UPDATE: Microsoft has released the second live-action advertisement through the eyes of the Master Chief.

“You’ve completed your mission, Agent Locke. Mine is just beginning.”

If things weren’t any more cryptic or mysterious, it looks like both of the trailers are an endgame scenario that might hint at alternate endings for Halo 5.

Original story is as follows.

In an advertisement during tonight’s episode of The Walking Dead, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) has announced the Halo 5 release date for October 27, 2015 exclusively for the Xbox One.

Microsoft will be publishing two different live action trailers, one in the perspective of Agent Locke, and the other through the eyes of Master Chief. The footage is part of Halo 5‘s #HuntTheTruth Twitter campaign and showcases plot points from the game’s storyline.

You have only seen 1 of 2 @Halo 5 ads tonight, stay tuned….

— Aaron Greenberg (@aarongreenberg) March 30, 2015

The first trailer release was from the point of view of Agent Locke, the ONI Spartan operative charged with finding Master Chief. Spartan 117’s trailer will be released later tonight, and we’ll be sure to update the post when it goes live.

Locke’s ad is a rather tantalizing live-action trailer that features the ONI agent menacingly chiding a disheveled Master Chief, who sits broken among disastrous ruins. This isn’t a side of the Chief we’ve ever seen before, and it’s strange to see him sit and accept his fate like this.

Locke appears to be sentencing Spartan 117 as a traitor, repeatedly referring to him as a betrayer, revealing key tidbits about the plot to Halo 5: Guardians.

“All hail the conquering hero, the one who was supposed to save us all. But now I must save us, from you.”

The Halo 5 #HuntTheTruth ARG campaign has also received a new update, chronicling another chapter of UNSC war journalist Benjamin Giraud’s investigation into the truth behind the nebulous Master Chief.

It’ll be interesting to see what other details are unearthed in the ARG campaign, and what actually happened to Master Chief’s stalwart resolve.

On a more humorous note, industry veteran Wario64 noticed that 343i actually “revealed” Halo 5‘s launch date during the game’s beta test. The beta was 10.27GB, which matches up with newly revealed release date.

Halo 5 release date was revealed months ago in beta download size. pic.twitter.com/PfdSkpChF7

— Wario64 (@Wario64) March 30, 2015

Halo 5: Guardians is scheduled to release on October 27, 2015 exclusively for the Xbox One.

The post Halo 5 Release Date Is October 27, 2015 on Xbox One appeared first on VR World.

A new trailer for Halo Online gives us a brief look at the game’s built-in microtransactions, revealing an extensive pay-to-win style structure.

While the footage for 343 Industries’ brand new free-to-play PC shooter does indeed look pretty, it showcases something quite troubling that manifests as a cheap cash grab. Halo Online pay to win microtransactions are a thing, and its something I predicted in my recent editorial.

Halo Online is set up like Halo: Reach, where you earn credits from matches to spend on armor permutations and such.

But in the Russian PC shooter, players will get to customize every little thing about their Spartan: weapon loadouts, armor sets, and even equip a number of extra attachments to make your weapons stronger.

Check the upper right hand corner to see the Gold and Silver currency, and it looks like all the armor will be priced in different tiers in terms of its effectiveness in battle.

And you’ll have to pay for every little bit of it–every scope augmentation, every armor set, every little change to your Spartan will be monetized. The real balance is how much silver you can earn per match, and if that’s handled just right, the skewed ratio won’t be so bad.

But if you earn hardly any silver? You’ll be pushed and pushed to just snag the gear for cash. Plus the game has weapon rentals.

That’s right, you can rent your weapons for 30 minutes, 6 hours, or 24 hour periods.

Anyway, let’s take a look at the microtransactions and their rates.

It looks like Halo Online will have Silver, which can be earned by free players, and Gold, which is the game’s premium currency. Some of the ratios are pretty exorbitant, sometimes ranging to 50,000Silver to 50 Gold.

The trailer didn’t show us how much the premium currency will cost, but it’s a bit unsettling to know that the game embraces such an obvious pay-to-win structure.

The main Spartan hub screen showcases a variety of different sections that act as their own different marketplaces:

• Bundles
• Weapons
• Tactical Packages
• Armory
• Restock

In the footage we only ever get to see the Weapons and Armory section. The Bundles section is probably straight-forward, having a variety of pre-sorted bundles that come with weapons, tactical packages, and armor sets.

Strangely enough you can rent weapons, as well as attach a number of different upgrades to them–all of which can be bought with premium Gold currency.

The Weapons section is a tailored marketplace for all the destructive weaponry in Halo, and to the game’s benefit, there is an amazing array of guns. There’s Primary and Secondary slots that include just about every gun in the franchise, along with a slew of different grenades

But you have the opportunity to pay cash for all of them, as well as a number of different accessories. You can, of course, earn them the hard way, but you’ll be grinding for quite some time I’m sure.

The Tactical Packages is a bit worrying, considering Halo 4 had a considerable RPG structure that let gamers customize their Spartan with a number of passive abilities.

Considering the game uses the Halo 3 engine, and we see instances of Bubble Shields and the like used in-game, this might be a marketplace for Halo 3 equipment (Rengerators, Bubble Shield, Trip Mines, etc) rather than actual Halo 4-style passives, but we really don’t know.

The Armory is where you buy your stylized armor. It looks like the armor will have passive bonuses like increased melee damage or boosted shield recovery, further incentivizing the pay-to-win structure.

Restock might be where you can buy grenades, ammo and such, but again we weren’t shown this screen so there’s no telling.

Halo Online has primary, secondary and grenade slots–all of which will probably cost silver or the premium gold currency.

So far this is like Halo from hell, where combat is just abysmally skewed towards players who are willing to shell out cash for victory.

This isn’t the Halo I grew up with. Although there’s a substantial RPG presence going on here, the whole game looks like it was optimized to get you to spend as much money as possible in order to win–a concept that should be abolished in any competitive PVP space.

The Halo Online beta is scheduled to start this Spring exclusively in Russia, but 343 Industries hasn’t ruled out an expansion across the globe.

So we might see this pay-to-win shooter make its way to North America and Europe, but at this point I’m glad it’s an overseas exclusive.

The post Halo Online Pay To Win Microtransactions Revealed appeared first on VR World.

UPDATE: A new trailer for the game has revealed a peek at the game’s microtransactions, confirming a shameless pay-to-win scheme.

In Halo Online Russian gamers will get the opportunity to pay for every little thing, including weapons, armor sets that give passive bonuses, Spartan passives, and even attachments that boost weapon damage.

Original story is as follows.

In a quite confusing move, 343 Industries has announced Halo Online, a brand new free-to-play game for PC.

Even more strange is the news that Halo Online free-to-play PC game will be tested exclusively in Russia via an upcoming closed beta test.

The game itself is built on Halo 3‘s engine and is a multiplayer-only PVP style game that plans to bring all the definitive FPS chaos to the PC world. The beta test is planned to start “this spring” in Russia, which means sometime soon.

Since it’s free-to-play it’s fair to assume microtransactions will be involved, and maybe a horrible pay-to-win style to boot.

Also there’s a chance Halo Online could come to other regions, although it won’t ever be released on Xbox One (of course not, you’ll have to shell out premium cash to play Halo in console form).

In the FAQ listed below, 343i doesn’t explicitly rule out a release in North America or Europe, but they’re more worried about learning what they can from Russian players before the game launches overseas.

Halo Online looks like it’ll have all of the PVP staples, but how many armor sets will be locked behind premium paywalls?

This is probably the worst time for 343i to take on a project like this.

Instead of focusing on fixing the Xbox One’s still-awkward Master Chief Collection or even wholly devoting the team to polishing up Halo 5 for its impending launch, they’ve decided to splinter precious resources to focus on a F2P Halo game.

I personally think this is an awful idea that could destroy the very soul of Halo itself.

Halo has always been a big win for the Xbox brand. Microsoft has made concessions by bringing the original Halo: Combat Evolved to PC, along with Halo 2 years later, but this kind of game isn’t Halo: it’s a bastardized attempt at a cheap cash grab.

Now if the microtransactions are entirely cosmetic, that won’t be so bad.

With a huge arsenal of armor permutations to choose from, we can see how this could work. But if the game starts charging premiums for skill sets straight out Reach, that’s when things get terrible.

343 Industries needs to be careful how they proceed here or they risk alienating themselves from the game’s fanbase–something they’ve accomplished with the abysmal Master Chief Collection launch.

No one likes microtransactions, especially the pay-to-win variety. Although it’s a lucrative structure for publishers it becomes a roadblock for gamers and locks off a portion of content behind paywalls.

And paywalls are eroding gaming.

Halo Online is tailor-made for Russian PC gamers, but we might see it cross over to other regions…which could be a good or bad thing.

That being said, 343i could take Halo Online in an interesting direction, maybe even making a distinct MMOFPS mashup. The Halo universe is so massive and full of wonder, splendor and depth, and it’s so much more than just competitive PVP multiplayer action.

Imagine a subscription-based MMO based in the Halo universe that has the depth of, say, Final Fantasy XIV? Imagine combining Halo Wars with the dynamism of the first-person shooter elements, along with a winding story arc.

There’s so much potential with a Halo Online game. But instead, it looks like 343 Industries want to go the cheap, easy way.

Below we have the Halo Online FAQ published on Halo Waypoint that might answer some questions you have.

Halo Online FAQ

Q: What type of game is Halo Online?

A: Halo Online is a free multiplayer-only PC experience that we’re launching as a closed beta test in Russia.

Q: Does Halo Online represent your future plans for the franchise on PC?

A: Halo Online is a learning opportunity for us as we explore ways to welcome new fans to the “Halo” universe. We’re excited to release a “Halo” multiplayer-only PC experience tailored for Russian gamers.

Q: When will Halo Online be available?

A: The closed beta period will begin in Russia later this spring. There is no definitive launch date at this time.

Q: Are you planning on bringing Halo Online to the Xbox One?

A: Halo Online was built from the ground up specifically for the PC. There are no plans to bring Halo Online to the Xbox One.

Q: Will gamers in other regions like North America and Europe be able to play Halo Online?

A: Right now our focus is on learning as much as we can from the closed beta period in Russia. Theoretically, any expansion outside of Russia would have to go through region-specific changes to address player expectations.

Q: Are you planning to officially launch this year?

A: There is no definitive launch date at this time as we proceed in our closed beta period in Russia.

The post The New Halo Online Free-To-Play PC Game Is A Bad Idea appeared first on VR World.

UPDATE: The Halo 5 teaser site has been updated and reveals more details on the countdown content.

Apparently the ARG is focused on a journalist/war photographer named Benjamin Giraud who’s investigating the Master Chief’s legacy.

The update consists of a new three-minute voice recording that chronicles Giraud’s encounter with John 117, and kicks off his investigation on the legendary hero.

Below we have a transcription of Giraud’s bio that gives a brief look at the ARG:

“For decades, I’ve served the galaxy as a journalist and war photographer. I’ve covered human-interest stories on Earth and in the Inner and Outer Colonies.

“I’ve also contracted for the government, covering military affairs. I was at New Mombasa when the Master Chief first appeared to combat the Covenant attack.”

The site should be updated in the coming weeks with fresh recordings. 

Original story is as follows.

Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) has launched a curious new teaser Tumblr post for 343i’s Halo 5: Guardians that prompts gamers to “hunt the truth”.

The page is accompanied by a 15-second teaser trailer that looks to be symbolic war propaganda from the UNSC (or possibly the Office of Naval Intelligence) that ultimately demonizes Master Chief, labeling him a “traitor” presumably after he went rogue as a result of the events of Halo 4.

The post also has a cryptic Twitter hastag entitled #HuntTheTruth, which has seen widespread coverage.

It’s been speculated that the page is kicking off a new viral marketing campaign for Halo 5 somewhat similar to Bungie’s infamous ilovebees AR campaign for Halo 2.

This time around it looks like the viral campaign will be focused in the perspective of the game’s interplanetary military force, possibly delving into the socio-political aftermath of Earth losing one of it’s most beloved heroes.

What’s even more curious is a timer that’s counting down for Sunday, March 22 at 9:00 pm EST (6:00 pm PST) when, presumably, the page will be updated with new info or possibly a new trailer.

In other Halo news, 343i executive producer Josh Holmes confirmed that Halo 5 will have dedicated servers for online multiplayer and custom games, and peer-to-peer network will be nixed.

Also Agent Locke’s voice-over artist and mo-cap actor Mike Colter revealed that Cortana might make an appearance in Halo 5, and that Locke will be returning in future Halo games.

We’ll be sure to report on any new developments once the #HuntTheTruth page is updated, and it’ll be interesting to see what 343i has up their sleeves this time around.

Halo 5: Guardians is slated to release later this year exclusively on the Xbox One.

The post UNSC Labels Master Chief A Traitor In New Halo 5 Teaser appeared first on VR World.

Spoiler Warning: Major plot spoilers for Halo 4 are included below. If you haven’t finished the game yet be sure to turn away!

It looks like Cortana will make an appearance in 343 Industries’ new continuation of the sci-fi franchise, Halo 5: Guardians.

Mike Colter, the actor that portrays one of the game’s principal protagonists Agent Locke, name-dropped the iconic AI in a recent interview with IGN.

Although the interview was primarily focused on Colter’s Spartan hero, he mentioned that Cortana will be “involved” in Halo 5 despite the events that unfolded in Master Chief’s previous adventure:

“When he goes into Halo 5, you’ll see him transition into a Spartan, a super soldier. It’s a prominent role within the game. Obviously Master Chief will be involved, Cortana, but Locke will be one of the playable characters in Halo 5.

Now that’s just a brief tiny snippet with no actual substantial info, just what looks like a confirmation that Cortana’s in the game. We don’t know in what capacity, though, and she could easily appear in a flashback sequence on Master Chief’s side.

What we do know, though, is that gamers will see plenty of Commander James Locke during Halo 5‘s multi-faceted campaign. Colter also affirms Locke is here to stay for the forseeable future, and will return in future Halo games as well.

“He’ll have a prominent role. He’s one of the new additions that will be featured throughout the next couple of video games So you’ll see a lot of Commander James Locke.”

That last bit is kind of tricky. Does this mean Locke will replace Master Chief? Can Spartan 117 ever be replaced? Also will Halo 5 be the first game we don’t play as John 117?

I personally don’t think so, and it just won’t be the same without MC at the helm. Then again the franchise has to move forward and our old luck-infused “demon” can’t live forever…and Locke might be the next to carry the Mantle of Responsibility as Halo‘s new flagship icon.

The Halo 5 multiplayer beta test was a rousing success, generating some impressive stats and arming 343 Industries with valuable data.

In other exciting Halo news, executive producer Josh Holmes revealed that Halo 5 will have dedicated servers for everything from online matchmaking to custom games. Holmes confirmed that 343i plans to do away with the peer-to-peer style networking, eliminating the dreaded “host advantage” scenario.

“We only have dedicated servers for MP in Halo 5: Guardians,” Holmes confirmed in a post on the Beyond Entertainment forums. “That’s true for matchmaking AND customs. There is no P2P.”

No one knows exactly what’s in store for Halo fans when Guardians releases exclusively on Xbox One later this year, but everyone’s excited.

The post Cortana Might Be In Halo 5 After All appeared first on VR World.

Although the Halo 5: Guardians beta is scheduled to go live tomorrow, Xbox One gamers are already able to start download process in preparation of the big event.

To get your installation underway just fire up the Halo: Master Chief Collection, navigate to the Extras section on the Main Menu, and select the Halo 5 Beta section. Since the beta download clocks in at 10.26 GB of data, it’s a good idea to let your console sit for a bit.

Just don’t get too excited when the download finishes, as 343 isn’t starting up the servers until tomorrow morning.

Remember to watch 343i’s live action Halo: Nightfall series to get in-game extras for the beta, including an exclusive armor set straight from the series.

If the episodes don’t grab your fancy, you can always fast-forward through and collect your unlockables. But you should watch them, and also check out the second stories, which add some very real depth to the franchise and give you key insights on Agent Locke’s character.

If you can’t watch Nightfall be sure to redeem the code included in the Master Chief Collection. If you’re digital, try backing out of the game a few times, resetting your console, or checking your e-mail inbox; chances are Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) e-mailed you a code.

Some gamers are also reporting that they’ve had to “force quit” out of the Master Chief Collection in order for the beta pane to pop up. Basically you’ll want to hit the Xbox button to return to the main console screen, hit the Guide button, and select quit.

A bit ago, Halo 5‘s Studio Head Josh Holmes informed eager Spartans that they’d be able to pre-download the beta to ensure smooth entry when the servers went live around 9AM PST on December 29.

If you weren’t able to get into the limited preview alpha reserved for Xbox Preview members, there are a few things you can do to prep for the beta. Be sure to become familiar with Halo 5‘s new Spartan abilities, and check out some gameplay footage to get the flow of battle.

Overall the beta looks like it incorporates a new arena-based style for competitive multiplayer, and coupled with the new abilities like Smart Scope, Sprint and Thrust, combat should be quite dynamic and interesting.

For in-depth discussions and questions, drop by the Halo Reddit, as you’ll likely meet a bunch of new like-minded players who are just as excited as you are to play the beta.

The Halo 5: Guardians beta kicks off tomorrow, Dec. 29 at 9AM PST and will last until Jan. 18, 2015.

The post Here's How To Download the Halo 5 Beta Right Now appeared first on VR World.

Halo 3: ODST is coming to Xbox One, and owners of the Halo: Master Chief Collection will get it for free when it launches.

343 Industries head Bonnie Ross recently personally apologized for the Master Chief Collection‘s, bug-ridden launch, promising to “make things right” with the fans. In a recent post on Halo Waypoint, Ross outlines just how the studio is going about earning back the community’s trust, and it involves giving the Halo community what it wants.

Owners of the original MCC who played the game from its original release date on Nov. 11 through Dec. 19 will get free access to Halo 3: ODST via digital download, Ross reveals.

ODST won’t be a separate game, but will actually be included as part of The Master Chief Collection, and will feature enhanced 1080p graphics at 60 fps. Development on the ODST campaign is already underway, according to 343i head Bonnie Ross.

Sadly it appears that only ODST‘s campaign will make an appearance. “We do not currently have plans to include Firefight,” 343 said in their new FAQ.

343 has been listening to community feedback, and the studio is tailoring their apology with some pretty hefty rewards in the tune of one of the franchise’s most unique games.

Below is a checklist of what you’ll get from 343 “as a token of appreciation and thanks”:

• New “Relic” Halo 2: Anniversary Multiplayer Map
• 1 Month of Xbox Live Gold
• Exclusive In-Game Nameplate
• Exclusive In-Game Avatar
• Free copy of Halo 3: ODST (when it launches in the future)

A new free map inspired by Halo 2’s “Relic” will also be given out, re-imagined in full HD graphics and 60FPS action.

For their troubles, MCC owners will also get a new Halo 2: Anniversary map based on the origial fan-favorite Relic. As with the rest of the game it’ll be in full 1080p at 60fps, and it’s well-suited for objective and slayer gametypes.

• “Relic” Halo 2: Anniversary Multiplayer Map – Available via a free content update to Halo: The Master Chief Collection, we will re-imagine the fan-favorite map “Relic,” fully remastered and running at 1080p resolution and 60fps. We chose this map based on its suitability for Slayer and Objective modes and its ability to support teams of varying sizes.

343 promises that Certain Affinity will “tweak and tune” the Relic map to make it “even better than you remember”.

No games with Firefight have been included in the MCC (yet), but with Halo 3: ODST on the horizon, hopefully we’ll get access to the cooperative mode.

For the meantime, Ross affirms that owners of the Master Chief Collection will get some extra goodies like a free month of Xbox LIVE Gold, and a few in-game items. These gifts should arrive as soon as “mid-January 2015″.

The studio founder goes on to thank Halo fans for their understanding and patience. She says that 343 is humbled, but thanks to the ardent support of the community, they’ve been able to pinpoint problems and execute fixes.

“This has been a humbling experience and highlighted how we as a studio can – and need – to do better for Xbox fans around the world.  We are so grateful to our fans who have stood by our side and we appreciate all of your patience as we worked through these issues.”

All 10 episodes of Spartan Ops will be live in the Master Chief Collection next week in a new update.

Ross also confirmed that all ten episodes of Halo 4‘s cooperative Spartan Ops playlist will be released next week via a new content update, along with a few main-game tweaks here and there.

With fifty missions across all ten episodes Spartan Ops is pretty sizable so get your HDD’s ready for some data-filling downloads.

Work has just begun on making The Master Chief Collection into a bona-fide tribute to the Halo franchise, but Ross affirms that 343 Industries won’t give up on the project.

“I assure you that the team will continue to work on additional content updates to further improve the all-up gameplay experience,

“The satisfaction and joy of our fans is absolutely critical to everyone at 343 Industries and we regret the issues and the frustration you have endured.  We are truly sorry and thank you for your continued patience and support of the Halo franchise.”

I sincerely hope Firefight will make its way into the mix, but it’s hard to say at this point. The announcement really does prove 343 Industries is serious about making things up, as ODST isn’t a small feat–the game itself is one of my favorites, and it’ll be great to revisit the hallowed streets of New Mombasa in all of their neo-noir glamor.

No official details on a release date have been announced, but we’ll be sure to update you when we get more information.

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Halo: Combat Evolved has been added to The Master Chief Collection‘s multiplayer lineup, 343 Industries has announced.

In a new post on Halo Waypoint, 343i reveals that the dedicated Halo: CE playlist has arrived on MCC‘s matchmaking lists.

The new mode includes a mix of slayer and objective gametypes, and contains almost every multiplayer map included in the original, with the exception of the excellent CTF map Blood Gulch.

Oddly enough the studio says the Halo: CE playlist is optimized for 2v2 action.

“We have updated the Matchmaking playlist lineup to include Halo: CE. The playlist is now available. As we mentioned before launch, the Halo: CE playlist will be premiering at 2v2 based on community feedback.”

The new playlist includes eight multiplayer maps from Halo: CE (sans Blood Gulch) and includes CTF, Oddball and Slayer gametypes.

But the in-game multiplayer pane for the new playlist says otherwise, listing the max player count at 8 with gametypes including Slayer, Capture The Flag, and Oddball.

Below we have a breakdown:

Halo: Combat Evolved Matchmaking Playlist

• Max Players: 8

• Minimum Player Count: 6

• Max Party Size: 4

• Max Local Players: 4

• Team Size: 4

343i originally held the playlist back until the Master Chief Collection could be amended with various updates. Since the game has been patched with a smattering of updates rolled out by the studio, 343i deemed it the right time to bring the classic fragfest action back into play.

The most recent content update was released just two days ago and in the patch notes the studio notes that hit-registration has been tweaked for Halo: Combat Evolved multiplayer.

Many gamers have noticed the awful hit-reg in the game, making it near-unplayable for some, so hopefully this new update rolled out some fixes to ensure the playlist is actually…you know, fun.

Other improvements include tidying up party management and joining (a considerably annoying roadblock that’s kept friends from playing together in both campaign and multiplayer), stability tweaks for campaign playlists, and an array of matchmaking changes.

Below we have a copy of the full patch notes for Tuesday’s Master Chief Collection update:

MATCHMAKING

• Made improvements to the reliability of Matchmaking parties.
• Local split-screen players will now always be on the same team in Halo 2 Matchmaking.
• Made an update to allow players to use Voice Chat during loading screens in Matchmaking.
• Made an update to ensure that players are not forced into an incorrect party after encountering an issue in Matchmaking.
• Resolved an issue where the “Winning Team Won” text was shown in the Carnage Report.

ROSTER

• Made fixes to reduce the amount of time it takes to update the Roster:
  • Players will now be discovered sooner after starting the game.
  • Changes to the roster will be more immediate to better reflect friend activity.

PARTIES

• Made several improvements to party joining and management.
• Resolved an issue where players that were in a party could not join another party from the Roster.
• Made changes to ensure that parties cannot exceed the maximum party size of a playlist.
• Made an update to ensure that Party Leaders can assign a new Party Leader or Kick a player from their party.

CUSTOM GAMES

• Made a change to ensure that teams selections are correctly carried over in Custom Games.
• Made an update to ensure that player settings do not revert to a previous state after completing a Halo 2 Anniversary Multiplayer match.
• Made an update to ensure that players do not disconnect  after completing a Custom Game.
• Resolved an issue in Custom Games where parties would disband if some players were playing in Split-Screen.
• Made a change to ensure that Halo 3 Custom Game variants display correct author information.

HALO: CE

• Made various changes and improvements to Halo: CE multiplayer hit registration.

ACHIEVEMENTS

• Made an update to ensure that the “Legend Slayer” achievement unlocks when prerequisites are met.
• The “Pacifist” Achievement will no longer be awarded for resuming “Assault on the Control Room”.

STABILITY IMPROVEMENTS

• Made a variety of stability improvements across the following areas:
  • Matchmaking
  • Custom Games
  • Campaign Playlists
  • Main Menu

CONTROL SCHEMES

• Updated the Halo 2 “Green Fingers” Button Layout.
• Updated the Halo 2 Anniversary Multiplayer Recon Button Layout.

MISC.

• Made improvements to stat-tracking.
• Improved language support for Norweigan, Spanish, German and Japanese.

*Note: The team is aware that “Legacy” controls are incorrectly functioning as “Default” in Halo 2: Anniversary and Halo 4, and are working to resolve this issue in an upcoming update. We will continue to work on additional content updates to further improve the game.

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Halo is more than just a game. Microsoft’s (NASDAQ: MSFT) flagship IP has spun an entire universe that’s resonant with sci-fi magic that’s also imbued with deep, sprawling lore. Bungie’s magnum opus birthed the era of first-person shooters on home consoles and gave rise to one of the most iconic heroes in existence, all while delivering unparalleled interstellar action.

Today Halo has expanded far past the medium of video games; there’s a veritable galaxy of books, comics, and even live-action series’ like Nightfall and Forward Unto Dawn–all of which tie together in a vast webwork of lore and events.

But 343 Industries wants to go far beyond the rim of the stars: they want to solidify a 30-year legacy for the indomitable shooter.

“It was crazy. It was the most challenging thing I’ve ever done,” 343 Industries studio head Bonnie Ross said in regards to taking over Bungie’s landmark shooter.

New Beginnings

In a recent interview with Bloomberg, 343 Industries head Bonnie Ross recounted her experiences building up the brand. In 2012, the Mantle of Responsibility of Halo was handed down from the precursors at Bungie to Microsoft’s newly-formed studio, 343 Industries.

Ross was at the helm from the start, and she wanted to do something new with Halo, to take it in a new direction.

343i’s new studio head wanted to make Halo more accessible and enjoyable for a widespread constituency, rather than cater to the traditional hyper-violent space-marine machismo fantasy.

“Our goal was to create a universe, a game, an environment that is appealing to a diverse audience,” she said during the interview. “[We want to make] characters that people can identify with, heroic males and heroic females.”

And this diversity wasn’t just in-game; it was in-house, too. Ross affirmed that women had a place in the franchise and at 343i.

“It’s really important for us to get young female talent, because they are the future,”  she said. “It’s important to have leadership roles across the industry that people can aspire to.”

As part of 343i’s new emphasis on diversity, women will play pivotal roles in the Halo universe going forward in order to make it more accessible.

This new plan–coupled with the rigors of taking over one of the most prominent and successful brand in the industry–wasn’t without it’s hardships.

“It was crazy,” Bonnie affirmed, “it was the most challenging thing I’ve ever done.”

Halo 4 was the fruit of 343i’s labor, and represented the new path the series would take. It featured lead female roles like Spartan Sarah Palmer, Dr. Catherine Halsey, the Forerunner Librarian and of course Cortana, who’s riveting performance sent eerie chills down my spine.

But they’re not done yet. Two years ago when they inherited the mantle of the rings, the studio exec wanted to take it far past the planned Reclaimer Trilogy: “I wanted to make sure we were able to go another three decades,” Ross said.

Halo 5: Guardians represents the latest chapter in 343i’s revitalized Reclaimer Saga, bringing a wealth of new multiplayer innovations while furthering the canon.

The Great Journey

Halo 5; Guardians marks the beginning of this 30 year journey, kicking off the Reclaimer Saga. 343i originally planned for a Reclaimer Trilogy penned for Halo 4-6, but now they’ve expanded and made plans for a sci-fi epic.

Halo 5 will feature a wealth of innovative features that pave the way for Halo‘s future. Although Master Chief and the mysterious ONI operative Agent Locke will be main characters, we’ll likely see strong female roles in the mix as well.

Multiplayer looks absolutely fantastic, introducing seven new player accessible Spartan abilities to freshen things up along with a slew of new maps and weapons. We’ll get our first taste of Halo 5‘s multiplayer when the beta launches on Dec. 29 to Jan. 18, 2015.

Bonnie Ross knows that Halo is more than a game, and the series will continue to thrive in all mediums: graphic novels, comics, television series, movies, etc. This is the key to Halo‘s longevity, and this is how it’ll last for 30 years more.

To further weave the story, 343i will bridge the gap between Halo 4 and its successor in inventive ways. The live-action Halo Nightfall series introduces and chronicles the exploits of Agent Locke, and the Halo: Escalation comic will help solidify the events between the two games.

Steven Spielberg’s 2015 Xbox-exclusive Halo television series will explore these avenues further, joining with all of the previous ties while introducing some new leads of its own.

Ross also wants to move past sequels and into intimate spin-off type stories and games. Bungie did the very same with Halo 3: ODST, expanding the canon while delivering engaging FPS combat in a shadowy neo-noir flavor.

Thanks to ODST we know this method works, and any Halo fan will tell you there are so many stories to tell; maybe we’ll get to play as a lone Grunt during the Unggoy Rebellion on High Charity, or see through the eyes of a Forerunner for the first time? So  many possibilities…

The Master Chief Collection was supposed to celebrate Halo. Instead it was a disaster and resembled the chaos that ensues when the Array ignites.

An Important Lesson

Despite all of these prestigious plans, the studio has suffered a pretty substantial hiccup. The Halo: Master Chief Collection launched on Xbox One last month to abysmal matchmaking bugs, glitch-riddled gameplay, and barely-working mechanics that put a serious dent on 343i’s progress.

In the wake of the troublesome launch, Bonnie Ross delivered a personal apology on behalf of 343i and declared the studio’s commitment to the brand. The broken game serves as a glaring reminder of what could have been, and it certainly has gamers thinking twice about going further into the Halo universee.

Over a month after it’s release, the Xbox One exclusive is just now starting to find its footing.

Gamers are able to find matches and try their hand at the classic FPS that built them all, but there are still major flaws and issues ranging from hit-detection, lag issues, uneven teams, no veto options, mic-chatting problems and many more. Campaign is even suffering, with poorly designed scoring systems, awkward vehicle changes, weapon adjustments, etc.

In its current state the game is fractured. The Master Chief Collection isn’t a worthy encyclopedia of Spartan-117’s glorious exploits; it’s a vague shadowy form that lacks definition.

Hopefully it’ll be fixed, but considering the Halo 5 beta is on its way–along with the actual game itself–we might only see a portion of its flaws fixed.

To infinity…

Forward Unto The Stars

It’ll be interesting to see what 343 Industries has in store for us over the next three decades of Halo, but the Master Chief Collection taught us an important lesson to tamper our expectations.

With just two years with Halo, 343 still has some pretty big shoes to fill, as evidenced by the sorely-lacking MCC.

But their hearts appear to be in the right place. Many gamers are distrusting and see the studio’s actions as meddling, and in some cases the new changes actually devolve the franchise. Even still 343 is in it for the long haul and they hold the keys to the future of the brand we know and love.

Ross has her eyes set in the stars–the very heart of Halo itself–and with more time and much more effort, we’ll be privy to a new age of sci-fi wonder the likes of which we’ve never seen.

Thanks, GameSpot.

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The upcoming beta for Halo 5: Guardians will weigh a little over 10GB, reports have indicated.

This news comes from a sharp-eyed Redditor with the handle AJSwain who spotted a listing for the beta on his Xbox One console.

Halo 5 isn’t listed anywhere on the Xbox One’s Xbox Games Store, and cursory searches just loop users to the Master Chief Collection store page. But other Reddit users have reported that they’ve accessed this very same listing via the Extras section in the Master Chief Collection.

Within this section the Halo 5 beta has its own tab, and oddly enough it has become briefly active for some users, although they weren’t able to download anything.

According to the screen-cap, the beta’s install size clocks in at approximately 10.27 GB. It’s also worth mentioning that this size could change in the coming weeks.

The listing says some interesting things, revealing that players will be able to unlock “exclusive gear” via the interactive original series Halo: Nightfall as well as in the recently released Halo: MCC.

“Gear up for the Guardians beta by unlocking exclusive content in The Master Chief Collection and Halo: Nightfall. These exclusive items will carry over to Halo 5: Guardians.“

Also the 12/4/2014 release date is a placeholder, as we all know the beta will launch on Dec. 29 and run until Jan. 18, 2015.

In other Halo 5 news, Ready Up Live has released a huge hour-long gameplay video that showcases the game’s dynamic multiplayer in action. The footage showcases the game’s new Spartan abilities like Charge, Clamber, Slide and Smart Scope while shedding light on weapons and maps.

You can read more about Halo 5‘s Spartan abilities here.

So far the Guardians beta looks impressive, but gamers are dubious thanks to the Master Chief Collection‘s continued struggle with matchmaking. 343i actually released a new update today that aims to refine online matches, but the game is far from fixed, and is missing many of its online gametypes.

343 Industries recently apologized for the state of the game, and they’ve launched a slew of updates to help refine the game’s broken state.

Hopefully the team is able to focus on both the beta test as well as the Master Chief Collection, as beta access was a major perk in buying the Xbox One exclusive.

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343 Industries studio head and founder Bonnie Ross has delivered an official apology for the problems surrounding the Halo: Master Chief Collection.

“With the initial release of Halo: The Master Chief Collection, however, we have not delivered the experience you deserve,” Ross said in a recent blog post on Halo Waypoint.

“I personally apologize for this on behalf of us all at 343 Industries. Our team is committed to working around the clock until these issues are resolved.”

Since it was launched two weeks ago this month, Master Chief’s return to his home console hasn’t been cause for much celebration. Rather than being a “tribute to Halo fans around the world” and earning triumphant fanfare, the game has become a testament to the current unfinished state of many next-gen games.

But Ross isn’t about to give up on Sierra 117, or the eager Spartans patiently waiting for some Halo 2 Team Deathmatch.

On behalf of 343 Industries, Ross makes a solid commitment to fix the game until it’s running smoothly for everyone. Then she even mentions an initiative to “make things right” with Halo fans.

“While our team works on continual improvements and towards solutions, my commitment to you is that we will take care of all owners of Halo: The Master Chief Collection. 

“Our primary and continued focus is first on fixing the issues at hand. Once we’ve done that, we will detail how we will make this right with our fans.

“Please accept my heartfelt apologies for the delay and for the negative aspects of your experience to date. We’re doing everything in our power to resolve it as quickly as possible.”

The Master Chief Collection has received a bounty of content updates, and 343i will undoubtedly unleash a volley of fixes and tweaks in the coming days and weeks.

But sometimes an update will cause more problems than it fixes–and as GameSpot reports, such was the case with last week’s major content update (CU).

Apparently the new fix introduces a few bugs in the user interface, which may affect in-game and post-game matchmaking.

“We realize that silence and opacity, even when we have nothing new to say, is frustrating. With each change and/or update we make, it takes time for us to capture and analyze the data to determine the tangible impact to the game experience,” 343i said.

Right now players can hop into the Halo 2: Anniversary Rumble playlist for some free-for-all action.

This playlist was introduced in light of the uneven team sizes in Team Deathmatch or objective-based matches (playing capture the flag with one man short isn’t so fun), and the Rumble playlist also gives 343i a way to test and monitor their fixes.

For news on tweaks and fixes for MCC, 343i delivers daily progress updates which can be found at http://aka.ms/mcc_updates.

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343 Industries is just as much aware of the new Halo ports’ abysmal matchmaking as gamers are, and they’re currently working on a fix.

Since its release last week, the Halo: Master Chief Collection has been plagued with uncompromisingly bad matchmaking, treating players to errors, bugs, uneven teams, incredibly long search times, and a retinue of other irksome roadblocks.

Luckily 343i is on the case. Dan Ayoub, Executive Producer for 343i, addressed the problems head-on and gave an update that players can expect the first batch of content fixes as early as Wednesday, November 19.

“Looking at our data logs, server-side adjustments that we have made over the past 24 hours have shown a 20% increase in server connectivity,” Ayoub said in a new Halo Waypoint post. “However, we are well aware that performance is not where it needs to be.”

But it won’t be as simple as few hotfixes; the dev team will need to roll out full game updates to root out the issues. Ayoub confirms that these updates are working, but they still need some time to refine and test out the changes.

“Resolving Matchmaking issues also requires client-side fixes, which require a content update.

“The client side update, which focuses on Matchmaking performance, non-matchmaking bugs, and a variety of title-specific issues, has been completed and is going through testing and certification.”

In its current state multiplayer is unplayable, and is a stain on Halo‘s stalwart PvP experience. Overall the game seems like it wasn’t extensively tested and rushed into stores, a trend we’ve been seeing too much of lately.

It’s interesting to wonder how optimized the Master Chief Collection might have been if they weren’t so deadset on Halo 5: Guardians. Furthermore with 343i having to pick up the slack for Halo: MCC, the impending Halo 5 beta might suffer as a result.

Hopefully 343i can get its affairs in order before Dec. 29 rolls around, as gamers have been looking forward to the Halo 5 beta for months now.

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With Halo 5: Guardians, 343 Industries aims to shake up the franchise’s classic FPS formula with a host of new Spartan abilities.

343i wants Halo 5 to be different. They want the highly anticipated continuation of Master Chief’s mysterious adventures to stand apart from the other Halo games.

Traditionally the series’ many entrants have done this by way of innovative new features–take ODST‘s VISR mode, or Reach‘s superpower-esque classes–that all push the bar and reinvent the battlefield as we know it.

Now the studio introduces seven new Spartan abilities such as sprinting, jump thrusts, ledge grapples and other features that really make players feel like a true super soldier.

“In typical Halo you have the already awesome [three-layered] sandbox of the weapon, the melee and the grenade,” 343i said in a new behind the scenes video for the Halo 5 beta. “We wanted to add the Spartan abilities in as a fourth layer [to the game].”

Halo 5‘s new abilities won’t be specific add-ons or perks you unlock via Call of Duty-style progression; 343i affirms that these are “baseline traits”, and that everyone has them from the start to ensure “equal footing”.

Below we have a list of Halo 5‘s new Spartan abilities and a breakdown of what they do:

• Thruster Pack - This is just like the exo thrust ability in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, allowing players to juke and boost in all directions. They can also be used in mid-air, and provide a speed boost while running.

• Ground Pound - Similar to the Fists of Havoc finisher for Destiny Titans, the ground pound can be executed while in mid-air to smash opponents and send a sort of shockwave around impact.

• Clamber - Ledges can now be seamlessly and fluidly grabbed onto, allowing you to save those perfect jumps. This also avoids embarrassing deaths caused by missing a jump.

• Slide - Used in tandem with Sprint, allows players to slide across the ground to reach cover or deliver killing blows while below headshot level.

• Charge - Also used in tandem with Sprint. When hitting terminal velocity, users can hit the melee button and launch a destructive blow against their foes, but it’s worth noting that only either Slide or Charge can be used when reaching required speed.

• Sprint - Get around quickly, but at a cost: shields don’t regenerate, and you can’t fire while you’re running.

• Smart Scope - Remember pressing the zoom button in Halo 2 when you had a SMG equipped, and the little binoculars-style scope helped you scout enemies? That’s essentially what Smart Scope is; it gives a scope to any weapon, especially those that don’t come with scopes by default, like the Assault Rifle. You can get knocked out of Smart Scope at any time by getting shot, and 343i affirms that hip-fire isn’t penalized in any way.

Honestly by the look and feel of these abilities in action, Halo 5 looks like it brings the most accurate and true realization of a Spartan in any Halo game. As someone who’s read the books and knows about a Spartan’s superhuman feats of derring-do and mayhem, these abilities are spot-on and truly bring a sense of awe and strength to the warrior.

Coupled with these new additions the fast-paced gameplay looks like a whole new breed of shooter altogether, affording gamers with a whole new level of strategic and tactical execution.

I personally hope that these new abilities prove to be beneficial to the series–they look absolutely amazing–and we’ll have to wait until the Halo 5: Guardians beta kicks off next month to find out for sure.

Halo 5‘s multiplayer beta test will run from Dec. 29  to Jan. 18, with owners of the newly released Halo: The Master Chief Collection guaranteed entry. Halo 5 itself is scheduled to release sometime in 2015 exclusively on the Xbox One.

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Let’s face it: Master Chief makes everything better. It’s no secret that Sierra 117 is one of the most iconic figures in gaming, and the larger-than-life Spartan remains the bannerman for Microsoft’s flagship Halo franchise. When we see his visage emblazoned on, say, a mobile mouse from Microsoft it’s not exactly a surprise–but to many of us it’s a welcomed addition.

Microsoft has introduced a special limited edition Halo-themed Mobile Mouse 3500 with the Master Chief fanatic in mind: featuring a stylized rendition of the stoic interstellar hero of yore, the mouse is a perfect fit for any Halo fan who needs to take their mouse-clicking on-the-go.

Matching the versatility and performance of the 3500 series, the Halo-themed mouse fits perfectly in your hand and can be used on virtually any surface thanks to its built-in BlueTrack technology.

While wireless, the mouse does have a tiny nano USB receiver which can be safely tucked away into the device for easy storage. Plus a single battery can last up to eight months of usage–maybe there’s some kind of Forerunner tech installed?

The limited edition Halo Wireless Mobile Mouse 3500 retails for $29.99 and is currently available for pre-order. The price tag might be a bit steep to some, but it’s limited edition, and that can be gold to collectors.

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