Hey duders, just got my copy this morning, downloading the patch now. Anything you guys or gals want to know just hit me up. Obviously won't post any spoilers in this thread. Going to marathon through the campaign first and will update with my thoughts.

@vahidshafei: I like Halo. Is this worth buying an Xbox for. (Feel free to get back to me on that one after you've beaten the campaign!)

How large is "the patch"?

@rethla: I pre-loaded the digital version a while ago and it pulled down a 7GB patch last night. Not sure if the retail version will require a larger patch or not.

@rethla: I also got the game today. It's 9 gigs.

Just a heads up. You have to play offline. If you're online it won't let you do anything from the title screen and give you an error.

I also got mine today.

How neato is that DIY guardian thing from the physical release?

So it doesn't play? that sucks. A friend of mine begged two copies out of a store clerk so we could play tomorrow:///

@kubertus: It does but you won't be able to play online and there is no local play.

Having to wait till Tuesday to play sucks one of the few times I am ready for the weekend to be over.

@alistercat: @vahidshafei: @bollard:I too would like to know if its Xbox One pickup worthy as there are probably enough games know that I'd seriously consider trying to get one this holiday season. Essentially is Halo good enough that I should get an XB1 now rather than say Christmas time.

@freezyfrog: I played about 5 minutes of it and based on the quicklook it's as fun to play as it looks. Unless the missions diverge drastically it feels and plays like a Halo. Maybe even more than 4 did. Wait for Jeff's review, which I'm guessing will hit Tuesday. I bought my Xbox One for Sunset Overdrive so this is just a bonus.

@alistercat: How is it as that too was on my XB1 hit list?

@freezyfrog: I absolutely loved Sunset Overdrive. The tone and aesthetics went a long way for me, but rub some people the wrong way. Not me. I expected there to be a PC port on the way, since it's been 1 year since release.

Yeah, I got, and finished the campaign just now.

I can't be bothered making a thread so I'll dump some thoughts here.

I think it's the best playing game in the series, the added mobility paired with the pretty big environments with tons of branching paths is excellent. I also like that there's an insane amount of enemies coming at you during most of the firefights. I assume this is because of your team(they can be morons)

The music and the sound effects are so damn good, along with most of the voice acting.

So... I think it's an exciting campaign for the most part. Locke is even less of a character than Master Chief.. he's ultra boring and completely humourless.Your team add most of the character, although not that much to be honest. Very minor spoilers You play as Locke for most of the game, Master Chief seems like a secondary character, and all of the advertising is kinda misleading.

I absolutely HATE the big thing that happens in the last quarter. It's really stupid, and paired with the ending kinda soured a bit of my enjoyment. I know it's setting up things to come, but it's pretty bad. I'm sure a bunch of people will like it though.

@gunstarred: As someone that doesn't own an XB1 and probably won't own one unless they do some great Christmas bundles, your remark about the end has me intrigued - would you mind saying what the end is in either spoilers or a PM as I'm super curious now.

@gunstarred: I total agree with you it plays great, but i didn't like the available controller layouts coudn't find one that really suited me, so i stuck to the default, but kept crouching instead of punching:-) I also agree about the rest. What pissed me off most of all was that (ENDING SPOILERS) there was no post credit scene, althoug i just finisched it on heroic so maybe there is something on legendary. Also no final warthog mission? wtf?

@vahidshafei: Is the Arbiter still awesome?

I know the answer but still thought I'd ask.

Is there a Halo?

Sorry for taking so long to get back to you guys, played through the campaign twice now!

The campaign brings the mystery back to the halo universe which I really appreciated, though not in the way the advertising campaign indicated, which is a little misleading. Its also the first look at the universe close up since the end of the covenant war, seeing humanity rebuild, and the covenant in civil war. A lot of time is spent on sangelios and a lot of effort is put into humanising them which was quit interesting. A lot of familiar faces turn up, particularly for those engrossed in the expanded universe, so if you are not familiar with the story and characters of the previous games, you may feel a little lost at first until the blanks are slowly filled in during the course of the story. The new Spartan team are actually quit interesting, Locke was kind of a bad ass (even if Nightfall ruined him for me), and lots of light hearted banter compared to the more stoic Blue team.

The Promethians have been heavily reworked and the new soldier was great to fight with its rapid teleportations. The Knights are absolute tanks, and I actually recommend playing on heroic for the first play through as it makes each encounter with these guys awesome. Their weapons now as well function completely differently and really stand out on their own, the new magnum as well is great, though the assault rifle felt pretty useless to me. Your Spartan team can be quite helpful when you get them to pick up some heavy weapons and pick targets for them, but there is only one button to control them which can make it really finicky, especially for vehicles. The best part is unless you are completely vaporised they can get you back in the fight when downed for a limited period which keeps the action flowing.

With the new Spartan abilities there is a new focus on 1st person platforming which as occasionally tricky but mostly well handled. There are also a lot more non combat exploration moments, which sometimes cover an entire level! To counter that the action moments are a lot more intense, and the set pieces are at a new level to anything that has happened before. One scene particular stands out for doing something with physics which I won't spoil for you.

The gameplay and mission design are the best in the series so far, and were a real joy to experience. The story I am somewhat mixed on. Whilst the central mystery is resolved, this feels more like a new beginning, a primer a to jump onto for the conflict to come, thus it feels a little unsatisfying, similar to the ending of Halo 2. As you discover the villain of this piece, it feels like it cheapens emotional moments and conclusions of the previous game which does not sit easy with me...

@bollard@freezyfrog I cant say whether you should buy a console just for this, I did, but that's a value judgement for you to make. What I will say is try and play it some way another soon because expect it to be spoiled to all hell very quickly!

@kubertus There is one for legendary: Cortana takes control of a Halo. They had to fit one in their somewhere, it is the name after all!

Anything else you guys want to know just tag me in a post

Now if you will excuse me gentlemen, I have some Warzone to play :)

@kubertus: @gunstarred: but is it as bad as the end of Halo 2?

Also I'm curious if you'll still be required to download the stupid huge patch if you're downloading the digital version a month from now like I am.

I never played Halo 2 at the time of release, so it wasn't that big a deal for me, but I'd say this is almost as annoying. You probably won't need a brand new console to play the follow up though.

I bought the disc and I played it offline because I kept getting an error message when I tried to sign into live. So, I dunno.

@gunstarred: That's a bummer. Not sure how I feel about 343 making this Trilogy follow closely in parts with the last one like with the switching back and forth between characters and now the cliffhanger ending...ah well

@vahidshafei: To get the legendary ending, can I just play from the last checkpoint on legendary like in previous games to get it? Or do I need to play the entire final chapter on legendary?

@vahidshafei: How would you compare this to Halo 4? Is the style similar in context of missions, dialogue, and story?

You said it feels like a beginning chapter, so is it the beginning like Halo 1 was a beginning: mysterious and strange, leaving you with interesting questions (not about loose ends)? Or is it more like a break in the series that tries to clean things up and set a new goal going forward?

@galmactual: It's a new beginning rather than a break, as really the central plot is discovering a new threat which only reveals itself fully and makes it move in the final cut scene and buggers everyone at once. There are interesting questions to speculate on like the nature of certain characters and "things", but no loose ends I don't feel.

In terms of comparison to Halo 4, the big difference are the non combat components where you investigate, and the squad mechanics and chat, rather then having a lady in your head.

@falconer not sure but if you just want to see it it'll probably be on YouTube already

@colourful_hippie: To be honest you don't do a great deal of switching, but you are so engrossed in what is going on you kind of forget about it until the switches happen. Also its no longer a trilogy, there will be multiple games following the "Forunner Saga". I imagine the next game will be about how to fight an enemy which seems invincible. I cant wait for you guys to play it so we can have a full spoiler discussion.