“Halo 5” incorporates a lot of new elements to the core gameplay mechanics that fans of the series have loved since the beginning. While some of these elements excel at their purpose, there are a few that fall short.

The story of Halo 5 centers around two “Spartan” squads. For those who don’t know, Spartans are genetically engineered super soldiers bred from birth to fight alongside the UNSC marine corp to defend space from the malevolent alien group known as “The Covenant.” The two teams that are in the spotlight are Blue Team and Fireteam Osiris.

Blue Team is led by the series’s main protagonist, a Spartan referred by many as “Master Chief” who is on a search for the fully self aware A.I known as Cortana who has given him purpose and assistance with his difficult tasks. Her A.I expired in his system in Halo 4. Unfortunately, Master Chief goes AWOL from the United Nations Space Command (UNSC) in order to do so. This is where Fireteam Osiris comes in. Led by Spartan agent Jameson Locke, Fireteam Osiris is tasked with finding the Chief and bringing him back in order to be able to combat the threat of the re-emerged alien race “The Forerunners.”

While the overall idea of the story is interesting, it falls short in many places. The developers tried a bit too hard to focus on setting up for another installment in the Halo franchise. I have no problem with this, I would love for them to continue to make games but what I would enjoy even more is a story with substance. The story brings you to many different planets but never really justifies why it matters that you are there.

The one thing that redeems the rather dull campaign is the introduction of four player online co-op where you and your friends can assume the position of the characters and coordinate tactics as you play, or just yell obscenities as I personally prefer to do.

In fact, multiplayer is where this game shines the most. The added “Warzone” mode incorporates a large battlefield element to a multiplayer that was focused mainly on small maps. These warzone modes have the player fighting not only against other players but against computer controlled bosses that spawn periodically. The classic small map modes such as Slayer, SWAT and Free-for-all are included in the arena mode multiplayer, including an intense new elimination based mode called Breakout.

Overall, the game is the most fun when played with other people whether it is with your friends or with random people over Xbox live.