Screenshot from Halo 5: Guardians. Photo / Supplied
One of the year's biggest releases, many expect Halo 5 to raise the bar for first-person shooters in a competitive market that includes big budget tentpoles like Call of Duty and Star Wars Battlefront.
Franklin believes they've done that by delivering something "big and unique".
Among many of Halo 5's multiplayer improvements are larger maps, more vehicles and better graphics. They're also offering bigger teams, with up to 12 players on each side.
The game also includes a full-scale single-player campaign based around the hunt for missing super-soldier Master Chief, the main character from previous instalments of the game.
TimeOut has played the campaign but because of embargoes can't reveal too much about it until release day.
But when it comes to multiplayer options, Franklin says there's only one mode that everyone's going to be playing: Warzone.
A 12-on-12 multiplayer melee, it involves gamers taking on real life opposition in an industrialised area of a colonised planet.
Making things more complicated is the inclusion of upgraded AI foes, and an eclectic array of weaponry and vehicles including jeeps mounted with cannons and robotic mech suits.
First debuted in New Zealand at the Xbox event XONZ in October, TimeOut can confirm Warzone is fast-paced and addictive.
Watch the trailer for Halo 5 - Guardians:
But Warzone didn't always look that way. Franklin says early demos were incredibly simplistic.
"Our first warzone level was basically just a stick sitting in the centre of this grey courtyard with these square polygon trees.
"A couple of AI had the job of defending this flag.
"We built this little demo, and it was a lot of fun. Every time we played it, it played out differently. One team might go after the AI, one team might go after the flag, one team might grab the flag and get attacked by AI."
Building up layers over the years has led them to deliver Warzone, and Franklin is rightly proud of it.
After making its debut at E3, he says the franchise's fanbase picked up Halo's gameplay improvements instantly.
"It's more complicated than anything we've done before.
Screenshot from Halo 5: Guardians. Photo / Supplied
"It's got a lot of different layers, alternate wind conditions, bases you can capture, a new scoring system, and a new requisition system, so there's a lot to learn.
"But you can't underestimate our gaming audience.
"They're awesome, they're smart, they pick up stuff very quickly, and they'll kill you very quickly. It was only a couple of games until some of our developers were getting their butts kicked."
