How Warzone makes Halo 5 the most interesting shooter in years

[MUSIC] If you were to describe HALO's traditional multiplayer as house party. A small gathering of friends and strangers for an evening of laughs and heroics then HALO 5's new war zone mode Is more like a festival. You're still surrounded by the same sites and sound. And Halo's signature style of combat is as unmistakable as ever. But on Warzone, you are free to choose where to spend your time. And where to concentrate your fire power. Right now, you're looking at the World's first reveal of the [UNKNOWN] In one section of this sprawling open world map you could for example be busy mowing down hordes of covenant AI. On the other side of the island you may find teammates assembling a warthog, gearing up for some four player drive bys. At one of the command posts you could find a three way skirmish between both human teams and the AI And on another you might encounter a legendary elite boss patrolling the area. Waiting for someone foolish enough to cross it's path. How all these different attractions come together under a single goal is what makes Warzone the most unique and interesting addition to the Halo series In years. The overarching objective is for your team of 12 Spartans to accumulate a thousand points before your opponents do. How this is done is your choice. You can for example earn a single point by killing someone on the opposing team. Or you can trickle in a stream point by controlling one of the maps bases. Or you could add 25 points for taking out an elite AI, or if you manage to kill a legendary [UNKNOWN] you can earn a game changing 150 points. A single of War Zone can typically last up to 30 minutes. [UNKNOWN] frantically tried to cross the finish line. But there's also a backdoor part of the victory. Each war zone map features three bases the players can occupy. If a team manages to control all three bases at the same time, the opposing team's base core has been exposed. If that team's core is destroyed, regardless of what score they have, they lose the match. It means that you can still **** a victory from the jaws of defeat Even if lagging behind by 700 points. How these gameplay goals clash and trip into one another makes Warzone particularly chaotic, and unpredictable at time. Here you can see me fighting two covenant elders, these [INAUDIBLE] foes with devastating melee attacks By overcoming them demands high levels of concentration, and here, just as I've gotten into the right rhythm, suddenly I was attacked by the opposing team. Plans had to be abandoned. It's a degree of Fluctuation, the tremendous sense of war at scale, and the sheer breadth of options that makes War Zone such an exciting prospect. All this may suggest War Zone is prohibitively complex. But it's actually accommodating to all kinds of players, especially casual. Your spawn points are well protected, and those who aren't particularly skilled can, if they wish, just concentrate on taking down AI. These players can add to the final score as much as the kill streaking veterans can. In fact, everyone can bring something to Warzone. Those who aren't the most skilled marksmen can charge up score tallies just by occupying bases Even the thrill-seekers who want to leap onto covenant ghosts, madly stick a grenade on the engine and dash away just before the bomb goes off are still, in their own mad little way, adding to the totem score. Seasoned veterans of course, will want to be doing all these things. [INAUDIBLE] Warzone to a mass of vast community of players Not split apart the way Halo 4 had been after the premium DLC arrived. Which is why Warzone's 15 maps will be free. However, in place of the DLC is microtransaction. Which allows players to buy more powerful and exotic vehicles and weapons. So, a couple of caveats. First, you can still earn currency by grinding. Second, each weapon essentially has a meta score which in halo is called a req level. Each war zone game starts at req level one and only in the late game can players start using the most powerful weapons they have purchased. It's not quite pay to win, but casual players with cash to burn will have an undeniable advantage over casual have-nots. Whether that advantage would extend over to the hardcore players however remains to be seen. Microtransaction worries aside Wars then could very well be the most interesting thing to happen to Halo and indeed multiplayer shooters for quite some time. It comes bundled with Halo First Guardians which shops worldwide on October 22nd. Stay tuned to Gamespot for the review. [SOUND] [BLANK_AUDIO]