Halo 5: Guardians

Overview

Halo 5: Guardians is a 2015 first-person shooter developed by 343 Industries and published by Microsoft Studios for the Xbox One. It is set in the 26th century and follows two fireteams of human supersoldiers: Blue Team, led by Master Chief, and Fireteam Osiris, led by Spartan Locke. When Blue Team goes absent without leave to track down the artificial intelligence Cortana, Master Chief's loyalty is called into question and Osiris is sent to bring him back.

Players are Spartans with sprint that never runs out, slides, a thruster pack and ground pound attacks, and every weapon can be aimed down the sights. The campaign alternates between Master Chief and Locke, each with a persistent squad of Spartans, and up to four players can play it online together. Computer-controlled squad mates can be given orders with the d-pad, and the difficulty scales with the number of human players.

Multiplayer has the classic four-versus-four arena modes such as Slayer and Capture the Flag, plus Warzone, a 24-player mode where teams earn points by taking locations and defeating computer-controlled enemies. Players call in weapons and vehicles with requisition cards from REQ packs, which can be earned in game or bought with real money. Forge, the map editor, returns with scripting tools. There is no split-screen and no local networking of any kind.

343 Industries began planning shortly after Halo 4, with Tim Longo joining as creative director in late 2012. The goals were bigger campaign and multiplayer spaces, deeper player progression and 60 frames per second. To hold 60 fps the engine lowers its render resolution during busy scenes and scales back up to 1080p. Dropping split-screen was a result of that focus on performance. Kazuma Jinnouchi wrote the score, recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London, with the choir recorded in Prague.

The game was announced at E3 2013 and released worldwide on October 27, 2015. It was the first shooter in the series to get a Teen rating from the ESRB. It shipped in standard, limited and collector's editions. The collector's edition came with a digital code instead of a disc, and Microsoft offered a limited-time free trade-in for a physical disc after fans complained. New maps, weapons and features were added through free updates rather than paid map packs.

Reviews were positive, with praise for the gameplay, visuals, level design and multiplayer, and a review aggregate score of 84 from 101 reviews. The campaign split opinion, with criticism aimed at the story, the writing and the ending, and at marketing that played up a conflict between Chief and Locke. First-week sales of software and hardware passed 400 million US dollars, the biggest Halo launch in Xbox history, and the game sold five million copies in its first three months. A sequel, Halo Infinite, followed on December 8, 2021.

Screenshots

Game details

Genres

First-person shooter

Developer

343 Industries

Publisher

Microsoft Studios

Series

Halo

Composers

Kazuma Jinnouchi

Producers

Chris Lee

Directors

Tim Longo

Modes

Single player

Yes

Local multiplayer

No

Online multiplayer

24

Release dates

Editions

Buy this game

Subscription history

Achievements

Achievements73 (1,250G)

Total

73

Gamerscore

1250

100% time

40 to 50 hours

Playthroughs for 1000G

1

1000G without online

No

Online note

Campaign co-op is online only (no split screen), and the base list has matchmade Arena and Warzone achievements (Castle Crasher, Off to the Races, Flag Monger, Spartan Decimation, Warlord and others) plus Valor Recognized for a competitive skill rating and Benchwarmer for spectating, so the base 1000G needs Xbox Live.

DLC has trophies

Yes

1000G includes DLC

No

DLC note

The free Warzone Firefight update added 8 achievements for 250G, all in the multiplayer Warzone Firefight mode. No paid DLC achievements, so no edition bundles them.

Gamerscore, base game

1000

Gamerscore with DLC

1250

Grind

• Lone Wolf (100G): every campaign mission on Legendary, solo
• Forging a Legend (60G) and Heroes Rise (40G): full campaign on Legendary and Heroic
• Hunt the Truth (40G): all mission intel; Gravelord (40G): all skulls
• Warzone Firefight update: 8 achievements for 250G in the multiplayer mode

• Your Team is Your Weapon Commanded your team of Spartans in Osiris. 10G 87.41% of players
• Your Style Changed your Spartan's gear in the Spartan Hub. 10G 64.42% of players
• Raise Your Banner Changed your Emblem in the Spartan Hub. 10G 75.07% of players
• Make Your Mark Changed your Service Tag in the Spartan Hub. 10G 57.98% of players
• Gamemaster Created and saved a Custom Game. 10G 15.27% of players
• Benchwarmer Spectated a game. 10G 17.97% of players
• Cry Havoc Completed 3 matchmade games of Warzone. 10G 41.09% of players
• Bringing in the Big Guns Called in a REQ that costs 5 Energy or more. 10G 43.52% of players
• Go for the Gold Opened a Gold REQ Pack. 10G 50.04% of players
• Warlord Won a match on all three original Warzone maps. 20G 27.45% of players
• Castle Crasher Completed 5 matchmade games of Strongholds. 20G 17.22% of players
• Off to the Races Completed 5 matchmade games of Breakout. 20G 21.21% of players
• Flag Monger Completed 5 matchmade games of Capture the Flag. 20G 20.34% of players
• Spartan Decimation Completed 5 matchmade games of Slayer. 20G 45.43% of players
• Into the Fire Completed Mission 1. 10G 83.95% of players
• Argent Moon Completed Mission 2. 10G 73.48% of players
• Gravedigger Found and claimed a Skull. 10G 26.25% of players
• Escape Completed Mission 6. 10G 63.43% of players
• Together Again Completed Mission 7. 10G 60.8% of players
• Reclamation Completed Mission 13. 10G 53.92% of players
• A New Dawn Completed Mission 14. 10G 53.19% of players
• Legacy Completed every Mission of the game on Normal difficulty. 10G 46.23% of players
• Heroes Rise Completed every Mission of the game on Heroic difficulty. 40G 20.49% of players
• Forging a Legend Completed every Mission of the game on Legendary difficulty. 60G 11.01% of players
• Conspiracy Theory Found and claimed one piece of Intel. 10G 84.98% of players
• Top of the Food Chain Killed a Legendary Boss in Warzone. 30G 35.5% of players
• Hunt the Truth Found and claimed all Intel. 40G 5.65% of players
• Fire Drill Finished Evacuation within 18:00 without dying on Heroic difficulty. 10G 4.82% of players
• Gravelord Found and claimed all Skulls. 40G 5.85% of players
• Enemy of my Enemy Helped the Elite General charge the hill in Osiris on Heroic difficulty. 10G 3.67% of players
• I Thought I'd Lost You Escaped the Hunters in the lab and fought them in the hangar in Blue Team. 10G 9.64% of players
• On My Mark Simultaneously assassinated two Elites in Blue Team co-op. 10G 4.51% of players
• Going the Distance Completed Glassed without entering a vehicle. 10G 7.62% of players
• Shoot from the Hip Completed Glassed without any players using Smart-Link. 10G 7.23% of players
• Waiting on You Killed an enemy that's had its armor repaired in Unconfirmed. 10G 57.2% of players
• Maverick Teamed up in a vehicle to kill 30 enemies in Unconfirmed co-op. 10G 3.94% of players
• Savior Kept 6 miners alive at the elevator in Evacuation on Heroic difficulty. 10G 3.88% of players
• Take a Hike Traversed the canyon without a Phaeton in Reunion on Heroic difficulty. 10G 7.82% of players
• No Witnesses Destroyed the Phantom at the Covenant camp in Reunion on Heroic difficulty. 10G 4.02% of players
• No Knock Raid Destroyed 10 walls or floors in Swords of Sanghelios. 10G 5.92% of players
• Preying Mantis Completed Swords of Sanghelios co-op with both Mantises on Heroic difficulty. 10G 4.33% of players
• Kraken Lackin' Completed Enemy Lines without destroying a Kraken turret. 10G 14.45% of players
• Emergency Boarding Procedures Escaped the doomed Kraken by jumping onto a Phaeton piloted by a Spartan. 10G 5.39% of players
• Death from Above Killed a Grunt and smashed a grate with a Ground Pound in Battle of Sunaion. 10G 5.13% of players
• Worms Don't Surf Knocked two Hunters into the ocean during the Battle of Sunaion. 10G 3.68% of players
• Tank Still Beats Everything Finished the 13th mission without losing the Scorpion on Legendary difficulty. 10G 7.93% of players
• Rolling Thunder Operated four different vehicles at once in Mission 13 on Heroic difficulty. 10G 4.72% of players
• Harbinger Completed The Breaking on Legendary difficulty without the entire fireteam dying. 10G 3.08% of players
• Prison Break Simultaneously killed two Wardens in The Breaking on Heroic difficulty. 10G 3.07% of players
• Icy Cool Used a Ground Pound on an exterior power core in Guardians on Heroic difficulty. 10G 5.42% of players
• Double Stuff Simultaneously destroyed 2 cores in Guardians on Heroic difficulty. 10G 4.02% of players
• Lone Wolf Completed every Mission of the game by yourself on Legendary difficulty. 100G 7.56% of players
• One for All Completed any co-op Mission on Heroic difficulty. 10G 23.73% of players
• All for One Completed every co-op Mission on Heroic difficulty. 40G 9.43% of players
• Civil War Completed Mission 12. 10G 54.7% of players
• My Rules Completed any Mission with 3+ Skulls active on Heroic difficulty. 20G 6.85% of players
• Valor Recognized Qualified for a Competitive Skill Rating. 20G 32.23% of players
• Glasslands Completed Mission 3. 10G 68.65% of players
• Roots of the Earth Completed Mission 4. 10G 67.38% of players
• Stolen Gauntlet Completed Mission 5. 10G 65.06% of players
• Swords Completed Mission 8. 10G 58.45% of players
• Old Bones Completed Mission 9. 10G 57.67% of players
• Breakthrough Completed Mission 10. 10G 56.07% of players
• Stormbound Completed Mission 11. 10G 55.6% of players
• Sentinels Completed Mission 15. 10G 52.39% of players
• Drop A Quarter Completed a mission in Score Attack with at least 10,000 points. 10G 10.71% of players
• Up For A Challenge Reached 50,000 points in Score Attack with a Skull multiplier of x2 or higher. 20G 4.21% of players
• Party Hearty Completed a mission in Score Attack co-op, with all participants scoring at least 200,000 points. 25G 3.37% of players
• The Hare Beat the par time of a mission in Score Attack. 20G 6.4% of players
• The Tortoise Completed a mission in Score Attack with at least 500,000 points. 50G 4.01% of players
• Not Your First Rodeo Successfully completed 5 Warzone Firefight matches. 40G 16.51% of players
• Tour of Duty Completed a Warzone Firefight match on 6 unique maps. 60G 13.97% of players
• Dangerous Game Earned a Mythic Boss Takedown in a Warzone Firefight match. 25G 22.65% of players

DLC

Post-launch maps, weapons and features were free updates. Microsoft chose not to sell maps as paid downloads.

Playable today

Online

Online servers runningYes

Matchmaking, Warzone and four-player campaign co-op all use Xbox Live and dedicated servers. There is no offline or local multiplayer. No shutdown has been announced.

Services

Service	Status
Xbox Live multiplayer and matchmaking	running

Reception

Aggregates

Outlet	Platform	Score	Scale	Reviews
Metacritic	Xbox One	84	100	101

Critics

Outlet	Score	Scale
IGN	9	10
Polygon	9	10
Electronic Gaming Monthly	9	10
GameSpot	8	10
Game Informer	8.75	10
Destructoid	7	10
GamesRadar	4	5
Game Revolution	4.5	5
Giant Bomb	4	5
GamesTM	6	10
VentureBeat	83	100

Staff and cast

Staff

Role	Name
Creative Director	Tim Longo
Producer	Chris Lee
Composer	Kazuma Jinnouchi
Audio Director	Sotaro Tojima

Cast

Character	Actor
Locke	Mike Colter
Buck	Nathan Fillion
Master Chief	Steve Downes
Cortana	Jen Taylor

Notes for collectors

• First Halo shooter with a Teen rating from the ESRB.
• No split-screen: it is the first main Halo game without it, and there is no system link either.
• The collector's edition shipped with a download code instead of a disc, with a free limited-time trade-in for a disc.
• Fully animated cacti that reacted to gunfire were cut from the campaign maps because they caused the biggest technical problem in the game.
• A beta ran from December 29, 2014 to January 18, 2015 and was given to buyers of Halo: The Master Chief Collection.
• Forge and multiplayer arrived on Windows 10 as Halo 5: Forge on September 8, 2016.

Credits

Publisher

Microsoft Studios

Developer

343 Industries

Director

Tim Longo

Released

2015-10-27

Region

US

Time to beat

about 8 hours

Copies in the shop

• Halo 5: Guardians (XBOX ONE) CA$14.99