Halo 5 Beta Impressions

On Dec. 29, 343 Industries released the Halo 5 beta to everyone that owned The Master Chief Collection (MCC). After Halo 4's lackluster multiplayer and MCC's disastrous launch, how does the beta stack up to where the Halo series is going?

When it was announced Sprint and Thruster packs would be available to every Spartan, many Halo fans and veterans, such as myself, were a little skeptical about the whole thing. The reason many of us didn't like Halo 4 was because it was extremely fast paced. Also Halo 4 introduced loadouts, where you got to pick own primary weapon and secondary weapon and grenade. It didn't work, players were able to get advantages over the other right at the start if they made the right loadout.

Now with Halo 5, I have to say I am extremely impressed and pleased so far with the current direction 343 is taking the series.

Sprint now acts as a double edged sword, sure you can traverse across the map quicker and even run away from the losing end of a firefight. However, those damaged shields and that low health, won't recharge until you stop and you can run into another enemy while trying to find cover. It gives a nice strategic element with Sprint, do I go down guns blazing, or risk retreating to fight another day and possibly give someone an easy kill?

One cool thing I find really awesome with Sprint is the Spartan Charge, say you're on one side of the map and everyone is at another side. You can Sprint all the way over there and Charge into an enemy taking out their shields. If they're shields are already down then you can get a kill. It makes for an awesome ability to make a grand entrance/surprise attack.

Thrusters Packs also make battles very interesting, you can easily dash from harms way or around your enemy to disorient them to give yourself the upper hand.

As far as map dynamics go, I am falling to the preference of week 2 as there are more twist and turns as well as cover points, rather than the openness of week one. The loadouts so far, I'm preferring the Assault Rifle and pistol start rather than the Battle Rifle start. Simply because with the Battle Rifle start there is already an abundance of them on the maps so I don't feel the pressure on running low on ammo and getting ready to have to find a new gun or keep going on my spree. Plus with everyone starting out with one, ammo is a plenty with this rifle.

One of the new feature was the aim down sight (ADS) that was made famous by Call of Duty (COD). Let me be the first to tell you that while ADS is present in Halo 5, it's not required to use. In COD you need to use ADS for stability as well as accuracy. In Halo 5, you just need them for accuracy. It's the zoom in feature that has been in the series since Halo: Combat Evolved, just a new coat of paint.

It's unknown if Big Team Battle will be featured during the final week of the beta or not, but so far I am impressed with Halo 5 and if the beta is any indication on where the series is headed, then I have to say, it's awesome to finally feel like an enhanced super solider.

I now feel like a Spartan