HaloFest Halo 5 Beta reveal

I_Make_Big_Boom · November 11, 2014

A colossal amount of information was just revealed for the Halo 5 Beta at HaloFest this year (I'm talking ALLOT of info). The whole video is at the bottom of this article.

Oh, and I'm sure I got some of the information wrong, so feel free to correct me if you see any errors.

Here's the gist:

Everyone starts the same. Every Spartan Ability (I'll detail those later on in this article), and Weapon (starter primary, secondary, and grenades) is given to the player at the beginning. No Loadouts. Like how Halos 1-3 were played.
All weapons contain a zoom feature, with some akin to ADS (Aim Down Sights). Not all weapons have this, like the DMR (the DMR is nearly the same as it's H4 counterpart Scope wise, and aesthetically).
There seems to be a before, and after game animation for each Player Team that shows their aesthetics. The winning team taunts the other team in bravado.
Everything listed in this article is based off of work-in-progress material in the Beta. So it's not final. The time the Beta releases makes it the earliest public Halo Beta ever released.
There are a total of 7 maps that will be able to be played on in the Beta.
There are now Weapons on map as in previous Halo games. NO MORE ORDINANCE.
There will be three game modes in the Beta. What they exactly are is not clear, but it's certain Multiplayer is one of them.
Power Weapons run on static timers. So a weapon like the Prophet's Bane comes around every 4 minutes.
There's a Shield Bar, and Health Bar, but I'm not quite sure how they work.

Random information from HaloFest:

343i has an internal Pro team they use to test the game. What's pretty funny is that they have Pros vs. Devs... and the Devs get completely destroyed in Halo 5 MP lol. One match was 50-4.
Most of the play-testers (like Josh Holmes, some Pro players, and a few other devs) will be online playing with the community when the Beta launches.
A couple celebrities came to HaloFest... like: Wayne Brady from "Let's Make A Deal" (that dude is hilarious), Joel Mchale from "Community", and Ben Schwartz from "House of Lies".

Spartan Abilities / Movement & Scoping mechanics:

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Spartan Abilities are like Dual Wield, and Vehicle Highjacking. They are abilities given to each and every player, and are not separate entities that can only be used one at a time (like Armor Abilities).

The idea behind them is basically to give power to the player. To make them feel like a Spartan should. Multiple quotes from devs of 343i describe Spartans with "Speed. Power. Agility. Myth of them being Superheros. Wrapped in Technology. 1000 Pound Jetfighter/Tank on legs. Total destruction machine". 343i wanted to bring that into the game as a 4th layer to the Weapon, Melee, Grenades triad dynamic.

Like stated before, Spartan Abilities are given to all players at the beginning. No one starts off on the wrong foot. If a player wants to use Thruster Pack then they can. If someone wants to use Ground Pound, they can do that too.

Spartan Abilities listed in HaloFest:

Thruster Pack: Rocket jets built into the Spartan suit allow the Player to dodge quickly in any direction, "double jump" (jump in the air, activate the TP, and increase the jump height), hover to allow slower landing velocity, and a speed boost while running. One of the Pro Scrimmage announcers notes that the Thruster cool-down is around 4 seconds.
Ground Pound: When up in the air you can hold a (I think it's the right thumbstick) button to target the ground with a circular reticule. Once released, the Player will fly towards the ground with a subconscious Jet Thrust, and make a small impact shock-wave (I'm not sure how powerful it will be). You can double jump using Thruster Pack to achieve a greater height to use Ground Pound.
Clamber: Like mantling over objects in Call of Duty (running, and grabbing ledges to pull yourself up and such), Clamber allows the player to basically do the same. Clamber, which I think is double tapping the Jump button, allows you jump and mount up/over edges on walls and structures (if they're low enough). You can also jump down to grind over a lower platform's ledge to save yourself from falling to your death.
Slide: Once terminal velocity/max speed is reached with Sprint (it's noted by wind-like lines around your HUD) you'll be able to fall backwards in a slide to: Dive into cover more quickly, go underneath an obstacle, or take an enemy player by surprise with a weapon like the Shotgun.
Charge: Like the name suggests, Charge is basically a Thruster Pack forward ramming attack activated by the Melee button at Sprint max speed, similar to Slide.
Sprint: Sprint is nearly the same as it's Halo 4 counterpart, BUT there's a catch: it's connected to your shields. When using Sprint you will be unable to recharge your shields: No matter how long you run. So if your shields are down, and you decide to run away, then you're basically screwed anyway (Hey that rhymed... kinda).
Smart Scope: A cybernetic-ally linked zoom attached to the Spartan HUD. EVERY weapon that did not have a zoom feature now has this feature (it seems for Weapons that don't have Scopes you look through). A gun like the DMR or Sniper Rifle has the regular Scoped-in-function as before, but a gun as the AR with no scope utilizes Smart Scope (increased reticule size, and a "zoom-in". Not direct iron sights). Hip-firing is still accurate, but Smart Scope seems to be more so. Anyone using the zoom button for their weapon can get de-scoped from enemy fire. Movement speed looks like it's slowed down from first glance when scoped in. Josh Holmes from 343i states that "No penalty to hip fire in H5, no movement penalty when scoping/zooming, no flinch," which seems to contradict that.

Weapons:

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There have been minor, and major changes throughout the weapons. The below list is NOT all the weapons, but the ones I saw in the HaloFest stream:

BR (Battle Rifle): It is now painted black/dark-grey and almost dull-dune, and has a Reflex scope (flat, un-cilender/un-box scope) instead of the scope from Halo 4. It's ammo "hud" bar is tinted orange, and the yellow stripe is still on the gun. It's discharge is notably very lower in pitch, and sounds like chains being coiled. The zoom does not black out peripheral vision as much as Halo 4's BR. In fact it doesn't even look like you're looking through a scope now. Futuristic lines, and geometry appear on the sides, and around the scope when zoomed in.
AR (Assault Rifle): The gun is now painted desert dune, and covered in composite materials. It also has a lower pitched discharge. The AR can now zoom instead of using HUD Binoculars, and shows a large circular reticule with surrounding geometry (it looks similar to a Covenant symbol of some sort).
Miniature Missile Pod?: A rounded rifle-sized rocket launching type weapon. It works similar to the RL (Rocket Launcher), except the rockets are noticeably smaller. The weapon can also zoom in in the same fashion as the AR. Utilizing the zoom a Player can target an enemy Player, and lob a missile at them: just like how the RL & Missile Pod could lock on vehicles in previous games.
Sniper Rifle: No discernible changes aside from more detailed structure.
Magnum: Slightly different design. A slightly deep channel runs through the top of the "scalp" of the pistol in a notch. Utilizes iron sight smart scope. Painted a more dull dune color.
SMG (Sub-Machine Gun): More modern design. Painted a dune-yellow kind of color. It has a small rectangular scope just in front of the barrel, and uses iron sight smart scope. I don't remember what the old SMG sounded like, but this one sounds powerful.
Shotgun: No noticeable changes aside from it looking slimmer. Seemingly uses smart scope.
DMR (Designated Marksman Rifle): The scope is a little boxier. The scope glass is also not very green, and the weapon discharge is more powerful. Other than that I see no major changes.
Plasma Grenade: Works the same. Stick player, run away.
Frag Grenade: Works the same. Throw, and go.
Prophet's Bane Energy Sword: This weapon received the most drastic changes compared to the original Energy Sword, and is described as "legendary". I'm not sure if this is the actual legitimate sword featured in the Beta. It's neon Gold and seemingly has a front hand guard like the swords in Halo Wars. It's shape seems like a mix between the H2-3 & H4 sword, but is very rounded, and curved. The circle in the middle is now elongated with the "prongs" of the sword curving around, down, and then slightly up. Reminds me of Covenant Hesduros architecture. This sword is on Truth (Midship remake), heavily implying it is the sword used by The Arbiter to kill the Prophet of Truth. The sword increases movement when held. You can also use the Smart Scope with the sword and increase the lunge range.

Maps:

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Allot of new armor was shown at HaloFest, but unfortunately I won't be able to detail them right now due to me already spending more than an hour on this article.

The Halo 5: Guardians Multiplayer Beta begins on December 29th, and runs for 3 weeks until January 18th, 2015.

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Thoughts?

Source: YouTube

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THEDOOMEDPROTAGONIST · November 11, 2014

I'm just gonna say it now, 343 industries, you said there will be change to the Halo franchise. Change is not to do the same thing as other games. Please, you are doing a mistake in doing so, don't die like BlackBerry did. (No ADS PLEASE. Don't do like a Titanfalll based hardcore parkour) Graphics look good though.

#343Industries (I know this doesn't work.)

PLEASEPLEASEPLEASE THIS IS KILLING ME

- DOOM

Mr Kittens and Gibberish · November 13, 2014

On 11/11/2014 at 10:37 PM, TheDoomProtagonist said:

I'm just gonna say it now, 343 industries, you said there will be change to the Halo franchise. Change is not to do the same thing as other games. Please, you are doing a mistake in doing so, don't die like BlackBerry did. (No ADS PLEASE. Don't do like a Titanfalll based hardcore parkour) Graphics look good though.

#343Industries (I know this doesn't work.)

PLEASEPLEASEPLEASE THIS IS KILLING ME

- DOOM

You know this isnt the official 343industries site right? Go to halowaypoint.com ...

November 14, 2014

I have canceled my Amazon.com pre-order for Halo 5 based on the terrible experience offered in "The Master Chief Collection." If 343 is going to release an un-tested, broken version of an old game, why would I have any confidence in their ability to release a good product in the future.
Heck, will they even have half of the reported MCC bugs fixed before the Beta's scheduled release?

TuNaG0TL0sT · November 16, 2014

True Halo coding and gameplay was Halo 1 and 2. Halo 3 and on was just a ploy to grab the attention of people who played COD and other games, to compete with them, hence the fact they lost so many fans. Spartan abilities, bloom, sprint, armor pick-ups, and etc ruined the game and the fans. There's no need to fix a game (Halo2) that wasn't broken.