Halo 5: Guardians is a first-person shooter, with players experiencing most gameplay through the eyes of a playable character. The camera switches to a third-person view for some cinematics and gameplay sequences.
The game preserves many of the core features of the Halo franchise's gameplay experience. Players step into the MJOLNIR powered armor of a Spartan and control that character's actions. MJOLNIR armor provides deflector shields, which diminish whilst protecting the wearer from weapons fire but recharge after a short recovery. Spartans may only carry two personal weapons at a time, but may swap them out at any time for any other weapon they find (including those dropped by slain enemies) and may also carry and fire a crew-served weapon (discarded when the player switches back to a personal weapon). Spartans may also throw grenades and use their weapons for pistol-whipping. Finally, some of the vehicles and their mounted weapons are available for use.
New to the series are "Spartan Abilities", replacing the Armor Abilities of previous games. In-universe, the characters' MJOLNIR armor has been upgraded with various thrusters that allow them increased mobility options in all three axes of movement. They are context-dependent and can be used for attack, defense and evasion. Additionally, all Halo 5 firearms can be aimed by looking down their iron sights, a capability restricted to specific weapons in previous games.[4]
Previous games in the franchise have featured brief gameplay segments where the player character is accompanied by non-player character (NPC) companions in the form of United Nations Space Command (UNSC) Marines, non-human allies like the Arbiter, and other Spartans. In the campaign, Halo 5 also equips the player with a persistent fireteam of NPC Spartans, who are present at all times and can receive limited orders using the Xbox controller.[5] During cooperative play, other players assume control of these Spartans; each Spartan has different gameplay attributes. If any Spartan, player-controlled or not, takes too much damage, they enter an incapacitated state, and a teammate must rush over and revive them before they die.
Unlike previous first-person shooters in the Halo franchise, Halo 5: Guardians does not feature any offline multiplayer capabilities, like split-screen cooperative campaign and multiplayer modes;[6] it also does not have any local networking options.[7] Microsoft Studios corporate vice president Phil Spencer commented on the lack of split-screen, stating "We see the robustness of what Xbox Live is today and where people are playing across Xbox Live—you at your house, me at our house. We know that's the vast majority of the co-op play. With Halo 5, the team really wanted to focus on making that experience great, both visually on the screen that you're looking at, and all the systems in place."
