Noble Team are the stars of Reach. The squad consists of Carter, \r their commanding officer, Kat, their technician, Jorge, their explosives\r and big arms expert, Jun, the marksman, Emile, the close quarters \r specialist, and finally Noble Six who is the rookie of the group, and \r the player character. Of course, Six is unnamed for the sake of the \r player's immersion.

The chemistry the group has is done fairly well thanks to dialogue \r that helps the soldiers be more than just their jobs. Carter often\r has to check in with command to get green lights for ideas from his \r squad, making him a very by-the-books kind of leader. Jorge acts as a \r translator for the group, speaking and comforting some refugees they \r find in the story. He becomes the gentle giant. Kat is protective of her\r tech, and often challenges Carter's authority, befitting her name as a \r rather "catty" character. Jun seems to be a bit shady, and maybe a bit \r cocky? Emile appears to be the violent, but silent type. Notice how the \r descriptions of each character got shorter and more uncertain.

The time spent with each character is far too short before they begin\r to be killed. This causes a few problems as well. With how early the \r deaths come, the player already knows what to expect. The player will \r have less interest in caring for the squad if he already expects them to\r all just die for one reason or another. Another issue this causes is \r taking screen time away from development and shoveling it into each \r dramatic moment, which isn't even done thoroughly anyway. And of course \r with the characters being shot down like flies, they don't even get the \r chance to develop enough to care about before they die. You can even see\r the developers and writers trying to compensate for this by giving the \r next person on the list to die some extra screen time.

Jorge had his moment with the refugees, and the scientists before \r dying. Kat had her confrontations with Carter before dying. Carter had a\r confrontation with Halsey, the head scientist before dying. Emile had a\r final stand moment with some powerful enemies before dying. Jun didn't \r even die, the guy just left, leaving his part of the story \r hanging. All these sequences do, is prepare the player for their \r inevitable death, it doesn't make them want to live, just guess when.

But let's get into a bit more detail with the actual deaths.

Jorge sacrifices himself to blow up a starship. There's a wonderful \r scene where he tears off his dog tag, holds Six's hand, and carries him \r to the edge of the ship before tossing Six out. As Six floats through \r space and back into Reach's atmosphere, the ship explodes with Jorge \r still inside. This all occurs while in the first person perspective, as \r well. It's a great scene that's timed so poorly, the effect is drained \r almost entirely. With how early this takes place, it makes it feel \r pointless, and undermined by the idea that there's simply more of this \r to come. The fact that the act of blowing up the ship did little for \r them plot-wise doesn't help either. Of course this could be used in a \r powerful way, a motivation to try and make Jorge's death not in vain. \r But we already know it is, so the whole scene feels hallow.

Kat is the second spartan to die. And her's is perhaps the most \r offending of the lot. As the team is running through a corridor, she's \r shot in the head by a sniper in a ship above them which flies off. She \r falls, the dramatic music kicks up, and there's a long shot of the team \r waiting for a ship to arrive, presumably to take her body away as one of\r them holds her in his arms. The entire sequence is so brief, and sudden\r it makes it feel like the developers simply decided to cut time here \r for the sake of the rest of the game. Even if we did have plenty of time\r to grow to love Kat as a character, we wouldn't even get a chance to \r grieve.

Jun leaves. As one of the two least characterized Spartans, we aren't\r even humored with his death. Jun simply leaves the squad at some point \r with orders to protect a scientist. His part in the story is over, \r nothing comes of that. He just leaves.

Carter is next. The scene starts with an AI the squad has demanding \r he seek medical assistance. Blood is on his armor, and his helmet is \r off. The ship he, Emile, and Six are on is being shot at, and he's \r piloting. Telling Emile and Six to abandon ship, he says he'll draw fire\r and give them air support. There's no real suspense here, the scene is \r set; he is going to die. With as much death as there's already been in \r the game, any idea of tension of him maybe shaking the enemy off and \r surviving is simply laughable. You're just waiting for him to blow up at\r this point. Later in the level a Scarab stands in Emile's and Six's \r path. Without a chance to get around or handle it another way, Carter \r quickly throws himself and the ship into the tank-like opponent. With a \r corny one-liner, and brief encouragement from Emile, he's gone.

To a level, I don't mind the dialogue here, however. They are \r soldiers, after all. They do expect to die and give their lives for what\r they need to do to win. So, instead of making Carter's last moment one \r of hatred, anger, and sorrow, they let it be one of victory and bravado.\r If there's any bones I'd throw at Bungie through this, that's the one. \r It makes sense, it feels right. Too bad the timing and set-up, is again,\r way off. It's just another “there goes another one“ moment for the \r player.

Emile's death is another mix of some good and some bad. The timing \r isn't bad, and the set-up isn't awful. While sitting on a large cannon \r to shoot at incoming ships, he's overwhelmed by some powerful enemies. \r He's stabbed and mauled before taking some down on his own. Six has to \r go to the gun himself to use it just as Emile was, and when you do get \r to the cannon you come across his body. This is important. This gives \r the player a moment to mourn. Despite how little I knew of Emile and how\r little I cared, coming across his body still had an impact. It made me \r stop, and my heart dropped just a bit. And after a heavy sigh, I \r continued. It was so close to being a great moment, stolen by the fact \r that when I did stop, I didn't have much to reflect on when it came to \r him.

After five characters, and Bungie has only scratched the surface of \r the emotional shock a death should have. After Six man's the cannon, and\r the VIPs get away to trigger the rest of the events in Halo, he's left \r alone, his objective complete, and his teammates dead. Reach is lost, \r but thanks to him and his team's sacrifice there's still hope for \r humanity to win the war. Their role in the rest of the universe is done.\r The credits roll.

But Six's own journey hasn't yet ended. Once the credits fade out, we\r find Six standing in the middle of some torn down buildings. An enemy \r ship passes by overhead and drops off a group of aliens. The player is \r back in control and an objective is presented: Survive. With nothing \r left to do, no one left to protect and fight for, Six has only this \r instinct left. He won't make his last stand for humanity, for his team, \r for a future, or a past. He won't fight for Reach, or even just because \r it's right. Six's last stand is for him, and him alone. It's a moment, \r one last moment, to just be who he is: a warrior. A warrior in its most \r purest form.

With enemies coming from all directions, the player is able to live \r and experience Six's last moments of being a solider. The player fights \r for as long as he can, killing as many as he can, and running for as \r long as he can until he's finally overwhelmed. It's a moment of \r catharsis for both Six and the player, to just let loose and kill \r everything just because they can, just to prove how strong their own \r resolve is; counted by bodies.

When the player finally submits to the onslaught we have a scene \r where Six falls to the ground as aliens surround and overcome him. Some \r are shot or hit away, until one is able to deliver the final blow. \r The scene is drawn out, and doesn't provide hope, but instead a point. \r It doesn't try to be dramatic, because you wanted to live. It's \r dramatic, because you want to keep fighting, you want to keep standing, \r you want to survive. And when you die both Six and the player feel the \r sword pierce into their heart, punctuating the end of Halo: Reach.

The post-credits final stand of Noble Six was a perfect example on \r how to handle a protagonist's death. It's a moment where the player and \r character finally meld together. Their motivations are the same, and \r held in fiery passion. Together, Six and the player have one last moment\r to truly test their skills, ambition, and will.

Obviously, I found Six's death to be the strongest part in the game, \r and maybe even one of the best deaths in video game history. It's just \r such a shame it took Bungie five characters to figure it out.

Having recently played ODST for the second \r time, I can still say with confidence that it's my favorite Halo simply \r due to its narrative. Of course, if you were to ask me the before to \r explain why, I'd honestly be stuck in just saying the structure. I \r couldn't tell you why the structure worked so well, the theme it \r carried, and what it does for the player. I'd almost leave the \r impression that you could impress me with that kind of narrative \r technique despite its use. Now, after about five years, I can do all of \r that. But in doing so, I can't help but see where it fell short of being\r something more than just the beatnik of the Halos.

In ODST, the main character is Rookie, the newest member of the \r squad. He is silent through the entire game, and only becomes a vital \r role to the game's sub-plot at the end. Even then, however, his role is \r to simply act as another gun or driver for the more important characters\r in the sub-narrative.

Early on in the game, the squad gets scattered as they drop into an \r invaded city. The Rookie is knocked out for several hours, and wakes up\r lost and alone in the city. The plot, at this point, is simple: reunite\r with the rest of the squad.

As the game begins, the player, as Rookie, is introduced to the city \r they came to. Being several hours after the initial invasions and \r battles, the city is dark and generally silent. Deep neon lights dot \r along buildings in a jazzy green or red that stand out along a lot of \r black, and dark iron. It's a color combination I can only describe as a \r war-torn poetry club. The music adds to this, by clashing with the tone \r of being alone in a warzone with a dreamy piano tune accompanied by low \r brass and strings.

The low tension, yet mysterious atmosphere almost feels disneyesque. \r There's a sense of wonder that comes over the player- a child like \r desire that demands to slowly stroll through the streets and take in the\r low lightning and dark towers as just another mystery to solve. The \r idea of being attacked or harmed is almost out of sight, and the player \r feels more relaxed. They end up craning Rookie's head around, not \r minding the lack of action or speed as they soak in the world around \r them, a world that's all too inviting to tell you a wonderfully \r fantastic tale.

This is when the theme is starting to get pushed. Rookie isn't a \r desperate, scared, and battle hardened vet looking to find his squad \r and save the day, he becomes something smaller and more naive. Rookie \r becomes a child lost in the expansive and dark woods behind his \r backyard. He's lost, but unafraid. He's focused, yet curious. Little \r trinkets he finds, become artifacts from a great warrior from long ago. \r Shadows are mysterious woodsmen or monsters, hiding and watching him as \r he travels through, but scared and hesitant of the strange thing in \r their woods. Everything he finds tells a fantastic story, despite how \r trivial the object may be, and that's where the rest of Rookie's plot \r comes in.

As Rookie wanders the rest of the city, he comes across items of \r interest that relate to his squad. He uses these items to follow\r their trail and eventually reunite with them. Whenever Rookie does find\r an object of interest, the player is temporarily taken out of the shoes\r of Rookie as one of his squadmates to experience what \r happened to them when they were scattered. This tells the story of how \r they came together, and then accomplished their mission from each \r member's perspective. While this does well to serve the purpose of \r fleshing out the squad, and organically giving players the typical Halo \r experience, this could also be interpreted as a part of Rookie's own \r character.

When Rookie finds an object, his interactions with the object can be \r seen as somewhat childlike. He'll get scraps of metal to poke at a \r hanging rifle, he'll jump on a broken turret and aim it around, as a \r child would play pretend. The idea here is Rookie is drawing his own \r conclusions, and while what the player sees during the flashbacks to the\r teammates could be very well how they transpired, they are also in huge\r contrast to Rookie's own situation. There's a lot more shooting, \r explosions, bravado, and drama. The term unreliable narrator comes to \r mind when thinking of these sections. Like how many children would over \r dramatize an object they find, the Rookie could very well be doing the \r same. Maybe his squad didn't kill that many aliens, or had so many close\r calls. Maybe one just took a fall and got hurt, or tripped and lost his\r gun.

It's a journey of discovery where a person can only understand so \r much thanks to the little they find, and due to these findings, their \r imagination runs wild. The game feels less like a war simulator, and \r more of just a lost simulator. Discoveries carry a lot of weight, and \r constantly bring you towards something familiar that's buried in all the\r mystery the city holds. It's a story that illustrates value on what we \r know, and how it can affect our perception of realities. These realities\r can be very fantastic, and exciting. Maybe not true, but the point is \r they cause us to create our own narrative and expand on what may or may \r not be real. And sometimes we need those fantasies to keep moving, and \r to hold out hope for finding our own familiar security- to find home.

Rookie could have assumed at anytime that his squad had died on \r arrival, or killed in action, but he didn't, because he created \r narratives that kept him motivated. They kept him alive.

Now with all of that said, you might be in agreement that Halo: ODST \r did have quite the story to tell, right? Well, it's all the more sad \r that the game abandons this approach as soon as Rookie does find his \r squad. Nothing is talked about, but the currently front-running sub-plot\r of saving a specific alien due to its knowledge. While this plot \r doesn't necessarily come out of nowhere, it does undermine all of \r Rookie's story before hand. Rookie's experience never truly feels \r complete and concluded, despite him achieving his goal. The focus is \r quickly changed to a very forced and cliche love story, as well as the \r rescued alien. And this focus is so strong, it makes me feel like that \r Bungie only did it to remind the players that ODST was a Halo game.

It's such a shame that such a much more interesting narrative had to \r be sacrificed for the sake of the source material, which did well to \r simply act as a base for the rest of ODST and Rookie's story. It's \r almost offending how quickly Rookie is tossed aside for two much less \r developed sub-plots.

If Bungie had somehow kept to Rookie's story of simply finding his \r way home, I think they would have been able to make ODST stand out more \r in the Halo crowd. It was the first game to not feature Chief, and \r instead emphasized on the struggles of the human characters. This let us\r get closer to Rookie already, and his journey felt much more human than\r anything else in the franchise. Maybe it wouldn't be considered the \r best game in the series, but I believe many more people would appreciate\r it, had it stuck to the path.

It's a bit ironic, and also quite sad, that a game about being lost, ended up lost in the shadow of it's older brothers.

The official statements for Quantum Break's delay are as followed:

“With so many Xbox One games launching this year, movingQuantum Breakto 2016 extends our incredible portfolio into next year with a monster new IP,“saidShannon Loftis, Head of Publishing at Microsoft Studios.

“We’re really proud to be part of the incredible Xbox One line-up,“ saidSam Lake, Creative Director at Remedy. “We thank our fans for their patience, and want them to know that the team is taking advantage of this opportunity to polish and fine tune the game to create the kind of standout entertainment experience they've come to expect from us.“

We all must remember this quote so that delays won't upset us:

#1: Add Optional Premium and/or Paid Accounts

Microsoft's XBox One and Sony's PlayStation 4 both have one thing in common that seem to keep drawing in more consumers, and that is XBox Live's Silver and Gold Memberships and PlayStation Network's PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now accounts. They are paid subscription accounts that have special features available only to those that have them. This usually includes improved internet stability and security, cloud service, special discounts for certain games, and early access for some games still in BETA, and with PlayStation Now, streaming games from earlier systems at no extra charge. If Nintendo did something similar with their Nintendo Network, they could add something like a "Nintendo Network Premium Account" that have features similar to this.

#2: Unlock the Region Lock

There are many gamers (like myself) that like to import games from other countries. This could be because some games aren't available in the country where you live, or certain games are heavily censored when they were localized for your country of residence. This however can be an inconvenient problem if the console isn't region free. Ever since Nintendo had started making games, they have always tried to implement a form of region locking on all of their home consoles, and now it has spread to their portable systems starting with the 3DS. This makes it expensive if you want to import games because it now requires you to buy a system that matches the region the game is in as well. Now, we have seen hackers exploit the 3DS to make it region free before, so I propose that Nintendo can do either one of two options with this one. Either A: Make their next set of systems region free from the start; or B: Offer a paid digital "Passport" on the eShops that unlocks the system for use with imported games. If Microsoft can do it with an update to their XBox One, Nintendo should have no excuse to not do it to the Wii U, 3DS or the yet to be released NX.

#3: Match their Competitors' Specs

While Nintendo has been absolutely fantastic when it comes to gameplay, they have been shown to sometimes be "behind the times" with their system's tech. This has spawned some issues that could be the cause to why so many games haven't been ported to their systems. It's probably also the reason why so many of Nintendo's old 3rd Party stand-by games went to PlayStation when Nintendo showed that they would continue to use cartridges. If Nintendo is to step up their game and give players a reason to pick them over their competitors, they need to either match, or surpass the graphical and computing power of their rivals if they are to get more games ported to their systems. This can be a challenge however as Nintendo usually goes lower to save on money and to make their systems for affordable, but I'm sure that if they tried, then they can pull it off.

#4: Make More amiibo Compatible Games

Thanks to Skylanders and Disney Infinity, amiibo has grown to be quite the phenomenon with collectors, and for good reason. They are really well designed, sturdy, fairly priced, and can do a variety of things in games that support their use, that is if you can find a game that uses them well. So far Splatoon, Super Smash Bros 4 and Chibi-Robo: Zip Lash are the only games I've seen that use the amiibo well enough to warrant a purchase of one, assuming you aren't a collector. As such, Nintendo needs to make more games in which amiibo have more compelling uses and more free titles that can only be played with amiibo. Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival is a good start, but it isn't good enough. We need a Skylanders styled game that use these things, or some kind of digital trophy case app that gives a little bit of flavor text and a small mini game specifically for that amiibo when it is scanned.

#5: Make a New Loyalty Program

When it was still active, Club Nintendo was great. I ended up getting a lot of really cool stuff from there and it is partially the reason why I started pre-ordering my games instead of getting them a few weeks after they came out (registering games early netted you more spendable points). This was an ingenious way to get people to buy their games early, and it was also a great way to get exclusive rewards that you wouldn't be able to buy normally like a special Mario cap or a re-issued Ball Game & Watch. However, it kinda fell to the wayside when the rewards started to become a little...lackluster, and as such the program was canned. I thought the idea of cool exclusive rewards should be brought back in some way with a new loyalty program, but since physical rewards are expensive to produce (and probably the reason why Club Nintendo stopped offering them), I propose a digital program that can offer exclusive digital themes, games, and gift cards to loyal buyers.

#6 More Physical Pre-Order Bonuses

If there is one thing I know about pre-ordering games, it is special bonuses make sells happen. Every time I've tried to pre-order a game in the Zero Escape series so I can get the special bonus watch that came with it, I was always too late and never managed to get one. Nintendo needs to do this more, especially in North America because I keep hearing that UK stores like GAME offer a ton of physical pre-order bonuses for the games that they sell while we only really get digital ones like exclusive DLC or a digital soundtrack or art book. I feel that this is incredibly unfair to American, Canadian, and Latin American consumers as they are missing out on some really cool stuff and it would get Nintendo the sales that they desperately need to survive in the gaming market.

#7: STOP WITH THE YOUTUBE COPYRIGHT CLAIMS!

Even though Nintendo has been pretty good on what they've put on their YouTube channel (specifically with their Nintendo Directs), this has caused nothing but trouble with Let's Players, Reviewers, and News channels on that site. Nintendo, for some reason, has been issuing copyright claims left and right for videos containing gameplay of games they've created and/or produced even though most of those videos technically count as free advertisement. From my experience, gameplay footage =/= playing the game first hand. I have actually ended up buying MORE games because of some Let's Plays I've seen on YouTube. Come on Nintendo, even though you are well within your legal rights, please just let your fans make their videos in peace. And while you're at it, you should drop the whole Nintendo Creators Program as well. That just spells nothing but trouble.

#8: Make ALL Virtual Console Games Cross-Buy

If you happen to own two or more game systems by the same company, you should expect to be able to buy the game once on your account and be able to use it across all platforms, right? Sony does this with their PS1 classics and Xbox with their XBox Live Arcade titles and they have had few complaints among their consumers, but Nintendo doesn't seem to grasp this very well. Nintendo has hundreds of games that would benefit greatly from being playable on all systems, but the thought of buying the same game again just to play it on another system is very deterring, especially when some of the games are exclusive to a certain platform. Make them work with all systems, including the N64 games, and I'm sure that would make a lot of consumers happy.

#9: More Cross Compatible and Cross Platform Games

I don't really know how to word what it is called exactly, but what I'm referring to are entirely different games that have the ability to unlock features in each other, and games that allow for multiplayer across different platforms. I remember when Metroid Prime had the ability to have special unlockables when it connected to the Game Boy Advance game Metroid Fusion. It gave a reason to buy and play through both games and it gave them reason to be replayed. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker and Animal Crossing both did something similar where if you connected a Game Boy Advance (without a game) to the console, it could download special extras to the handheld that added to the experience. Now for cross platform multiplayer games, I have only really seen two games that offer this on the Wii U and one of them has kind of an odd way of doing it. Let's just hope Nintendo gets better at this in the future.

#10: Universal Accounts

Now I'm sure this has irritated a lot of fans, but the Wii U and 3DS have a rather annoying form of linked accounts: Only one Wii U and one 3DS can be linked to a single Nintendo Network account at a time and you'll have to transfer all of the content on the system if you want to upgrade. Microsoft and Sony have a universal account system that works for all of their platforms and it allows them to re-download any and all compatible games and software onto a newer system at no additional cost. This is an excellent way to keep consumers and fans as long as possible and it helps buyers to save as much as possible while still enjoying their hobby.

If Nintendo does these things, I'm sure it can bring them back into relevance with their old consumers. If not, well at least they would be on equal footing with their competitors. But until then, I'll be seeing you.

After mixed fan reactions from Halo 4 and the rocky start to the Master Chief Collection, 343 Industries have released the second entry of Halo's "Reclaimer Saga" in hopes of reigniting the franchise into a new age. Do they succeed? Let's find out.

Developed by 343 Industries and published by Microsoft exclusively for the Xbox One, Halo 5: Guardians was looking to be one of the biggest entries in the Halo series due to the sheer volume of marketing and advertisement. With a seemingly heavier emphasis on story, multiplayer, and gameplay as a whole, what could possibly go wrong?

Fans and newcomers alike will feel right at home with the gameplay, but hardcore Halo fans will be more in for a shock. The controls remain ultimately the same with the except of buttons like crouch and grenades being default mapped to other buttons.

Now, by default, you are able to press the B button and thrust out of harms way. You are also able to sprint and melee boost yourself into an enemy. Keep in mind though, your shields and health don't regenerate while you sprint or use your thrusters.

Remember when I said fans were in for a shock? Well, if you haven't heard already, you now are able to aim down the sights of almost every gun. This definitely does change up gameplay a little bit. It works similarly to how aiming down the sights for the magnum and sniper in previous Halo games did. Once you are shot when looking down the sights, you are forced back out into hip fire. It's just as jarring when it happens as it was before in other Halo games.

Aiming down the sights was something that I, and most veteran Halo fans, were most worried about in fear of Halo taking another step closer to Call of Duty, but it actually works well. On smaller Arena maps you probably won't find yourself using the "smart scope", but on larger Warzone maps you will be constantly using them since players could be entire Arena map sizes away.

This is the most refined Halo gameplay we have ever seen. We can only hope that the gameplay stays as near perfect as it is here for future Halo titles. Further "innovation" to the gameplay may only harm the gameplay as a whole.

Normally, I'd talk about the story before the multiplayer of a game, but this time I wanted to talk about the positives before I get into the negatives; since the negatives are pretty serious.

Halo 5's multiplayer is one of, if not the, best multiplayers in the Halo series. While, not all the modes are in yet, Arena and Warzone are still absolutely fantastic on their own. Almost all the game modes feel fast paced and you always feel on edge since you almost always feel exposed. The absence of beloved game modes like Big Team Battle is a shame, but they should be patched in future updates.

Arena feels like a compilation of Halo's pure, uncut classic 4v4 multiplayer at its finest, whereas Warzone is brand new to Halo and is a very welcome addition. In Warzone, you and your team are dropped on a large map with a list of changing objectives for you and your team to complete before the enemy team does. The goal is to garner more points than the enemy and the first team to reach 1000 wins. Taking over bases and defeating bosses can shift points drastically in the heat of battle. Warzone feels a lot like Planetside 2, but on a much smaller scale.

Halo 5's multiplayer isn't perfect though. Now, there are new features such as REQ cards and REQ points. After leveling up or completing challenges, you get points to buy REQ packs that allow you to use certain weapons and vehicles in Warzone. After completing certain objectives and getting kills in Warzone, you rank up your REQ points to use said guns and vehicle cards. What was wrong with having vehicles scattered around the map and having loadouts? REQ cards just make everything needlessly complicated and sometimes makes Warzone a grinding chore to be able to use certain cards.

Only two Halo multiplayers have ever made me genuinely feel as if I were really a Spartan fighting along side friends. The first was Halo: Reach, and now the second is Halo 5. Warzone especially exasperated this feeling. Another welcome comeback is the return of Spartan armor customization. While, not as deep as Reach, the armor customization is still rather deep. You have the ability to change your Spartan's helmet, armor, and visor color with over 100 options each.

Now here is where things begin falling apart, the story. Where Halo 5 has one of the best multiplayers in the series, it also has one of the worst stories in the series. Promotional material and other advertisements would lead you to believe that Halo 5's story is about Spartan Locke having to hunt down Master Chief for one reason or another, but that isn't it at all.

Without getting into spoilers, it's confusing, but the actual story is Spartan Locke and Master Chief going their own ways to stop a certain villain from continuing to do villainy things. It's that simple, but 343i try to make it needlessly confusing to make it feel deep and force players to become emotionally invested. 343i also completely lie to players by advertising Halo 5 as this "fall of a hero" and "hunter becomes the hunted" story, but it isn't at all that.

Halo 5 features 15 story missions (all playable in co-op) with only 3 of those missions where you play as Master Chief. That's like having a Batman game where you only play as Batman for 20% of the game. This would be excusable if Spartan Locke was a likable character, but he's not. Locke is the same gruff and tough character that we've been playing as in every military shooter since 2005. During Halo 4, you could see that Chief was becoming human again. It would have been nice to see 343i add more to that, but they don't. Instead, 343i seem more focused on trying to force Locke down our throats as the "newer and cooler Master Chief".

I tried my hardest to care about the story, but I found that to be incredibly difficult. Especially because you are almost required to read and watch separate media to understand the story in Halo 5. How Locke and Buck become Spartans and what happened to the Didact aren't explained unless you watch Halo: Nightfall and read the comics. Want to know why Master Chief seems to have a long history with his Blue team? Well, too bad. You have to buy the Deluxe Bundle of Halo 5 to watch "The Fall of Reach" to know all the characters because they aren't fleshed out in the slightest in the game. This was probably the biggest shock to me because Halo has always had great stories and the only prerequisites you needed was to have played through the previous installments.

How long were previous Halo stories? About 8 - 10 hours depending on the difficulty, wouldn't you say? Well, Halo 5's story takes, on average, 5 hours to complete on Normal. That is absolutely unacceptable for a campaign length, let alone a Halo campaign. I played through Guardians on Legendary (the hardest difficulty) solo and managed to complete it in 5 hours 37 minutes, and I was taking my time.

If it's any consolation, Chief's missions are much better laid out with more open levels for flanking and organized co-op take downs. Whereas, Locke's missions are much more linear with little alternate paths to take. But the overall campaign feel of Halo 5 gives me the vibe that 343i were more interested in making a Call of Duty game rather than a Halo game.

Ever notice that solo Marvel movies (solo Thor, Iron Man, and Captain America movies) only exist to set up the next Avengers movie? That is exactly what Halo 5 feels like. Halo 5 seems to be the "filler" game in the Reclaimer Saga to set up Halo 6.

I wish I could talk more about the villain and why it ultimately hurts, not only the story of Halo 5, but the stories of almost every Halo game prior to Guardians, but those would be spoilers and that's a discussion for another time.

Can an amazing multiplayer save a incredibly underwhelming and sub par story? Well, the choice is up to you, but I don't believe it can. Before you say anything, yes, Halo has always been more multiplayer focused, but the story has also always been a strong point of the series. It makes you wonder why 343 Industries seemed to be so proud of the story they created when it's really just a story Bungie could have written in an afternoon on a bad day.

The multiplayer is really what saves Halo 5 as an overall package. 343i were lucky enough to refine Halo's gameplay and craft a multiplayer that is definitely worthy of your time, but at the sacrifice of a good and enjoyably story. If you feel comfortable paying full price for an enjoyable multiplayer experience then, by all means, pick up Halo 5, but if you are a veteran Halo fan and wanted more from the latest entry in this genre defining series, then you may want to hold off.

While the departure of Alan Wake is upsetting, Remedy Entertainment have also announced that on Saturday May 13th Alan Wake and its sequel Alan Wake's American Nightmare along with every piece of DLC will be 90% off on Steam for 48 hours until it is officially removed. Alan Wake's American Nightmare will not be a part of this remvoal. This will probably be the last chance to purchase everything from the original Alan Wake entry for the foreseeable future.

In other news, it was recently announced that 505 Games would publish Remedy Entertainment's newest multi-platform IP codenamed "Project 7." Developer Remedy have stated that their latest IP will be set in a "new Remedy-created universe," and features "an intriguing story and a game structure offering a long-lasting experience" and also "contains the deepest game mechanics yet in a Remedy game." More details on Remedy's latest project will be revealed in the coming months.