The Halo 5: Guardians online multiplayer beta opened up over Christmas. No biggie, it's just the first truly new Halo experience for Xbox One.
Spread over a small selection of game types and maps, the Guardians beta brings the most significant changes to Halo's play since jetpacks and sprinting were introduced in 2010's Halo: Reach. Guardians takes propulsion power further with an always-available, rechargeable thruster pack which adds extra oomph to your play, with baseball slides, NRL-style shoulder charges, and a Mario-style ground-pound ability.
Sprinting has become an always-on feature, but it comes at a price as the same energy that powers it also powers your shield recharge. When you're choosing flight over fight, you'll have to slow down if you want to restore your health.
As fish evolved and learned to climb trees (er, as I understand it) the Spartans of the Halo universe learned to climb, and whacking the jump button near an accessible ledge will have your avatar cutting new paths and finding new sniper nests.
There are more in-game medals, for almost everything you do, and once you figure out what they're being awarded for, they help you understand and shape your play. Even better is the combat dialogue, with all of your teammates' avatars automatically shouting praise, tactics, and warnings. Better that than another homophobic slur or mum joke.
This beta strongly promotes two strategies the pros have sworn by for years: control the map, control the heavy weapons. It takes several matches to get a ranking, and before then inexperienced or rusty players are easy pickings for serious shooters. It's frustrating, but worth sticking it out. Once you are evenly matched, a whole new world of fun opens up.
The beta closes on January 18, and pre-orders are available now. (The release date is still TBC.)
Nice to know, but players nursing burns after multiple game launch nightmares in 2014 ought to know better than to buy so soon. It's great to see the SMG return after a long absence and it's exciting to think this might be the best Halo for online play ever. Yes, ever. But let's borrow a classic disclaimer: "Actual product may not match description."
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