Online multiplayer is the foundation upon which some of the best gaming franchises are built upon. Incredibly successful IPs like Call of Duty, Battlefield, and Halo have become renowned for their innovations in big team firefights, and gamers have come to expect each new installment to shake things up. After all, the gaming industry moves fast, and with heavyweights like Halo 5: Guardians on the horizon, its imperative to make each decision regarding multiplayer count.
343 Industries' Halo 5: Guardians has a lot to live up to. Gamers love plasma swords almost as much as they love getting a truly epic kill online, and the Halo franchise has provided a lot of those moments over the years. When 343 Industries suggests some big changes to multiplayer are coming, then, fans tend to listen.
343 Industries announced recently that Halo 5: Guardians will not have a Big Team Battle (BTB) mode at launch in October, despite that particular mode's popularity among gamers. However, executive producer Josh Holmes responded to concerns from fans following the announcement, reminding fans that Halo 5: Guardians will feature a 12 versus 12 mode called Warzone. Warzone, which Holmes refers to as "the evolution of BTB on steroids", includes the biggest maps the Halo franchise has seen to date, four times the size of anything previous.
Understandably, however, some players are a little hesitant to embrace Warzone as a direct replacement for BTB. After all, Warzone is making some drastic changes to the gameplay formula that Halo multiplayer has continued to perfect for over a decade. In Warzone, players will see three different phases on each map, ranging from PvE to PvP combat. There will also be in-game mode progression, which will offer players basic weapons to start before they earn more powerful ones and access to vehicles.
For those worried that Warzone won't be their cup of Spartan tea, Holmes assured fans that Halo 5: Guardians will feature a BTB mode after all – just not at launch. 343 Industries plans to include a BTB mode sometime post-launch, although no time table has been provided for when exactly that addition will be made. Halo 5: Guardians will launch with over 20 maps, with another 15 guaranteed to be included via DLC, so adding an entirely new game mode might not be such an easy task.
Unsurprisingly, multiplayer game modes have been at the center of discussion for 343 Industries' latest take on the storied Halo franchise. Recent criticisms of the game's lack of split-screen mode for campaign and multiplayer have been a source of mild disappointment for fans, so it makes sense for Holmes to provide reassurance for those who believe BTB is the pinnacle of Halo multiplayer.
Are you disappointed that BTB won't be available for Halo 5: Guardians' launch? Is Warzone the future of Spartan multiplayer anyways? Hit us up with some feedback in the comments.
Halo 5: Guardians releases on October 27, exclusively for Xbox One.
Source: Gamespot