Players who’ve expressed an interest in joining the beta test for the newest “Halo 5: Guardians” should now have access to the game, as the beta has just been made available. It’s currently open to anyone who owns an Xbox One and has received an invitation by Microsoft – and according to reports, the company seems to be sending out those invitations rather selectively. In addition, beta codes are for personal use only, and Microsoft keep issuing reminders to their players to not share them with their friends or anyone else.
After downloading the game content, players can join in the fun in a couple of days, starting on December 29. According to the game’s developers, everything has been running smoothly and according to plan, and the public beta should help them iron out any flaws with the multiplayer component of the title before putting it out to the masses. The game is currently in its final internal testing stages, preparing it for the official launch, and there have been no setbacks so far, according to a spokesman from Microsoft.
Players who have access to the beta will be able to continue testing and reporting issues for nearly a month, until January 19. According to the official schedule, the beta will rotate several features on a weekly basis, focusing on different aspects of the multiplayer, such as different game modes and maps, with developer 343 Industries hoping to catch as many issues as possible during this run.
This seems to be in direct response to the company’s failed launch of “Halo: The Master Chief Collection”, a bundle that included remastered editions of all previous “Halo” titles. While many players were excited for the pack and were eager to get their hands on it, the actual release was met with less than favorable reception, as the multiplayer component was riddled with bugs and non-technical issues.
Hopefully, 343 have learned their lesson about rushing their releases, and this has been their main motivation for the extensive testing of “Halo 5”. And if their plans go through smoothly, the new game should be a fantastic release – if it doesn’t suffer from any technical issues, it seems to already have the complete formula for a fantastic experience, both for old fans of the series as well as newcomers who love shooters in general.
There has been a lot of talk about the game and the changes it’s seen to its formula, and so far it seems that 343 are trying to really make things more exciting by introducing various new gameplay elements, and tweaking old ones to a state of even further perfection compared to the last games.