Halo 5: Guardians release fast approaching
James Taggart in full costume as his own character from the Halo series, J Spartan 115.
Photograph by: Alfredo Lainez
STORY BY CHELSEA HOGG
Halo fans around the world are eagerly anticipating the October 27 release of the new Halo 5: Guardians.
Fans have long awaited the next chapter in the Halo series, which hasn’t seen a new installment since 2012.
The promotional podcast series called Hunt the Truth was released shortly after the announcement of Halo 5 last year. It contains 15- to 20-minute episodes featuring the narration of fictional journalist Benjamin Giraud, who is investigating the history of John 117 aka the Master Chief.
And the fans? They can’t wait.
“I’m really happy to see Blue Team back together again because that is John’s family” said James Taggart, a 23-year-old Halo fan and cosplayer from Toronto. “It gives me a warm feeling inside.”
Taggart attended the Toronto Xbox convention, X15, this year dressed as the Master Chief.
“They treated me amazingly!” said Taggart.
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Some fans are particularly excited about this version’s competitive online game called Warzone.
“It should be just as good as the rest of the Halo games, if not better with Warzone,” said Taggart.
The team at 343 Industries, along with Xbox, opened the game’s online mode to the public at conventions such as X15 and Fan Expo 2015.
At Fan Expo, Xbox set up a rewards system to promote its games by giving out microchipped bracelets that allowed players to scavenge for points by completing tasks which could be redeemed for prizes and free merchandise.
One of those tasks was pre-ordering Halo 5: Guardians.
For the past year-and-a-half, fans have read novels, listened to Hunt the Truth, attended conventions and played the game – all to learn as much as possible about the up-coming continuation of the Halo series.
“I can’t wait to find out what the teams get themselves into this time,” said Taggart.
Levi Courchesne, a 23-year-old YouTube gamer from Sterling, Ontario, thinks Halo 5 represents a groundbreaking storytelling component.
“Halo 5, without a doubt, has, like, next-level storytelling that translates well to its audience,” said Courchesne.
Courchesne runs a YouTube channel called “Levi inc” where he talks about games.
“The fraction that the public has seen of Halo has brought so much atmosphere because of them including so much lore, whether it be from the novels of the comics,” said Courshesne.
Some fans are skeptical of the Halo 5’s nature and are anxious to find out the whole story behind it.
“This game is different than the other games because the way it has been advertised shows a darker side of it,” said Chris Wyeld, an 18-year-old fan from Burlington.
“I guess we’ll all have to wait and see what happens.”
Courchesne, on the other hand, already thinks highly of the new game – and is excited about a new addition called REC packs.
REC packs are an assortment of collectable codes that can be found in Halo merchandise that can be redeemed for in-game features.
“I am really excited for the REC packs because they made collecting Halo merchandise more fun,” said Courchesne.
To find out more about Halo 5: Guardians, visit www.xbox.com/halo-5.
