Another sequel, another flop was what many would expect about Halo 5, the next Halo title in the video gaming franchise.

Many hardcore Halo fans who have been with the series since its beginning in 2001 with the gaming company Bungie were up in arms over the flop that was Halo 4. With the release of this new Halo 5, I was thinking much the same.

But once I started the gameplay, I became immersed in the story and the quality that the new production company, 343 Industries, created. The story and the characters felt more alive than they did in Halo 4.

Bungie had parted ways with its successful creation, and handed the franchise off to 343 Industries. At first, many fans were left angered with the route 343 took the franchise. The quality and story of the game was drastically different than what Bungie started.

If you are a huge Halo fan like I am, you know that the main character, the Master Chief, never had much dialogue and spoke very rarely. But in Halo 4, the Chief had extensive dialogue.

This change upset me and I was left feeling that 343 could never recreate the Halo that I fell in love with.

Fast forward to 2014 with the Halo 2 Anniversary Edition and the lack of quality that 343 put into the game. Players encountered many bugs, not to mention that the multiplayer systems were left unoperational for months following release.

This rushing to push the game to the market on a yearly basis made Halo look more like a Call of Duty franchise with a new game released every year – and stale content.

But once I started playing Halo 5 Guardians, I was left speechless. The new company, 343 Industries, apparently had actually listened to the fans and what they wanted, and improved on past shortcomings.

Halo 5 offers a vast world, and absolutely warlike (unlike previous Halo games), Guardians has so far been an enjoyable thrill ride that could draw new players to the franchise.

With the introduction of new characters, cutting back on the Chief’s dialogue, and reintroducing a fan favorite character from Halo 2 (The Arbiter), Halo 5 is sure to please any fan, as it has me.

And for any science fiction buff like me, the new Spartan character, Buck, (voiced and based off actor Nathan Fillion), is sure to please many fans.

As for now there is not much more to say about the game until I complete it. But I would definitely suggest that you give Halo 5 a try, and see how it measures up to the previous games. Now, as for me, I am going to go back to finishing this game and start on the multiplayer.

Rating: 4.5/5 Great story, phenomenal casting and dialogue, stunning visuals, bringing back fan favorites.