Were/are you keen on Halo 4’s Armor Abilities? Comprising a range of active and passive buffs such as the ability to see through walls or conjure a shield, they’re among the things that most obviously set the game apart from predecessors. Many fans weren’t amused, styling this the “Call of Dutification” of Halo. Good news, detractors – according to 343’s design director Bradford Welch, there’s none of that sort of thing in Halo 5: Guardians for Xbox One.
“Arena means what you’d expect,” he said of a reference to “next generation arena multiplayer” in the below trailer for the game’s beta, which begins in December. “Competitive focus, level playing field, map control. Spartan abilities are player mechanics not loadout AAs.” These abilities are “things that every player can do inherently with their Spartan,” Welch added, when pestered by Twitter followers.
Beyond that, pretty much all we know about Halo 5’s multiplayer is that it runs at 60 frames a second on dedicated servers, and includes a number of returning weapons. Catch brief glimpses of the arsenal in the video. I’m a little saddened by the loss of Armor Abilities, personally – I quite liked how they allowed you to distinguish playstyles. Still, there are always map item and weapon drops, I suppose.