![]() Really, though, I'm just in mourning for a mode that I fear is not much longer for this world. If the studio set its mind to it, I'm certain it could overcome whatever obstacles splitscreen Halo 5 might pose. I raise that comparison not to suggest the technical challenge is equal between the two games - new consoles come with new quirks and hurdles, after all - but simply to point out that 343 is no stranger to accomplishing impressive feats in design and programming. Halo 4 on the Xbox 360, for example, was a visual spectacle for the console, squeezing it for all it was worth, and it did not have to sacrifice splitscreen to do so. Focusing on fidelity over features seems foolish, especially for a game with as rich a multiplayer history as Halo. But, technical points aside, I'm not sure I support 343's decision. Back in earlier generations, games like GoldenEye even had to sacrifice texture quality and remove objects from the environment in order to ship functional multiplayer. This is evident in games like Mario Kart 8, where the normally rock-solid framerate takes a noticeable dip when a couple of friends jump in. Implementing splitscreen multiplayer isn't as easy as chopping the screen in half and calling it a day the strain on the system can be equivalent to running two versions of the game simultaneously in some cases. ![]() Rather than spending precious development time optimising and potentially compromising the grand vision of Halo 5, 343 chose to scrap the mode entirely and turn its focus on single player and online.įrom a technical standpoint, this is certainly a valid move. The scope of the game's environments, the details of its graphics, and the dynamism of its AI are all too much to replicate in the confines of split-screen. No matter how tight an online experience can get, it will never match the physical ecstasy of a match-winning high-five and the subsequent satisfaction of seeing the frustration in the face of your smack-talking friend.Īlso Read: 43 More Added to Xbox One Backwards Compatibility List - Including Dark Souls II and The Witcher IIĪlso Read: Splitscreen Gaming is a Culture Not a Mode – How Halo 5: Guardians is Getting It WrongĪlso Read: Gears of War 4 Will Have Splitscreen Gamingģ43 Industries, the developer behind Halo 5, has justified the omission as a tough decision made for the sake of scale and fidelity. It may have involved a lot of effort for kids without cars, but it was always worth it. Back in the days of the original Xbox, avid fans of the franchise - myself included - would lug that enormous black brick over to friends' houses, haul in a second monstrous CRT from some dusty corner, and settle down for some 4v4 Team Deathmatch. And now it's to be no more? The notion seems unthinkable for many, Halo is local multiplayer. In my mind, at least, it stands next to N64 classic GoldenEye as the pinnacle of local multiplayer. The source of countless late-night LAN parties all through the 2000's. ![]() The herald of console first-person shooters. It took me several seconds to fully parse that statement when I first heard it. Halo 5: Guardians is coming exclusively to Xbox One on October 27th. Make sure to check out our preview for more impressions.įor all your gaming news, stay here at Gaming Trend.Splitscreen gaming has been hanging on for dear life as the industry has become focused on pretty visuals and online play, but the good times are over. Spencer also claims to have “loved” Halo’s split-screen multiplayer, saying “it was kind of how multiplayer in Halo was born.”Īccording to a post by developer 343’s Josh Holmes back in July, the decision to drop split-screen “was one of the most difficult ones we’ve ever had to make as a studio.” It’s one of the advantages that Xbox Live obviously offers.” “I love the nostalgia of the couch co-op of what Halo did in the past,” he goes on, “but I also know in the realities of the day with people’s busy lives, it’s not as easy to get everybody in the same physical place. 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.” ![]() “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,” Spencer recently told GameSpot. “We know that’s the vast majority of the co-op play. Phil Spencer, the head of Xbox, has shed some light on why the upcoming Halo 5: Guardians has abandoned split-screen multiplayer.
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