343 Industries presents the first details of the Halo 5: Guardians Multiplayer Beta available in Halo: The Master Chief Collection. The beta will focus on 4 vs. 4 arena-style gameplay, giving players their first taste of the next generation of Halo multiplayer.
The Halo 5: Guardians Multiplayer Beta will have:
7 maps, one of them is Midship from Halo 2
3 Game types
4v4 Arena focus
No loadouts, “fair start”
7 armor sets
11 sandbox weapons
Energy Sword (seen on Midship map)
SMG
Assault Rifle
Battle Rifle
DMR
Rocket Launcher like weapon
Sniper
4 Unknown
Unlockable item(s) that will carry over to Halo 5: Guardians
Here are some Halo 5 Multiplayer Beta screenshots and concept art
Today during the Halo: Nightfall panel 343 Industries revealed that Jameson Locke, or Agent Locke, the star of Halo: Nightfall will also be playable in Halo 5: Guardians!
So it appears 343’s second Halo game is following a well-known pattern. Back in 2004 Halo 2 introduced us to the Arbiter and made him a playable character with his own campaign missions that intertwined with the Master Chief.
At today’s panel it was also revealed that the Halo: Nightfall digital series is set on a broken piece of the first Halo ring from Halo CE. Frank O’Connor stated that [Nightfall] is the story of Locke growing into a Spartan. Locke’s story is “a superhero origin story” that’s more closely integrated to Halo 5: Guardians than Forward Unto Dawn was with Halo 4.
The question if Agent Locke was a friend or foe to the Master Chief was dodged but Frank O’Connor stated that next year (2015) at San Diego Comic Con they will answer that question.
More details will continue to be announced throughout SDCC so be sure to comeback!
Halo: Nightfall introduces a pivotal new character, Jameson Locke, a legendary manhunter and agent with the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI), Earth’s most powerful and secretive military branch. When he and his team are caught in a horrific biological attack, they unravel a plot that draws them to an ancient, hellish artifact, where they will be forced to fight for their survival, question everything, and ultimately choose between their loyalties and their lives.
Taking place between the events of Halo 4 and Halo 5: Guardians, Halo: Nightfall is Locke’s origin story which will lend insight and understanding into the character he becomes in Halo 5: Guardians.
Halo: Nightfall is Ridley Scott’s a live-action Halo series. Halo Nightfall will reveal Agent Locke’s origin story and will connect the stories of Halo 4 leading us right to Halo 5: Guardians. The digital series will have 5 episodes and will release alongside the release of Halo: The Master Chief Collection on November 11th 2014.
Halo 5: Guardians will feature a new Spartan character, called Agent Locke. First introduced when the official title was revealed and thanks to E3 we know this character’s name.
According to Bonnie Ross, Agent Locke plays a “key role” in Halo 5 Guardians. But before Halo 5 we will get to learn about Agent Locke’s backstory and origin story through the live-action digital series Halo Nightfall – which is NOT to be confused with Stephen Spielberg’s Halo the Television Series.
Halo Nightfall is being produced by Ridley Scott – known for Blade Runner, Alien, and Prometheus – and the series will be directed by Sergio Mimica-Gezzan – known for Battlestar Galactica and Heroes.
According to HaloWaypont in the series “A strange and treacherous world exposes elite UNSC operatives to a much deeper danger”
Bonnie Ross said that “You don’t have to watch this, but knowing this will kind of tee you up for all the new things that are going on in Halo 5: Guardians.” Nightfall will connect the stories of Halo 4 and Halo 5: Guardians and will have narrative connections to Halo: The Television Series.
Bonnie Ross informed us that Locke will be prominent in both Halo: Nightfall and Halo 5: Guardians but it is still Master Chief’s show and story. She went on to say that the Master Chief”… is human, he’s always been human, but at the end of Halo 4 he really is reflecting on who he is and why he exists. That was very deliberate because the story we want to tell on Xbox One really is an important part and the main part of his hero’s journey. It’s more about what he’s searching for versus what the UNSC is asking him to do.
Nightfall won’t be the only part of The Master Chief Collection that drops Halo 5 hints. The terminals in Halo 2 Anniversary tease the story of Halo 5, but this time from the perspective of The Arbiter. In one cinematic the Arbiter says: “How well do you know your friend, human? And what would you call me if you learned the truth of what I have done?” Also Blur Studio is producing an epilogue and prologue that will quote “leave you on the doorstep of Halo 5”.
At San Diego Comic Con this year 343 Industries will reveal more about how Halo Nightfall and Halo 5 Guardians will interact.
The goal is to align Steven Spielberg’s Halo Televisions Series with Halo 5: Guardians as this separate live-action series is planned to launch around the same time as Halo 5 – in fall 2015.
E3 is only a few days away. Here are my predictions for Halo at E3 2014: Halo 5 Guardians teaser, Halo TV series update, and the announcement of Halo 2 Anniversary or Halo: The Master Chief Collection. Share your thoughts!
Be sure to Subscribe and follow me on Twitter (@ChiefCanuck) so you don’t miss any Halo 5 news or Halo News from this years Xbox E3 conference.
Frank O’Connor and Rob Semsey have both shot down two of the more popular theories/speculations in relation to the unknown Spartan-like figure in the Halo 5: Guardians teaser image.
It’s not female and is not Cortana in any shape or form. So that leaves the question what is it? Could it be a playable character just like the introduction of the Arbiter in Halo 2. Or could it be an enemy? Leave your thoughts!
Update: Josh Holmes makes it even more apparent this is a new character and a male!
Brand new Halo 5: Guardians Concept Art was posted by Frank O’Connor over on Halo Waypoint where also lists a few of his thoughts on the news Bonnie Ross announced today… which was Halo 5: Guardians. Click here for that article.
And with 23 days till E3 2014 we finally have a name. Halo 5: Guardians. Bonnie Ross, 343 Industries Studio Head has announced that the game formerly known as “Halo on Xbox One” is in fact Halo 5: Guardians. All of this at an ungodly hour in the morning… for North America at least.
Bonnie Ross wrote,
Making a “Halo” game that runs at 60 frames per second, on dedicated servers, with the scope, features and scale we’ve been dreaming of for more than a decade, is non-trivial. It’s a task that we, at 343 Industries, are taking very seriously to ensure we deliver the “Halo” game that fans deserve, and a game that is built from the ground up for Xbox One.
Halo 5 Gaurdians is the next installment in the legendary saga of the Master Chief. In the tradition of every “Halo” game since its debut in 2001, it is a massive and exciting project.
Halo 5: Guardians” is a bigger effort than “Halo 4.” That applies to the content and scope of the game, as well as the technology in what’s now a brand new and more powerful engine. Certainly there are some core elements carried over from prior games, but we’ve invested a huge effort in retooling our tech to take full advantage of the Xbox One’s hardware and ecosystem to create worlds and experiences worthy of next-gen.
It’s a game that will hopefully demonstrate the talent, learnings and abilities of the 343 Industries team. A game that will incorporate the things we learned from “Halo 4” about technology, aesthetics, performance and scale – and perhaps more importantly, understanding and embracing a community of gamers who love what lies at the heart of this game, and the limitless potential of the “Halo” universe.
And 2015 won’t simply be the year of “Halo 5: Guardians,” it will also be a year that offers us a unique opportunity. The opportunity to invite old friends and new audiences into that universe through the “Halo” television series, launched as a unique collaboration with Steven Spielberg and some of the finest creative minds in the business. A series that will stand alone, as well as complement and enrich the game experience. We’ll have more to share on the “Halo” television series as we near its projected fall 2015 release
To clarify, Halo 5 Guardians will be released in fall 2015 as well as Halo Television Series by Spielberg. Leaving people to question, is the highly rumored Halo 2 Anniversary still on the table for this year 2014? 2014 marks the 10 year Anniversary for Halo 2. And a popular NeoGaf leaker stated that Halo 5 would come out in 2015, another Halo Live Action series would exist aside from Spielberg’s series (Ridley’s Scotts project), and many non-Halo leaks have turned out to be true. Could we see a Halo 2 Anniversary with a Halo 5: Guardians Beta? Only time will tell…
Your Journey Begins in 2014
Many fans noted that I was very deliberate with my phrasing on stage at E3 last year. I spoke about a “journey,” rather than a destination – and that journey definitely begins in 2014 with a giant leap, rather than one small step. We’ll give you much more information about our plans for this year at the Xbox E3 2014 Media Briefing on June 9, and we’re confident that “Halo” fans will be pretty excited about the special plans we have in store.
So until E3, I’d like to express my gratitude to our massive and varied Halo community, whose energy, enthusiasm, criticism and kindness are the driving force behind what we do and what we hope to achieve in “Halo 5: Guardians.”
Chief Canuck - Video Game News 