Overall I am pretty down on the multiplayer of Halo 5. From structure to some mechanics I think its both better AND worse than Halo 4. The biggest upset is possibly Warzone, which I assumed would be a great new mode to play with friends...but its not (at least for me, and I'm sure plenty of people love it). I feel that even some core mechanics are tweaked, such a how many hits it takes to go down (which might explain why your KDR is never shown in the stats for this mode).

I find the card system to be absurd; its clear they took (heavy) inspiration from Titanfall's card system, but the thing they didn't seem to grasp was the card's in that game were meant to enhance things you already own or did. 343 decided they would gate off nearly every single weapon, loadout, and vehicle behind a card. Want to use ANY weapon besides the machine gun and pistol? Hope you got a bunch of card packs, otherwise you aren't. Heck, after opening over 15 card packs I still don't have a DMR, and several of those were gold packs.

Some things I like, such as the increased difficulty in the AI combatants (which there really aren't many of). I assumed there were gonna be quite a few AI enemies on the field, but there's not many in all honesty. Overall, I hope this mode is still "early access" and they plan on overhauling it, quickly. Otherwise I simply can't see myself sticking with this multiplayer even as long as I did with Halo 4 (which compared to every other Halo game wasn't long).

Also...why can you not vote on maps or mode...ever? This game makes me feel like an old man when I talk about it as its hard for me to praise much about it.

I'm with ya man, I sorely miss Big Team Battle - it's always been my go-to for what Halo's online 'is', and I'm looking forward to them patching it back in.

The card thing just feels strange, mainly because of the real world cash tie-in. Like I get the respawn screen, pick a card, get shot and it's wasted for good. Couple that with Battlefield-levels of "run all the way from spawn to your objective", only to get shot again, and I find myself running around aimlessly than getting stuck into anything meaningful.

I've been playing Arena Slayer and Free-for-All more because it scratches the Halo itch more directly, but yeah Warzone is a cool new addition in theory, but in practice having so much of the experience reliant on card packs feels... off. To me anyway!

@shalashaskauk666: I thought it was a great system in the Mass Effect 3 multiplayer, but I always felt I had enough to never buy anything. In Halo 5 I feel, if you want to play Warzone, its necessary to buy packs if you want anything.

I'm not the biggest fan of Warzone either. It feels like it's close to being great, but doesn't quite get there. I'm not sure why. Agree on the cards being a poor system as well.

Arena is fantastic though. It's the best halo has been since 3 I think. I hope forge and big team get here soon for the cherry on top.

I'm actually enjoying it so far but I've only played 3 or 4 matches and I have more weapons than I know what to do with.
I've spawned in a ghost twice but have been mostly busy defending bases or chasing down AI for points.
I'm sure 343 will be watching and listening to make any changes to improve the mode as well as adding maps in the future.
I'd be shocked if they don't at some point add in big team battle as well.
Other than warzone I've played a few SWAT rounds but trying to finish the campaign in co-op for the most part.
I like the cards and will never spend real money to get more, pretty easy to save up for silver packs at least.
Garden Warfare was the first game that came to mind as far as the cards go which I've got nothing against, more exciting than weapon spawns for me.

I played one Warzone game and that's probably the only time I'll ever play it.

Haven't looked at it much, but can't you still just play team slayer and normal slayer with everything just sitting on the map?

Why would I ever play Warzone, what's the benefit of it?

@jesus_phish:

Why would I ever play Warzone, what's the benefit of it?

Why would you ever play any video game as there are few to no benefits.

That doesn't really help answer anything I asked.

Why would I play Warzone mode over Arena mode? Is there a mode in Halo that's just traditional Halo MP, everything on the map that's intended to be on the map etc.

I could see this mode be annoying with the card aspect. I have seen people comparing this to what Star Wars is doing but that game did not seem as limiting as what this has, having played the beta and not Halo 5 yet. To me it looks like they were going for a little more scale but I think preventing players from using cool vehicles in a mode like that seems strange. In Battlefront that power up stuff may feel a little wonky but hey you get in a cool vehicle in like 5 seconds and you can have fun.

Although, how is the other multiplayer? If you just avoid this mode maybe you'll be good. Maybe they will adjust it. Some games do cards like this and not have it be annoying so they can maybe listen to feedback.

Warzone card stuff has turned me off ever playing Halo 5 MP, just as "Fight Money" will turn me off ever getting Street Fighter 5.

I'd like to play the games themselves without stupid meta-games where i have to manage random resources, and while i will and cannot ignore all games with meta-currency and/or random unlock schemes, those who have are immediately soured for me and as such can easily fall under my personal "will not even bother" threshold.

Because you might enjoy it.

You can ignore ALL of the unlock stuff and just play the game. I'm doing it I prefer infantry combat over vehicles. I sell all my REQ for the hopes of cosmetic items. Ya sometimes I can get killed by a tank or someone with a rocket launcher but I always played Halo not using vehicles and using the more conventional human weapons and have always kept a good KDR and had fun. You can always play Arena and not have any of it.

@jesus_phish: Sorry, with the wording you it seemed you were asking it rhetorically. I would say that, if it worked, I would play it because it offered something different. Even if only as a palette cleanser, it could have been an evolution of the Big Team Battle concept. All it feels like now is an unbalanced mess.

I'm not a huge fan of the regular mp right now because of the lack of modes and ability to vote of maps and subtypes.

Hmm, I actually had the opposite experience. I really enjoy warzone. I like that it's a lot more random than arena modes. "Oh that guy has a sniper" is no longer me yelling it in frustration because someone got it first. It becomes surprising and I have to tactically plan to take him out. I also like the AI dudes that you have to kill. As for the shots to kill, if that is true, I haven't noticed it yet. It's still a 4 shot with the BR and a 3 shot with the pistol as far as I can tell. Another thing I like is that you spawn with BRs. 5+ halo games later and they haven't realized that we need to spawn with BRs to have a fair shot on spawn (in arena). Ridiculous.

Warzone is the sort of game mode that demos extremely well, but wears out its welcome by the time you've played each of the three maps. The AI spawns aren't random, they aren't dynamic, and they aren't purposeful beyond standing in place until a player can come by to pick them off. The Banshee Raiders literally just glide in lazy circles above one of the armories until it's brought down.

Conceptually, Warzone should be this super exciting hybrid of Reach's Invasion and Firefight modes. Instead, it plays like a hollow substitute for neither.

@antikythera said:

Or i could just play a game that does not even try to pull this shit.

I want to use fun weapons and vehicles if the game offers them, and i rather play not at all than with self-imposed restrictions and the game constantly reminding me how it does this thing i hate.

If you really really like Halo enough to pull up with that or even find some CCG esque enjoyment from the metagame, more power to you. There are franchises where i will bite my tongue when they get inevitably stained by these systems. But i rather say "fuck Halo" then put effort into enjoying what for me feels tainted.

I bought my Xbone last December in hopes of Halo 5 and MCC being good enough to hold me over. Now I'm considering selling my Xbone :|

But you realize Warzone is only one of the MP modes right? I'm not playing Warzone because it doesn't seem fun. I'm playing Arena.

I'm having a blast with Warzone. It's not for everyone. Luckily the other modes still exist...

The real problem is how thin on modes the Arena is. The new 1 life per round mode is even more fucked than Warzone because everyone starts with fucking SMGs and there's only 1 DMR/Battle Rifle on each side of the map so whoever gets it is guaranteed to get the highest score in the round. I have no idea how you release a Halo game without Oddball and KotH either.

I bought mine for MCC (whoops!) and now I'm holding off on 5 because I just don't know if I care anymore. Interesting you're not liking Warzone though, my friends love it and its the mode I was looking forward to.

Also, I thought it was a good thing they moved away from voting for maps? My die hard halo friends absolutely hated that, especially in MCC, because you always played the same maps. I can't really speak for myself on this one but again, interesting to hear a totally opposite opinion.

The cards have been a pointless addition but also have not felt particularly restrictive; between my complimentary pack and those I've earned by playing MP I have always had an appropriate option to resort to when I had the requisition to spare.

My problem is that every match of Warzone I've played (about 5) has been a complete snowball effect. There might be some period of impasse at the beginning of the game, but eventually the team that's getting more kills starts getting better and better weapons and the game gets less and less fun to play for the losing side as it progresses.

I tend to think that the solution to that isn't so much trying to rubber-band the balance as it is making it easier for a dominant team to win quickly and waste less of everyone's time playing out a foregone conclusion. On the other hand, they could make some counters to high req items more affordable, e.g. small vehicles and anti-armor weapons.

I'm turning into a real big fan of Warzone. It makes the traditional Big Team Battle formula feel more dynamic and the card system makes more invested in what's happening. It can really suck when you spawn a tank which then gets taken out in 10 seconds flat, but on the other end of the spectrum when you take out a vehicle or power weapon from the enemy team you get a nice feeling of accomplishment. I do wish that the AI spawns were dynamic and that they'd come out with more levels as soon as possible.

PS: I'm ashamed to admit that I used real money on a gold card pack. It was my first micro-transaction ever.

@frybird: Fight Money is not at all similar to this. Fight Money is like regular old in game currency that you use to buy stuff which has been in Fighting games for ages. It's not gating things in the way this sounds like it's gating off things in this mode.

Outsider here who hasn't played any Halo 5 (the first Halo since CE that I didn't get at launch *sad face*).

One mode that Bungie hyped and never fully supported was Firefight Versus in Halo: Reach. I loved the idea of having grunts and other minions at your side when attacking the opponents. I wouldn't call it MOBA-like but there was certainly aspects of it if you weren't the Spartans defending objectives. The things that sucked about it is that it was only 2v2 and the mode suffered from extreme latency making it unplayable when they tested it in matchmaking. I guess what I'm saying is Firefight VS sounded brilliant in concept but hollow in it's execution.

So, my question for those that have played enough of it to understand it: Is Warzone a much grander revision of this concept, mixed in with standard competitive MP? Is it more MOBA-like? Are there any real objectives like destroying the enemies core or controlling objectives to win the game? Or is Warzone just kind of like Titanfall where the AI is completely neutral and killing them gives your team points? How does one win in Warzone? What is it exactly?

The REQ Card system is shit. Gating match item behind cards that drop randomly in packs is absolute shit. The draw of Halo was always its balance and symmetry and this mode destroys it. Warzone could have been cool.

@rotnac: You have to take over and hold bases on the map, once you have all of them the shields on the other teams core goes down. If you destroy it you win, regardless of how many points the other team has. If not it's first to 1000 points, which is done by killing the other team or AI.

The AI spawns can swing the score pretty hugely, but my biggest problem with them is that there isn't enough of them, and the exact same spawns happen in the exact same order. Some of the videos suggested that even if you're not good at killing human opponents there is something for you to do. In my experience all the AI does is give an opportunity for the other team to come in behind those distracted by the AI and get easy kills.

Yea, Im with you. Warzone has been a blast. I was in a map where the enemy team spawned 3 scorpions at once and I managed to jump on two of them and blow them up and when I jumped on the third I got killed but the guy got out and my teammate took his tank lol.

I think the arena mode is one of the most balanced arena style shooters in a long time. It has a really high skill ceiling that most games try to eliminate these days. It's all really competitive. But then again I'm a srs business try hard. Also maybe I'm old, I don't know. The kids these days are real into Call of Duty and Battlefield and the what nots. I'm having a blast. Warzone is a poofest I only queue for when all my friends are on at the same time.

@rotnac: I would say it feels very MOBA as far as the NPC spawns go. They are largely stationary, hit like trucks, and can score you some huge points for downing them. However, unlike most MOBA's, they are only good for raw points, no items or anything drop from them.

As far as control points go, they are largely used as strategic spawn points for players and vehicles. They contain a small amount of NPC's which can kill you if you're not paying attention, and make the battlefield feel more 'alive.'

I find it hard to believe you can run out of weapon cards with how often they drop.

Looking over other comments, I haven't experienced almost any of these problems

I'm loving warzone.

Yeah I have to say as someone who hates the charge system and random power up token shit of Battlefront looking at Halo 5's cards is a dark window into how much worse it can be.

same here and im constantly selling cards too. have never been close to running out. i still have about 20 incinerator cannons right now and 12 banshees

This sounds pretty cool, kind of like a mix of Firefight VS from Reach and Dominion in H4.

I would assume 343 could always eventually address the problems through a patch, if not then maybe when they add more Warzone maps that are designed in a way to address the issues people have?

Thanks!

Reading about these micro-transactions killed any desire i had to get an xbone and halo 5. Anything that gates actual gameplay (weapons,vehicles etc)elements behind a paywall is a no go for me.

@oursin_360: None of it is locked behind a paywall, you get in game points at a very fast rate which you use to get the same packs. Also this is a completely fine alternative to payed Map Pack DLC. Allowing people to buy extra packs if they want, and in exchange giving all users of Halo 5's multiplayer all maps that ever come out, seems like a win-win. I haven't spent a penny on the cards, and don't plan too, because it's not needed. You get enough for a gold pack after 3-4 warzone matches.

Warzone has been pretty fun so far. It would be more fun if you were rolling around in a big group of people you know, but even with one buddy, it's still pretty fun. Sometimes you get matches where none of your teammates understand objectives, and just turtle the first base, thus losing, but then you also get the super close, back and forth games, and the complete stomping games.

I wish it had one or two more maps, but it's not bad as it stands now. I don't even use my rare cards, I have more fun killing an enemy who used their rare weapon/vehicle card, then jacking said weapon/vehicle and wrecking havoc.

As always it's a balancing issue. I play a ton of NBA 2K and that game has basically every part of it's upgrade systems across all modes tied to a currency you can buy. However, the rate is almost always fine and personally it has not bothered me at all. Obviously you could see that being an issue but it hasn't because the balance works.

I get some people just are going to be negative on anything like this and I get where they're coming from. It has become a bummer to see it in all games virtually. And when that's what is causing issues in your AAA game you paid full price for I get why people get extra annoyed.

So I spent some time with War Zone yesterday. While I had some fun with it, I am not sure how much more time I will put into it.

There were some fun individual moments, but they were really disconnected from the meta game. I honestly was not in a close match in the couple hours I played. One team seemed to dominate the other, based on either skill or unbalanced team numbers. I did not ever really have a match where it came down to the wire or where I felt like there was one final desperate push. Once an enemy controls a majority of the base, I never felt like there was an opportunity for my team to rally and win. Again, not sure if that is a flaw in the design or in a flaw in matchmaking to balance the teams.

Overall the mode seems too dependent on getting a good group or a good balance. When you are talking a 24 player game that is difficult. Where a mode like Firefight had so much customizability I could always have a good time regardless of player count etc.

@oursin_360: you should probably never buy a Phone, PC, PS4 or Xbox One... they all have games with microtransaction. The Wii U is your only hope if microtransaction is the your defining factor of purchasing decision.

So I've played a lot more since I last posted in here and yeah, Warzone is extremely prone to snowballing. Probably a direct result of req card imbalance