Halo 5: Guardians

Template:Header/FeaturedVideoApology Halo 5: Guardians

Halo 5: Guardians is a Halo game that was announced during Microsoft's E3 2013 presentation as the second chapter in the John-117 storyline of the Reclaimer Saga and the sequel to Halo 4. It was released on October 27, 2015.^[3]

Campaign

Characters and Setting

Jameson Locke and John-117 are both playable characters in Halo 5: Guardians. The teammates of both Blue Team and Fireteam Osiris are also available for other players to play in the co-op campaign.^[4]^[5]

Characters

Organizations

Locations

Andesia
- Noctus (First appearance)^[15]
Coelest System
- Substance
  - Installation 05 (Mentioned only)^[15]
Conrad's Point
Epsilon Eridani system
- Beta Gabriel
  - UNSC Fathom
Meridian
Soell System
- Threshold
  - Installation 04^[15]
Urs system
- Sanghelios
  - Sunaion^[8]

Species

Human
Forerunner (Tech Only)
Kig-Yar
- Ibie'shan^[16]
Sangheili^[16]
Unggoy^[17]
Lekgolo
- Mgalekgolo^[8]
Jiralhanae (Mentioned only)
San'Shyuum (Mentioned only)
Yonhet (Mentioned only)

Technology

Guardian (First appearance)
Promethean
Mjolnir Powered Assault Armor
- [GEN 2]
  - Achilles (First appearance)^[18]
  - Air Assault
  - Anubis (First appearance)
  - Argonaut (First appearance)
  - Argus (First appearance)^[19]
  - Athlon (First appearance)
  - Atlas (First appearance)^[18]
  - Aviator
  - Breaker
  - Buccaneer (First appearance)
  - Centurion
  - Challenger (First appearance)
  - Cinder (First appearance)
  - CIO
  - Commando
  - Copperhead (First appearance)^[19]
  - CQB^[20]
  - Cyclops
  - Cypher (First appearance)
  - Deadeye
  - Decimator^[21] (First appearance)
  - Defender
  - Dynast (First appearance)
  - Enforcer
  - Engineer
  - EOD^[20]
  - EVA ^[22]
  - Freebooter (First appearance)
  - Foehammer (First appearance)
  - FOTUS
  - Fenrir (First appearance)
  - Goblin (First appearance)
  - GUNGNIR
  - Helioskrill (First appearance)
  - Hellcat (First appearance)
  - Helljumper (First appearance)^[19]
  - Hermes (First appearance)^[19]
  - Hunter (First appearance)^[23]
  - Icarus (First appearance)^[20]
  - Indomitable (First appearance)^[24]
  - Infiltrator
  - Interceptor (First appearance)
  - Intruder (First appearance)^[24]
  - Jumpmaster (First appearance)
  - Legionnaire (First appearance)
  - Locus
  - Mako (First appearance) ^[22]
  - Marauder^[21] (First appearance)
  - Mark IV
  - Mark V Alpha (First appearance)
  - Mark V Delta^[20] (First appearance)
  - Mark VI^[19]
  - Maverick (First appearance)
  - Military Police^[20]
  - Nightfall (First appearance)
  - Noble (First appearance)
  - Nomad (First appearance)
  - Operator
  - Orbital
  - Pathfinder
  - Pilot^[20]
  - Pioneer
  - Protector
  - Raider
  - Raijin (First appearance)
  - Ranger
  - Reaper (First appearance)
  - Recluse (First appearance)
  - Recon
  - Recruit
  - Rogue
  - Scanner
  - Scout
  - Security
  - Seeker (First appearance)
  - Shinobi (First appearance)
  - Soldier
  - Stalker
  - Stinger (First appearance)^[25]
  - Strider
  - Technician (First appearance)^[19]
  - Teishin (First appearance)
  - Tracer (First appearance)
  - Tracker
  - Valkyrie (First appearance)
  - Vector (First appearance)
  - Venator
  - Venture (First appearance)
  - Vigilant (First appearance)^[24]
  - Viper (First appearance)
  - Void Dancer
  - War Master
  - Warrior
  - Wetwork
  - Wrath (First appearance)^[24]

Gameplay

Spartan Abilities

Main article: Spartan Abilities

In Halo 5: Guardians, armor abilities are replaced with Spartan Abilities.^[26] Spartan Abilities are distinct from Armor Abilities,^[27] in that they are not limited by cooldowns or pickups. Rather, they are base player abilities which can be used by all at any time, similar to Dual Wielding or Boarding. The seven Spartan Abilities are:

Thruster Pack: Similar to Thruster Pack from Halo 4, except now there is movement in any direction.^[28]
Ground Pound: While in air, you can slam down into the ground, potentially killing anyone below.^[28]
Clamber: If you miss a ledge, you can pull yourself up.^[28]
Slide: While sprinting, you can slide.^[28]
Charge: While sprinting, you can slam into an enemy.^[28]
Sprint: Sprinting like in Halo 4, but after a certain amount of time, you will achieve the perfect velocity to activate the previous two abilities. Sprinting will stop shield recharge.^[28]
Smart Scope: A zoom function that applies to all weapons. Each weapon has a different degree of zoom.^[28]

Campaign

The campaign is roughly twice as long as Halo 4's campaign.^[29]

Image	Name
	Osiris
	Blue Team
	Glassed
	Meridian Station
	Unconfirmed
	Evacuation
	Reunion
	Swords of Sanghelios
	Alliance
	Enemy Lines
	Before the Storm
	Battle of Sunaion
	Genesis
	The Breaking
	Guardians

Multiplayer

Multiplayer in Halo 5: Guardians is split into two main play styles: the classic Arena experience, and the new 24-player game, Warzone. Big Team Battle is not present in the game at launch, instead it was replaced with Warzone, however it was added post-launch.^[30] Spectator mode is allowed within multiplayer matches.^[31] There are over 20 multiplayer maps at the launch of Halo 5. At least an additional 15 maps were added post launch, before June 2016.^[32]

Multiplayer maps

Arena

Image	Map
On-Disk
	Alpine variants: Pegasus^[33] Orion^[33]
	Breakout Arena variants: Altitude Crossfire^[34]^[35] Gambol Trench^[34]^[35] Trident
	Coliseum
	Eden^[34]
	Empire^[36]
	Fathom
	Plaza
	Regret^[37]
	The Rig^[38]
	Truth^[36]
Battle of Shadow and Light
	Alpine variants: Basin Deadlock Guillotine
	Glacier variant: Recurve
Cartographer's Gift
	Glacier variant: Antifreeze
	Parallax variant: Entombed
	Overgrowth
Infinity's Armory
	Riptide
Hammer Storm
	Glacier variant: Grifball Court
	Torque
Ghosts of Meridian
	Tyrant
Memories of Reach
	Overgrowth variant: Malignant
	Plaza variant: Nerve Center
	Riptide variant: R.I.P.TIDE
	Stasis^[24]
Warzone Firefight
	Molten
Anvil's Legacy
	Mercy

Warzone

Image	Map
On-Disk
	Escape From A.R.C.^[12]
	March on Stormbreak
	Raid on Apex 7^[39]
Cartographer's Gift
	Battle of Noctus
Ghosts of Meridian
	Skirmish at Darkstar
Warzone Firefight
	Attack on Sanctum

Warzone Assault

Image	Map
On-Disk
	Dispatch
	Summit
	Array
Infinity's Armory
	Urban
Warzone Firefight
	Prospect
Anvil's Legacy
	Temple

Forge Canvases

Image	Map
On-Disk
	Alpine
	Breakout Arena
	Glacier
	Parallax
Warzone Firefight
	Tidal
Monitor's Bounty
	Barrens
	Depths

Gametypes

Arena
- Assault
- Breakout^[34]
- Big Team Battle
- Capture the Flag^[40]
- Fiesta
- Grifball
- Infection
- Team Slayer^[41]
- Strongholds^[34]
- Forge Minigames
Warzone

Features

Weapons

UNSC

Covenant

Ecumene

Other

7 wood^[67]

Vehicles

UNSC
- Anlace-class frigate (First appearance)
- AV-49 Attack VTOL (First appearance)
- D79H-TC Pelican^[68]
- Halcyon-class light cruiser
  - UNSC Pillar of Autumn^[15] (Holo-projection)
- HRUNTING/YGGDRASIL Mark IX Armor Defense System^[8]
- Infinity-class supercarrier
  - UNSC Infinity^[15]
- M12B Force Application Vehicle^[69]
- M820 Main Battle Tank^[70] (First appearance)
- M290 All-Terrain Vehicle^[70] (First appearance)
  - M290-M All-Terrain Vehicle^[70] (First appearance)
- Phoenix-class colony ship
  - UNSC Spirit of Fire^[24] (mentioned only)
- UNSC Of Uncommon Courage
Covenant
- Type-54 Rapid Attack Vehicle^[71] (First appearance)
- Type-58 Light Assault Gun Carriage^[71] (First appearance)
  - Anti-aircraft variant^[45]
- Shade Turret^[11]
- Anti-Air Shade Turret
- Type-54 Ground Support Aircraft^[71] (First appearance)
- Type-57 Troop Carrier^[8] (First appearance)
- Type-57 Dropship Troop Carrier^[71] (First appearance)
- Type-56 Ground Support/Ultra Heavy Deployment Platform^[8]
- Type-55 Ultra-Heavy Siege Tower (First appearance)
- CCS-class battlecruiser
  - Undiminished Entelechy (First appearance)^{[notes 1]}^[15]
  - Purity of Spirit^[15]
- Hekar Taa-pattern fast interdictor (First appearance)
- Man O' War (First appearance)
- Carrack merchant cruiser (First appearance)
- Brigantine (First appearance)
- Unknown class
  - Splendid Intention
Forerunner Ecumene
- Z-1800 Exoatmospheric Multirole Fighter (First appearance)

Achievements

Main article: List of Achievements for Halo 5: Guardians

Halo 5: Guardians' achievements are worth a total of 1,000 gamerscore. The game features 65 achievements with 11 achievements being obtained in multiplayer.

Retail Editions

Comparison

Features	Standard	Limited	Limited Collector's	Digital Deluxe
Box art
Standard game disc	Yes	No	Optional	No
Limited Edition game disc	No	Yes	No	No
Game download	No	No	Optional	Yes
14 day Xbox Live Gold trial	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
The Fall of Reach Animated Series	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
REQ Bundle	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Steelbook case	No	Yes	Yes	No
Spartan Locke's orders and dossiers on Blue Team and Fireteam Osiris.	No	Yes	Yes	No
Metal Guardian model	No	Yes	Yes	No
Commemorative statue of Master Chief and Agent Locke.	No	No	Yes	No

Standard Edition

The standard edition of the game includes the disk and a 14-day Xbox Live Gold trial, and was released October 27th, 2015.

Digital Edition

The digital edition contains a digital download of the game, without a disk or game case.

Limited Edition

Main article: Halo 5: Guardians Limited Edition

Including collectible items such as a limited edition game disk and a steelbook case, the Halo 5: Guardians limited edition is available for pre-order before the release of the game. In addition to the limited edition case and disk, the bundle includes a 14-day Xbox Live trial, Halo: The Fall of Reach Animated Series, a Warzone REQ bundle, dossiers on Blue Team, Fireteam Osiris and Spartan Locke's orders, and finally a metal model of a Guardian. The edition costs $99.99.^[72]

Limited Collector's Edition

Main article: Halo 5: Guardians Limited Collector's Edition

The Halo 5: Guardians Limited Collector's Edition contained, in addition to the Limited Edition collectible content, a statue of Master Chief and Agent Locke. This statue can be pulled apart from its default state, to present the pair as enemies rather than a team like is presented by default. It cost $249.99.^[73]

Controversially, the Limited Collector's edition originally contained a digital download code rather than a physical disk. This was intended to allow purchasers of the Limited Collector's edition to pre-load the game. In response to a fan uproar at the lack of a disk, 343 Industries stated that they were looking for a solution to satisfy those who want a disk.^[74] Later, they confirmed that customers would be able to opt to have a disk rather than the default digital download code.^[75]

Digital Deluxe Edition

Main article: Halo 5: Guardians Digital Deluxe Edition

A Digital Deluxe edition was also available for pre-order before the game's release. It cost $89.99, and contained a digital download of the game itself, a REQ bundle, and Halo: The Fall of Reach Animated Series.^[76]

Development

Iterations

Early Concepts

In the earlier iterations of the game, Fireteam Osiris was actually supposed to be Fireteam Majestic, composed of Olympia Vale, Holly Tanaka, Jameson Locke, and Gabriel Thorne.^[77]

Beta

At least one known version of the game exists, the Halo 5: Guardians Multiplayer Beta. This version includes different menu systems featuring a different background and different music, armor descriptions feature the manufacturers, Empire had slightly different pathing, and armor colouring was able to be individually selected.^[78]

Marketing

This section requires expansion.

Xbox One Reveal

Halo (Xbox One) was confirmed to be in development for the Xbox One during the Xbox One Reveal event on May 21, 2013.^[1]

E3 2013

“There was no ambiguity in not putting a number after the game. For me, what we showed wasn’t the game. Nobody should be confused on that. I didn’t really want to try to show something that was clearly a thought piece by the studio around where Master Chief is in his journey, and then drop the name after it and be somewhat disingenuous about that being the game. But I did want Bonnie [Ross] to come out and say 'First-person shooter. Master Chief.' Because they'll get the questions: 'Hey, is this ODST? What are you guys doing?' Bonnie [Ross] comes out and reaffirms that 343 is building this game. It’s Master Chief. It’s a first-person shooter at 60 frames per second. It’s coming in 2014.”

— Phil Spencer, regarding the teaser trailer^[79]

Xbox Wire

On May 16, 2014, Bonnie Ross, General Manager of 343 Industries, announced on Xbox Wire that the Halo game will be named Halo 5: Guardians and will be released in Fall 2015.^[80] Bonnie also announced that Halo 5: Guardians will run on a new and more powerful engine.

Hunt the Truth

Main article: Hunt the Truth

On March 19, 2015, Frank O'Connor tweeted a link to a Tumblr page called Hunt the Truth.^[81] On the page, there was countdown that had ended on March 22, 2015 at 1:00am UTC and had an image of the word "Traitor" engraved onto a bullet.^[82] The page revealed to be about a journalist and war photographer, Benjamin Giraud, who is trying to find the truth about the Master Chief.^[82]

Trivia

The Halo 5: Guardians multiplayer beta was accessible through Halo: The Master Chief Collection.^[83]
Exclusive content unlocked in Halo: The Master Chief Collection will carry over to Halo 5: Guardians.^[84]
Halo 5's Theater mode writes replay files to the dedicated servers as the player is playing. These files can be accessed in real-time, enabling players to spectate others live.^[85]
Halo 5's internal development code name for the AI companions was "Musketeers."^[86]
Halo 5: Guardians is the first Halo first-person shooter to be given an ESRB rating of T.

Gallery

E3 2013 Trailer

E3 2014 Trailer