The things that are different are merely parasitical developments from other massive first-person shooter games of the contemporary period. You can do some boosting, which feels much likeAdvanced Warfare’s exo suit boosting. You can jump and climb onto something, which adds a bit more strategy to the experience of play. You can now aim down your sights with all weapons, which the game calls Smart-linking for some reason, but if you get shot you’re pulled out of it. Those mechanical changes, as big as they are, are merely changes that bring this game in line with another franchise. We’re barrelling toward some kind of ur-shooter with these franchises, but the decision to add these particular mechanics to Halo feels almost cynical. There has always been something charming about a military-affiliated Master Chief who just runs around and shoots things like he’s living in Unreal Tournament world, and the addition of Call of Duty-style “tactical combat” invites a tone that the game neither wants nor can support.

Halo 5: Guardians review at Paste