Halo 5 Beta - Live.Die.Repeat

I got your back bro, maybe.

I see a beautiful Halo 5 Guardians image when I hit play, 

Pre release software notice flashes up, OK.

Enter huge image of planet

'Halo 5 Guardians' Arena Multi player Beta.

Welcome to the Halo 5:Guardians Multi player Beta! Battle it out in slayer across two different maps: Truth and Empire.

Cooooooooooooooooooooool , Lets Go!

I believe my front room looked like this.

Fuck me I'm excited, Past memories of days lost to all forms of halo multi player, Fondest memory being with halo 4. My parents had just gone on holiday, so what does a man child in his

20's do with a free house?!

Facebook Party? Fuck no.

 He rings up some of his closest buddies, arranges 3 flat screens to be set up in his front room (all across form each other for optimal viewing and playing
experience) Hooks up the Xbox's, 3 copies of Halo 4 and loses hours to multiplayer.

There appears to be Spartans standing around a control unit and some space themed stuff going on, I take it all in.It's pretty and already feels familiar through music and tone alone.

A huge image of a Spartan getting kicked in the back pops up, 'Assassination' (I know you used that voice!)  Awesome.

HUG TIME.

Today's Featured playlist is Slayer (also said in that voice we all know)

4 v 4 Team - Weak One featuring Assault Rifle starts.

Looks to me like they will be changing it up a lot over the next few weeks as the Beta started on the 29/12/14 and ends on the 18/1/15 or until 1/18/15 but I've never heard of a year being that long before?!

I click start and it fires me straight into a loading lobby after what feels like 3 seconds it pairs me with 6 other eager participants, annoyingly though we sit in that lobby waiting for mystery guest player  to join and set us moving forward, but who really cares.Beta! It encounters a problem and farts me out of the lobby.

10 seconds later I'm in a lobby with 7 other guys/girls clearly not at work or 11 and waiting for the match to start.

First Map is Empire - 12 Minute Rounds, 50 kills to win.

I thought I clicked duck, not dog.

I die whilst adjusting myself to the buttons, I recover with a kill and act like nothing happened, my Spartan currently dancing to himself in one corner spinning.

I realise the pace has been upped again as I'm killed once more, Instantly I know I'll be on this for a few hours, which for me never lasts with FPS games, I get so far in then get bored, Destiny being the first FPS to come to mind, level 29, character stood in the tower collecting dust for Christmas.

I dart around making it hard for them to hit me, great addition adding thruster boosts at the tap of a B button. So great in fact I die. I won't add a running count like Shovel Knight because this could get out of hand. I try power Barge this thug in front of me, he turns me into a Spartan pancake.

Spartan Nanosuit reporting for duty 

It weirdly reminds me of Crysis 2s Multiplayer

Power Weapons spawn on the map causing your team to flood to one area to secure it, also forcing conflict as the two team thrash it out for the rather overpowered sniper rifle. This is where the team play dynamic dominates and the run and gun lone wolf play style fails as your met by multiple foes,which 9/10 leads to death and we don't like that.

Note to self, Sniper Rifle isn't 'dirty', It drops in 30.

First match over and we lose by 4 deaths , Stellar 4-9 by me in that match

I put this down to me trying to get a feel for the controls as the newly added smart scope takes charge of your main left trigger (which I love by the way) and the power assisted boost dominates the B button, I often went to crouch shoot Spartans with deadly precision, only to be flung  into their view via a rogue power assist boost and then hearing my team mates scream 'Xbox, record that'

About to boost into view

The newly upped super pace of the Halo 5 Beta is a welcome addition in my eyes, Halo could be slow on huge maps with people hogging there sniper rifles and choosing to pick away at the enemy team instead of actually play them. Not on this game, the map is small and industrial and you never truly feel like you can stop with out there being another enemy only a radar blip away

With regards to the newly added smart scope I like it, you don't have to use it.You can still charge around.

 That extra 5-10 percent increase it gives you makes the accuracy of the pistol deadly. but your quickly reminded again not to stand still for to long.

smart scope

The radar completely disappears from view when you engage the smart scope leaving you somewhat vulnerable to assassination attempts from behind, when taking damage and fully immersed it kicks you back into the world helping you flurrying all your shots up the wall with the assault rifle, accuracy also following you out the window with the smart scope.

I don't know if its because I'm paying attention but named areas now appear above your radar, no doubt to help team mates locate you quickly, find objectives and change the flow of game play,I encounter this in one match where we went from being 30-41 and over all winning 50-49.

All it took was coordination.

I dare you to say I look like Destiny bra

I'm reminded that when your 'team' doesn't play the team based game with you things often turn from bad to worse very quickly, often leaving me in 12 minute matches of 'Live.Die.Repeat'

You can spot every run and gun hungry C.O.D player straight away by there ability to rage quit when things go south and then it's me left in a happy 10 minute game of Predator, me being a slice of cheese on the floor ready for the kill, The other 4 players cat and mousing me round this very circular map

The whole experience going full circle on it's self

Live.Die.Repeat.

Kirby Style

Caleb