This isn’t to say that the campaign is bad though, because it absolutely isn’t. Yes, there are standout levels like The Covenant and Tsavo Highway that are excellent, but it’s the missions in between that I forgot were so straightforward and bland until this recent replay.
For all of the qualities of Halo 4 that I like, I wish it was a bit easier to get invested in.ĭespite being the game where Master Chief finishes the fight, Halo 3‘s campaign isn’t as great as I remember it. DualShockers‘ own Steven Santana wrote a piece for us a few months back talking about how Halo‘s storytelling felt better when it was smaller, and I totally agree with that. Still, I just find it hard to care about Master Chief’s current struggle with the Forerunners.
I’ve never read any of the novels, listened to spin-off podcasts, and honestly, I don’t care if that TV show ever gets up and running. Look, I’m not a big Halo narrative guy by any means. I think the only reason it didn’t end up going higher on this list is just because I really cannot get invested in the new direction that Halo 4 took the series’ story. Not only that, but all the new additions to the game in the way of new enemy types, new weapons, and new vehicles all felt great to me.
Like, seriously, before 343 really mixed up the franchise’s control scheme with Halo 5, 4 was the best installment in the series by far with the “classic” shooting stylings. For 343’s first outing, Halo 4 ended up boasting a tight, concise campaign that feels excellent to play. This one was actually really tough for me because largely, I think Halo 4‘s campaign is pretty darn good. If anything, I’m glad that Halo 5 at least prompted 343 to return to the drawing board and create an entirely new engine before continuing on with the development of the franchise. As such, Halo 5: Guardians easily stands as the worst in the series and makes me somewhat nervous about Infinite‘s prospects later this year. There are some redeeming aspects of Halo 5, but those mainly are present in the game’s multiplayer offering, which, as I said, isn’t being taken into account here. Plus, I cannot begin to express how lame it is to have to fight one boss nearly ten different times over the course of the game. Since the game is more focused on fighting as a team, 343 littered the environments with way more enemies than in past entries, leading to me and my companions being downed in this installment way more than any other Halo campaign. Then there’s also the fact that the squad-based gameplay that 343 tried to lean into with this entry just doesn’t work well at all.
Most notably to a lot of fans, myself included, playing as Locke and Osiris Team for 80% of the campaign isn’t as fun as it is to play as Master Chief. Instead, it’s a death by a thousand cuts situation. Overall, there isn’t one major thing I can point to in Halo 5 that makes it a lesser experience than every other entry.