For the first time in the history of the first-person shooter video game “Halo” franchise, the upcoming installment “Halo 5: Guardians” will not support local multiplayer or playing on the same gaming console and location. There is not going to be any local cooperative gameplay in the campaign once the video game is exclusively released to Xbox One on October 27.
Unlike in the previous iterations of the video game where split-screen multiplayer or LAN (local area network) play is supported, the only way that players can play “Halo 5: Guardians” in multiplayer mode is if their respective Xbox One are also connected to Xbox Live via Wi-Fi and they have their respective copies of the video game installed in their respective gaming consoles.
In a recent statement, Microsoft said that the decision to remove all split-screen modes in “Halo 5: Guardians” is meant to ensure that gamers get the best “Halo” experience thus far. The company went on to explain that the development team at 343 Industries felt that a split-screen experience would compromise the gameplay design and visual bar that they have painstakingly worked hard for to raise and set, details Digital Trends.
While the decision has the name of business written all over it, the logic of requiring every player to purchase the game so that they can enjoy it is anti-consumer and negates the value and excitement of gamers playing together in the same place.
Every video game in the “Halo” series since “Halo: Combat Evolved” in 2001 up to last year’s “Halo: The Master Chief Collection” has supported local, split-screen multiplayer that is why the decision to remove the feature from the upcoming “Halo 5: Guardians” is getting all kinds of negative flak from gamers directed both to Microsoft and 343 Industries.
Before the advent of Internet-connected gaming consoles, local multiplayer was a fact of life and it was actually instrumental in making the “Halo” gaming community one of the biggest there is. It has been sitting right at the center of mainstream gaming due largely to its local multiplayer mode. But with the decision to focus on graphics quality over an important gameplay feature, the developer has put to risk the game’s potentials to be an even bigger success than its predecessors.
Fans and gamers are now beginning to see the direction of game developers which is to phase out local multiplayer mode in their video games in favor of online play.
In exchange for giving up split-screen local multiplayer mode, 343 Industries assured that the game’s animation will be maintained at its remarkable rate of 60 frames per second.
Better audio too
In addition to superb visuals, the upcoming “Halo 5: Guardians” is expected to have great audio, particularly with its soundtrack.
According to Game Informer, the audio team of 343 Industries has put a great deal of efforts to ensuring that the soundtrack of “Halo 5: Guardians” would come out excellent. The team reportedly spent recording the series’ iconic Gregorian monk chants in one of the best known acoustic churches in Europe and also recorded the shots or real guns in order to give the intense battles in the game the perfect audio.
Sotaro Tojima, audio director, and Kazuma Jinnouchi, composer, have also made sure that they are able to balance and blend the classic Bungie music with new material as well as the other techniques in making the combat audio more immersive.
Cinematic moments
If the latest trailer of “Halo 5: Guardians,” is any indication, it seems that developer 343 Industries has given the game greater focus on cinematic moments, both for its single-player and multiplayer modes. Again, the multiplayer mode is online play and not local multiplayer through the traditional split-screen mode.
Such a tragedy. For me, the best part about halo was playing with friends (real life friends).
^Chris – Your reallife friends should be willing to buy it to play with you.
Best time for me is when me and my real life and online friends can enjoy our screens without losing real estate to our cheap friends who can’t afford a console.
Having run many computer gaming events, I can tell you that multiplayer play where everyone on your team is in the same location is simply awesome. General online play is good and while working as a team only requires comms. After the play is over, it’s great to break out the beer and chat/bitch about the game(s) just played. Can’t do that if each player is at their own home.