The Halo 5: Guardians Beta is live as of today until January 18th, and the only way for you to get in on the action is to purchase the Halo: Master Chief Collection for your Xbox One.
Halo 5: Guardians is about a year away, but you’ll get the opportunity to get your hands on a working live model of the game as it unfolds, and see what the hype and anticipation is all about.
Over the next three weeks, you will gradually gain access to 7 different maps, 3 different game types and an undetermined number of weapon types. You should also get to experience the new Spartan Hub and associated Spartan Abilities, which are an integral part of the final product.
Halo 5 right now isn’t scheduled for release until later in 2015, but the purpose of this Beta is crucial in case you’re wondering why it’s so early. Development Director Frank O’Connor once told IGN that Halo 4 pushed their last engine to the brink, meaning Halo 5 is running on something exclusive and brand new for the Xbox One, including running at 60 frames per second. Naturally, an undertaking this big needs a little help, and who better to provide it than Halo fans?
The game looks fantastic, is definitely the boost Halo fans are looking for. I admit, FPS games aren’t my cup of tea, and I hadn’t previously played a Halo game since the third one, but Guardians looks to me like it’ll be something special, and you’re not even playing on what will end up being the final graphic model.
Reminding you once again that purchasing the Halo: Master Chief Collection is the only way to get into the Beta. If you haven’t picked it up yet, the collection features the first 4 Halo games (with the first being the Combat Evolved Anniversary title) brushed up for the Xbox One, including a massive HD revamp of Halo 2. Microsoft truly broke the rules for this one, including a whopping 4500 gamerscore available through the game itself and a day one patch. Our reviewer Kurt gave it a perfect score, stating “as a fan of the franchise, having it all right there, with ongoing content creation that no doubt will see the whole ‘Halo-verse’ of stuff yet to come centralized and occupying some sort of digital real-estate where we can scratch that particular itch, that’s something worth having.” Read more about Kurt’s thoughts on the game in his full review.
As always, keep in mind that you’re playing a Live Beta and the game is bound to be full of bugs and glitches here and there. The reason for open beta programs like this is to allow gamers to offer feedback and help find these issues in order to make for a much cleaner end product. Nobody likes running up your kill count and then having the game crash with 30 seconds to go because your character accidentally clipped through a wall. Help leave that stuff behind in the Nintendo 64 days and lend your skills to the Halo 5: Guardians Beta ongoing now!
The Halo 5: Guardians Beta is live as we speak and runs until January 18th only only on your Xbox One. Once again, the only way to get in on this is by purchasing the Halo: Master Chief Collection.
You can also Pre-Order Halo 5: Guardians now at Best Buy or online at BestBuy.ca
