During the Enemy Lines level from Halo 5's campaign, which takes place around halfway through the game, Spartan Locke leads Fireteam Osiris into a huge goldfish bowl of an arena set on Sanghelios, homeworld of the Elites. Arbiter has formed a new alliance called the Swords of Sanghelios, and Osiris lends Master Chief's alien mate a hand in putting down the Covenant. It's all kicking off.
Muscle memory honed by years of similar setups in previous Halo games takes over, the "golden triangle" of shoot, grenade, melee is still as satisfying - and potent - as ever. 343 Industries' Halo has, shock horror, dared to turn that triangle into a square with the addition of new abilities such as sprint, and aim down sights, and a ground pound, and an air boost, but the famous Halo combat loop stands strong, like one of the statues of ancient aliens we see on Sanghelios, a testament to the purity that is Halo gameplay. Shoot, grenade, melee. Shoot, grenade, melee. 30 seconds of fun, calm down, ramp up, 30 seconds of fun. Brilliant.
In an effort to make a mark on the series, 343 has added a greater sense of verticality to proceedings with Halo 5. And nooks and crannies. So, upon entering said goldfish bowl, there are ledges to climb up to, rock walls to bust through, flanking positions up there and everywhere, and hidden paths in which power weapons may be found. Halo's always had huge levels complete with plenty of nooks and crannies, but with Halo 5 I felt like I was digging about more, hauling myself up, boosting onto a ledge that famous Spartan floating jump wouldn't otherwise reach, then ground pounding into a pack of Grunts from what feels like a mile up. There's plenty to do in a firefight beyond firing weapons - and invariably you'll find it if you look up. Remember, there's no fall damage as a Spartan (343 actually debated the rights and wrongs of this, creative director Tim Longo tells me).
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