Review roundup: Halo 5: Guardians is (mostly) killing it in reviews

With Halo 5: Guardians releasing tomorrow, the reviews have begun pouring out from nearly every site. It looks as though Microsoft and 343 Industries was not only confident in their game, but wanted the community to be confident in their decision to purchase it.

Note: If you're purchasing the game, you might want to read up on a couple of things.

With so many reviews, it's easy to get a good idea of what the game excels in, lacks in and where the game fell off the horse.

According to reviews, the game's major drawbacks start with the campaign — it's too short and the game mechanics can be a bit repetitive. There are definitely some aspects of the game that some players will find disappointing, but over-all, it's OK.

Halo 5 shines the most in multiplayer, some reviewers have made the extremely bold statement that it might be the best example of multiplayer in the entire series. This shouldn't be a surprise though, 343 Industries put a lot of effort into that feature.

Shameless plug:

GameZone's Halo 5 campaign review:

Halo 5: Guardians’ story and structure will likely be divisive among fans of the franchise, but I absolutely loved it. It breathes new life into a franchise whose traditional structure was beginning to get stale. 343 Industries has made some bold changes to the franchise in attempt to evolve Halo into a more modern-feeling game, and most of these changes have been for the better so far.

Here are reviews from around the web:

Polygon

Halo 5 feels like it knows its obligations. The campaign's narrative is likely to prove controversial, though its biggest sin may be its familiarity. Otherwise, Halo 5 excels under the pressure, providing one of the most welcoming, competitive, balanced and fun games of the year — and providing my personal favorite Halo multiplayer since the series began.

9/10

US Gamer

As a package, Halo 5: Guardians is a very solid offering. While the campaign mode has its ups and downs – and to be blunt, doesn't take particularly long to complete – it's nevertheless enjoyable, even if it can get a little relentless and repetitive at times. But its highs definitely outweigh its lows, and if you play it on the more challenging levels – and especially if you play it in co-op mode – it's entertaining enough.

4/5

Escapist

Multiplayer is really where 343 needed to prove themselves and regain some of that goodwill from Halo fans, which is fortunate, because multiplayer is where Halo 5 shines brightest. Forget everything you knew about Halo 4's multiplayer. 343 wisely went back to the drawing board and scrapped nearly everything about Halo 4's widely criticized multiplayer offerings.

4.5/5

Giant Bomb

There will certainly be some players who find that the specific omissions in Halo 5 are extremely disappointing, and you'll see a rough edge or two, but all in all there's a fantastic big-budget shooter in Halo 5 with lots to see and enough multiplayer options to keep you going for quite some time.

4/5

Destructoid

If it weren't for Warzone, Halo 5: Guardians would probably be somewhere on the lower end of the franchise's spectrum for me. It's still a fantastic and well-oiled machine, but the story falls flat, and the shift in gameplay mechanics result in the loss of some elements that made the series so unique in the first place. Still, if you're looking to shoot some dudes online, Guardians is your huckleberry.

7/10

Reviews In Progress:

IGN

Developer 343 Industries has engineered the strongest combat Halo has ever seen, with tons of excellent weapons, varied maps, an expansive and intense new multiplayer mode joining a host of returning greats, and some game-changing new mobility. At the same time, Guardians repeats Halo 4’s mistake of telling a story that can’t stand on its own without Halo’s expanded universe. This hurts, but doesn’t ruin, its otherwise impressive cooperative campaign.

The Verge

Don’t play Halo 5 for its story, then. Play Halo 5 because it’s bursting with invention, an absolute masterclass in how to craft a first-person shooter, and the best reason yet to own an Xbox One. For all its technical quirks and plot deficiencies, Halo is once again the best time you can have shooting aliens in the face.

Eurogamer

Perhaps the most important thing to say about Halo 5's campaign is it's a substantial improvement on Halo 4's campaign, which I've always maintained was a decent first effort from a new developer still finding its feet. Halo 5's missions do not revolutionise the FPS genre, or even the Halo series, but they are a welcome return to form. For me, that's good enough.