Fourteen years ago, HALO: Combat Evolved was released for the original Xbox system, establishing itself as one of the most successful franchises of Microsoft’s gaming platform. Other iterations of the game soon followed.
With the release of the Xbox One system in late 2013, then surely, fans thought, a new HALO game couldn’t be far behind.
They didn’t have to wait long, as October 27 saw the release of the fifth installment in the HALO franchise, “HALO 5: Guardians”. The much-hyped release was accompanied by novels and comics, as well as an ambitious live-action digital series called “HALO: Nightfall”.
Since the game’s release, reviews on Twitter have been flying fast and furious from multiple sources such as major sites like IGN.com.
At first glance, the Twittersphere offers a mixed bag of both glowing and scathing reviews. But further analysis yields a different picture (it’s important to remember with any popular video gaming series that even diehard fans who play for hours can still be very publicly critical of the content, considering the long periods of time they spend playing these games).
Since these games are typically divided into two parts—one being the campaign mode (single player) and the other the multiplayer option—we’ve divided our sentiment analysis in the same way. After all, several reviews, while not as enthusiastic about the campaign mode, absolutely loved the multiplayer mode including the addition of new gameplay options like “War Zone”.
halo, halo 5, #Halo5Guardians
One of the major wild cards leading up to HALO 5’s release was that, prior to the release of the previous title, creators Bungie Studios handed creative control over to the newly-formed 343 Industries. While HALO 4 was still deemed a success, it was less positively received than its predecessors. This led to some apprehension prior to Tuesday’s release, with several Twitter reviews raising the point but eventually praising the new direction in which they’ve taken the series.
The majority of negative reviews came from criticism of the campaign mode’s storyline. Several users found it both too short and confusing in several places. Another was the introduction of several new side characters, leading one reviewer to refer to the game as “HALO 5: Kardashians” (this tended to be a sore point for some of the more established HALO players).
People are still digging the Halo 5 review. Maybe because I really tried to explain *why* the campaign was a bummer? https://t.co/i964wHcrit
— Dennis Scimeca (@DennisScimeca) October 28, 2015
A Halo 5 review if ever I have seen one. https://t.co/t0fhX7HR9h — Ryan Brown (@Toadsanime) October 28, 2015
But as the above charts show, the vast majority of reviews so far have been positive. And even though some Twitter users and reviewers openly dislike certain aspects of the game, most still praise it as one of the best HALO games to date (and repeatedly refer to it as either “epic” or “mind-blowing”).
Most big HALO fans, though, will pay very little attention to reviews and form their own opinions while they play. In the end, this Twitter user put it best:
and in stunning news today no one gives a damn about Halo 5 review scores because they are too busy… playing Halo 5 Bravo @Halo
— Andy Lunique (@AndyL_Sandbox) October 27, 2015
