feature the largest ensemble cast of characters in any Halo game yet, with both new and returning characters. 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 long-time 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, set eight months after the end of Halo 4, Blue Team will still be operating under the UNSC, although they decide to go AWOL soon after for an unspecified reason. The second mission, "Blue Team", has them investigating an ONI research vessel called Argent Moon, which has been occupied by Jul 'Mdama's Covenant forces.

Halo 5: Guardians also features another playable protagonist, Agent Locke, a "legendary manhunter" on a mission to find the Master Chief after Blue Team disappears and 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. In the E3 2015 demo (a condensed version of one of the missions in the game), one of the Guardians is encountered during the Battle of Sunaion on Sanghelios, while Arbiter Thel 'Vadam's Swords of Sanghelios battle Jul 'Mdama's Covenant in what is now stated to be the latter's final stronghold. During the mission, Locke and Fireteam Osiris find the Master Chief's discarded assault rifle in the Sangheili city and believe that the Spartan-II has boarded the Guardian. Shortly afterward, the team witnesses the Guardian rise from a nearby ocean and generate a powerful shockwave, dealing considerable damage to the city. The Spartans battle a number of Promethean foes before encountering an entity calling itself Warden Eternal, "keeper of the Domain and her secrets". This Forerunner construct immobilizes Locke in a constraint field and declares that the Master Chief is allowed to enter the Guardian, while Locke's passage is denied.

At one point in the campaign, Spartan Locke engages Jul 'Mdama in close-quarters combat in an icy environment while Dr. Catherine Halsey looks on. In another scene, Captain Thomas Lasky, Roland, Commander Sarah Palmer, and Dr. Halsey argue on the bridge of regarding John-117's personal quest.

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. Regarding Cortana, Halo Franchise Development Director Frank O'Connor has stated that "her fate is obviously very clear at the end of Halo 4" and explained that the story of Guardians will explore her legacy in the form of the long-term impact her sacrifice had on John-117, and how he "copes with loss and how he deals with his memories." A "dreamlike figure" Frank O'Connor refers to as Cortana's "ghost" will appear to John-117 in the game, including a vision in the second mission 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."

Locations
Halo 5: Guardians will take place in a diverse array of locations. One prominent setting is the Sangheili homeworld Sanghelios, which will be home to several playable locations. Three of the Sanghelios locations are tentatively named Sanghelios Core, Sanghelios Sanctuary, and Sanghelios Stonebound. Other locations in the game include the worlds of Kamchata and Meridian.

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.

Gameplay
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. Unlike past titles players are now able to switch seats in a vehicle without getting out. 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, move to cover, 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. However, in the case of certain types of death (such as being stuck by a plasma grenade or falling to one's death) the player is subject to similar respawn mechanics as in the prior games. 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. In co-op, players will be able to choose which character to play as, although they are restricted to either Locke or the Master Chief in single player.

The game will have an intricate chatter system in which fireteams offer both contextual commentary during gameplay as well as scripted mission dialog, filling the role Cortana had in the prior games. This is seen by the developers as a means to tie storytelling more closely with the gameplay. If the player lingers in an area the squad members will have dynamic conversations about various topics, such as their past, the location they are in, or the ongoing events. 343 Industries has stated that Blue Team will have more lines of dialog in the game than they do in all prior Halo media. 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.

Halo 5: Guardians creative director Josh Holmes has stated that the game will feature the largest and most open gameplay spaces in any Halo game yet, with an emphasis on replayability and sandbox-like gameplay. The campaign missions will feature a variety of possible alternate routes, including ledges that can be climbed with the clamber Spartan ability and routes that can be opened by charging through destructible walls with the Spartan charge ability. When playing as Locke's team, players have access to the Artemis Tracking System, which will highlight these alternate paths as well as collectibles and other items of interest. Such items include objects left behind by Blue Team, such as the Master Chief's assault rifle found during the Battle of Sunaion.

Several new types of enemy have been added to the gameplay sandbox. The Promethean enemy faction returns, with the addition of the new Promethean Soldier class of infantry units and the Phaeton gunship.

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 was used to gather data and feedback on the new multiplayer model as well as some of the new features. The beta featured 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.

Halo 5: Guardians will feature an all-new multiplayer mode called Warzone, which combines large-scale competitive multiplayer with objective-based gameplay and AI-controlled enemies. Warzone is treated as a distinct experience from the game's classic competitive multiplayer, now named "Arena".

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. A new addition to the game's multiplayer component is the Requisition system, designed to reward players across different multiplayer modes. Players earn "REQ Points" after each match of Arena or Warzone multiplayer. These points can then be used to purchase "REQ Packs", which contain both cosmetic and gameplay-affecting items; however, the latter are only usable in Warzone while only cosmetic items are usable in Arena to maintain balanced competitive play. REQ packs can also be purchased with real-world currency.


 * 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.
 * Escape from ARC - A human mining facility in an ocean.
 * 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.

E3 2013 teaser
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
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
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
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
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 and the second six focusing on developing the campaign.

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
Hunt the Truth, stylized as HUNT the TRUTH, is a marketing campaign for Halo 5: Guardians. It centers around journalist Benjamin Giraud's hunt for the truth about the story of the Master Chief and features audio logs and blog posts by Giraud.

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

Cinematic trailer
During the E3 Xbox Media Briefing on June 15, 2015, 343 Industries released a cinematic trailer, showcasing some cutscenes from the game and establishing the premise. It was followed by the demo.

Demonstration video
The gameplay demonstration picks up from the scene shown last in the cinematic trailer, depicting Fireteam Osiris as they track John-117 through Sunaion in the midst of a battle. The demonstration showcases the use of Spartan abilities, the ATS, the squad interaction system, and the new weapon plasma caster. It also introduces a new type of enemy, the Promethean Soldier, and the new Forerunner character Warden Eternal.

Warzone trailer
Another trailer released on the same day as the cinematic trailer and gameplay demonstration announces the new gametype Warzone. The trailer showcases the multiplayer level Escape from ARC as well as Warzone gameplay.

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 a Warzone REQ Bundle of 14 Premium Requisition packs, Halo: The Fall of Reach - Animated Series, Guardian model by Metal Earth®, a uniquely-designed Spartan themed SteelBook®, Spartan Locke’s Classified Orders, dossiers on Blue Team and Fireteam Osiris, a Xbox Live Gold 14-day Trial, 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 of John-117 and Jameson Locke, designed by 343 Industries.

Pre-order bonuses
Those who pre-order from Gamestop will receive MJOLNIR Hunter armor for use in multiplayer upon launch. Gamestop also offers the Sentinel Battle Rifle with laser targeter and the Bloodthirst Battle Rifle weapon skin. Consumers who pre-order from Amazon will receive the long barrel Projection SMG.