The highly anticipated beta for Microsoft's next release in the massively successful Halo franchise has been released, and is set to run for the next few weeks.
The beta for Halo 5: Guardians has been released on the Xbox One as of 12 pm EST, although not without its caveats.
Players must own a copy of Halo: The Master Chief Collection to begin playing the beta, and players only have until January 18th to join and play in the beta, as by the 18th the beta will end.
Players also have the opportunity to unlock 'exclusive' items for the beta, which can be unlocked by "... unlocking exclusive content in Halo: The Master Chief Collection and Halo: Nightfall. These exclusive items will carry over into Halo 5: Guardians."
The beta itself offers an 'intense' arena mode with 4 v 4 showdowns, along with seven maps and three game modes altogether. The beta also offers a "... variety of different armor sets to customize your Spartan." Microsoft goes on to state that "throughout the beta, players will have the opportunity provide feedback through the Halo Channel."
At least they are actually testing the multiplayer component this time around, especially considering the still mostly M.I.A. multiplayer for Halo: The Master Chief Collection. To try and earn goodwill, Microsoft recently offered an apology in the form of compensation for how badly they bungled up the Collection's launch, and is hopefully a wake-up call for the company. Only time will tell, but in the meantime Microsoft has made some good decisions.
Moving back to the beta, the beta itself runs at 60fps, which is a welcome decision in an increasingly 'cinematic' console generation. This, along with the fact that the beta also uses dedicated servers is definitely a step in the right direction, especially in the wake of the peer-to-peer system that Halo: The Master Chief Collection used to its own detriment.
If you are curious about the beta, check out the trailer here.
For more details, stay tuned to TechRaptor.
