Update: Josh Holmes, Studio Head at 343 Industries, has confirmed that Xbox Live Gold is required for cooperative campaign. This was due to a miscommunication between 343 Industries and Game Informer. A 14-day Xbox Live Gold trial will be included. Make sure to check out the blog post for more information.
With the newest edition of Game Informer, more details have been given regarding gameplay elements for the Halo 5: Guardians campaign. The coverage by Game Informer has given us both story and gameplay details, which have changed from previous titles.
The story will build on the themes presented in Hunt the Truth, and build bonds and tension between different characters. Locke’s team, Fireteam Osiris, will be hunting down Blue Team throughout the campaign, with alternating perspectives to present differing plot points. The gameplay will change based on the member currently being played, with each Spartan having a unique loadout.
When playing the single-player campaign, you will be accompanied by 3 AI companions, either from Fireteam Osiris, or Blue Team. These AI will follow you through the campaign and help you progress, and can be given commands using ‘up’ on the D-Pad. These commands will make the companions interact with the environment, by using certain weapons or vehicles, or targeting certain enemies. When playing cooperatively, players can freely drop in and out of the game, taking control of the AI, and taking their current loadout and position. The loadout will be pre-set individually for each team member, and is constant between levels.
- Chief has an Assault Rifle
- Fred has a DMR
- Linda has a Sniper
- Kelly has a shotgun
- Locke has a Battle Rifle
- Tanaka has a DMR with scope
- Buck has an Assault Rifle
- The newly revealed Spartan, reported to be Olympia Vale has the SMG. We will find out more about her in upcoming Halo novel, ‘Hunters in the Dark’.
When other players are playing in the same campaign game, you are also able to revive one another to progress through the level.
The gameplay will dynamically change, based on who is playing, and how many characters are currently player controlled. It is unclear whether the choice of team member is random, or player determined at this point in time. You can tell which player you are currently playing as based on the HUD, which is unique to each Spartan.
Difficulty will also scale, based on the amount of players in the game. When a team has all 4 players, enemies will be in greater numbers, and be harder to fight.
Lastly, Halo 5: Guardians will not require Xbox Live Gold to be played cooperatively online.
This is a very different approach to the Halo campaign, which has rarely changed over the series. These new elements of gameplay are likely to bring a new experience to the sometimes stale gameplay. What do you think of these new features? Let us know in the comments!
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Matt was a regular ICXM contributor in 2015, publishing 110 articles across game reviews, Windows and PC, and Xbox news. Their work focused on hands-on reviews, platform commentary, and breaking-news reporting during the Xbox One’s first full year of post-launch coverage, including the early days of Backwards Compatibility and Windows 10 gaming. They post on X as @RTEnvi.