[Author’s Note: This article acts as a follow-up to the first, second, third, fourth and fifth Impressions Log entries regarding the Halo 5: Guardians Multiplayer Beta. Additionally, I will continue to share my thoughts regarding 343 Industries upcoming Shooter as the Beta rolls on through January 18th, 2015.]
While there are only a few days left until 343 Industries closes down its Halo 5: Guardians Multiplayer Beta, that did not stop them from releasing additional content for people wanting more out of this testing period. Last week, Halo enthusiasts had the chance to vote for which of the two maps, Orion or Pegasus, they would’ve like to see implemented in the Slayer playlist. Even though Pegasus won the community’s heart, the developers have decided to add in a third map into the team-based Deathmatch mode’s map rotation for these final days.
Orion is another Forge map that has a big emphasis on high map positioning, which is one of its least appealing aspects. There are three central high points on the map (or bases) that all provide a good view of its entirety. There is the middle tower, where the Energy Sword is located, the sealed room providing cover with a glass window and the bridges leading to the latter. The only thing is; there aren’t enough routes to reach the higher ground, leading to constant swarming when you end up respawning on the bottom portions of the map. It has, however, the most diverse power weapon line-up we have seen throughout all Beta maps consisting of a Sniper Rifle, a Sword and a Hydra Cannon, except there are set up in very forgettable areas. For instance, the Sniper is located in an area that is totally separated from the map’s action that constantly takes place in the center. I did not find myself reaching that place until the Sniper was about to spawn on the map. Compared to its other Forge map counterpart, Orion doesn’t use verticality as well as Pegasus, which makes it very frustrating when you are losing a match because the enemy team managed to take control of the high positioning points from the beginning.
My time on Orion was not enjoyable at all.
While being on the topic of Pegasus, I find it to be one of my favorite maps out of the entire Beta. Although, some areas don’t get that much firefight, I love getting into long-range battles that can always go either way depending on the precision of your shots, and man is it ever satisfying to rush the Rocket Launcher and killing half of the enemy team at the start of a match.
One aspect I have yet to mention in my Halo 5: Guardians Multiplayer Beta Impressions Logs is the fact that it will be the first title in the franchise to include in-game spectating, a feature that I completely forgot existed until I was fiddling around the menus while searching for a match. So, I decided to look on Twitch for pro Halo players streaming the Beta to add them in my Friends List and then spectate their games, and it turns out the Spectator mode isn’t as robust as you would think it is. While spectating games from Hysteria from Cloud 9 and Biittersweet from Essence on both Twitch and Halo 5: Guardians, I noticed that the game was not displayed in real-time, always kicking off its spectating feature from the beginning of a match. This means that you are watching a video playback of the game and not the match as it unfolds at the same time. It is essentially like watching it in Theater Mode because you can check out other players’ perspective, while also pausing, fast-forwarding and rewinding it. Although I did not use those functionalities that much because I found that they cause multiple problems lag-wise.
Gotta love them long-range battles.
On top of that, I don’t know if I am just having a bad week or if I am just getting matched with good players, but I found myself struggling to perform at the top of my game these past few days. Although I do think it is the latter because I am placed in the Gold division in the Slayer playlist, I am just not having as much fun as I did when the Beta kicked off, playing fewer games and getting frustrated more often. In some way, I am starting to get a little burnt out of Halo, but that may very well be because I can’t accept the fact that people are better than me at a video game, which sounds very stupid and childish when putting it that way. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.
Once again, reminding you all to stay tuned to Gamer Headlines as this Halo 5: Guardians Multiplayer Beta Impressions Log will be continuously updated until it ends on January 18, 2015.
Have you played the Halo 5: Guardians Multiplayer Beta? If so, feel free to let us know what you think of it in the comments below and, as always, stay tuned to Gamer Headlines for all things gaming.
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