I used to play every single day, until a bunch of stuff came out. I'd like to go back once I clean up the backlog, but there have been so many good games in 2016.
The multiplayer hasn't really held my interest for long ever since Halo 3 came out. Not because of the quality, but because I have less time to play games now and I want to mainly devote that time to new experiences. I've always spent most of my time Haloing with friends on split-screen campaign stuff. Since Halo 5 doesn't have split-screen, I've played more MCC than Halo 5 recently.
Halo 5 is the 9th most popular game on XBL before BF4 which has a concurrent population between 11k-48k. We also know Halo 5 MP Has The Best Player Retention Other Than Halo 3 from 5 months ago, Halo 4 after three months bottomed out at 20k which it stayed at for about a year.
Sure I play the multiplayer from time to time. Very solid, although I haven't touched Warzone or Breakout. What is Firefight and when is that update hitting?
Sure I play the multiplayer from time to time. Very solid, although I haven't touched Warzone or Breakout. What is Firefight and when is that update hitting?
Firefight is essentially Halo's spin on a cooperative "Horde" mode. A team of players take on waves of AI enemies on a multiplayer map, with each wave ascending in difficulty and reward.
Firefight was first introduced to the franchise in 2009's Halo 3: ODST. It ended up being a huge, huge hit, and returned with more robust features in 2010's Halo Reach. When Bungie-successor 343 Industries released Halo 4 in 2012, Firefight was dropped in favor of a narrative-focused cooperative mode called "Spartan Ops," which also allowed players to fight AI on discreet levels but featured neither the wealth of options nor the tactical freedom that made Firefight so fresh. Spartan Ops is widely considered a passable mode in a vacuum, but an uninspired and meager replacement for the fan-favorite gametype.
Having the mode return in Halo 5 is a welcome sign, really, because it began to feel as if 343 had taken a stubborn position against it. It wasn't included in the Master Chief Collection alongside the re-release of ODST (though Spartan Ops was). It's also kind of the perfect fit for Halo 5's REQ system, which allows players to "buy" better, more specialized versions of the game's standard weaponry--a balance nightmare for Halo 5's competitive modes but a fun and exciting variable against relentless AI mobs, vehicles, and bosses.
Awesome to see people still playing this. Is there a Spartan Company I can join? The Giant Beast one looks pretty dead.
It seems during the time that I've been gone, they've implemented a tab on your Friends List where you can see who in your company is online, and party up right from the game. Looks really slick, but my company has always been empty when I checked.
@shatteringlast: I'd be way into joining a Giant Bomb Spartan Company. I played a ton of Arena until the last update or so, when I think it got a little bit too "eSports" for my tastes? Firefight will probably bring me back to Halo 5 though, and it'd be cool to play it with GB people.
@shatteringlast: I'd be way into joining a Giant Bomb Spartan Company. I played a ton of Arena until the last update or so, when I think it got a little bit too "eSports" for my tastes? Firefight will probably bring me back to Halo 5 though, and it'd be cool to play it with GB people.
Maybe I'll see if I can't start another one up here. When I get home I'll make a new thread and have everyone post their GTs and I'll add them up.
Yes! Several weeks ago I started playing again for the first time since launch, now I'm hopping on 3-4 nights a week for a few matches. Played a lot of Warzone for the first week back or so, then got sick of the almost randomized last hit mechanic on the bosses. Switched to Warzone Assault now, I've been much happier with that mode. I'm down for Arena whenever a friend hops on, but the lack of any progression (RP rewards are crap) keeps me from playing too much on my own.
Irks me that most of the people who were so against the Req card system for using power weapons and vehicles (looking at you, Giant Bomb) never bothered to play long enough to realize that you get so many of those that they practically don't matter. Sure the system isn't perfect for unlocking things (Lv46, still waiting on that DMR...), but it has allowed the developers to support the game with free updates and maps very regularly (with the largest update being this Warzone Firefight update).
WZ Firefight is great! Played it all afternoon. I would be totally down to start/join a GB clan. Getting 8 people together to play would be a blast. The mode definitely isn't easy, you will lose matches, but it's also not overly difficult.
You also get a metric shit-ton of gold Req Packs for playing this mode. I don't know how long this will last, but I opened at least 15 tonight. Funnily enough, I got my first DMR in the first pack I opened upon booting the game up. After all those months of trying...
Spent a good 3 hours with Firefight tonight. It's absolutely fantastic. I was overlooking a hill watching a bunch of our vehicles roll towards a mass of enemies and it was everything I wanted out of this mode.
I played the Destiny beta and fought a large boss with a crew. This is like that, except far more open and exciting. It runs great, new maps look nice, the grunt mech is a bastard, and it's the most fun I've had with a Halo vs. AI since Reach.
@csl316: Yes! Rolling against a few mythic wardens or wraith bosses in an armored column of 4-5 scorpion tanks feels like what I've wanted from Halo all along, in terms of co-op gameplay.
I'm a bit concerned about the mode's legs, however. I'm still very much enjoying it, but the difficulty feels artificial a lot of the times (stupid amounts of enemies and enemies' health, objectives that are downright un-beatable at times). I could see it being fun if you try and keep the strategies you use to win fresh, but at the moment the only real strategy for the later objectives is to rush with high level vehicles. Because of how hard enemies hit, and how little you affect them, power weapons are really not useful a lot of the times. This is actually a big problem, as the level 5 bosses who spawn at the back of WZ bases are practically un-reachable with vehicles, so unless your team is with it and everyone grabs high-end power weapons at the same time, you are just not winning those matches.
I think with some big data on match outcomes that 343i will be able to balance it. And it is a ton of fun at the moment. However, right now I just don't see it as something I play multiple times a week after I've seen most of the scenarios enough.
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