Over the past few months, Halo 5: Guardians' suite of multiplayer options has changed quite a bit. The game may have launched with fewer modes than fans were used to, but 343 Industries has largely fixed that issue - and, along with the game's new modes and maps, fans now have more customization and loadout options than any other game in the franchise.
Even with all of these updates, Warzone Firefight still represents the largest addition to Halo 5's multiplayer. Its focus on co-op gameplay is far removed from the eSports-heavy focus of Arena or the slow burn of traditional Warzone...but that's exactly what makes it interesting.
343 Industries recently opened up access to a limited-time Warzone Firefight beta, giving fans their first chance to play through Halo 5's new co-op multiplayer mode - and seeing as the original mode was one of the most popular ways to play in previous titles, Warzone Firefight has some pretty big shoes to fill.
In the end, some longtime players may need to get used to some of the bigger changes that the studios has made - but it's definitely worth it.
At its core, Warzone Firefight is still a variation of the original Warzone mode. As such, the formula largely remains the same: kill enemies, build REQ energy, call in power weapons and vehicles, repeat. The formula still works, too - it's fun to mow down Covenant or Promethean troops and unlock bigger guns as a reward.
Granted, the mode's few low points also make the jump to Firefight - it can be extremely frustrating to call in a rare, expensive weapon only to lose it seconds later. It's not necessarily the game's fault, but those who grew frustrated with Warzone in the past probably won't be converted.
And, while the new mode may bear the name Firefight, this isn't the endless fight for survival that fans have grown to love. In the original mode, players would hold off waves of enemies for as long as they possibly could - in Warzone Firefight, however, players only need to make it through a series of five rounds to claim victory.
The scale of Warzone Firefight is what really sells it. 343 wasn't lying when it said the mode would feature some of the biggest battles in the series so far: it's entirely possible that you and your seven comrades will go up against dozens upon dozens of enemies at once.
Things only get more chaotic when vehicles enter the fray, and it can end up feeling more like an all-out war than some of the game's campaign missions. In a lot of ways, Firefight is reminiscent of Destiny's Strike Missions, just on a much larger scale - at least from a battlefield population perspective.
Long story short, Warzone Firefight feels like what Halo 4's Spartan Ops should have been. It's a shame that the bits of context from 343's last co-op mode are gone, but the overall experience is just so much better that it's easy to let any semblance of story go. Warzone Firefight is just more fun to play, even with a few one-sided objectives to fight through. Better yet, it's also far more technically stable at this point, and avoids many of the lag and framerate stumbles that Spartan Ops struggled with.
Even so, it's important to remember that this is just a beta: there's only one map available, and players will likely go through the same objectives over and over and over again. What's really exciting about Warzone Firefight is the potential: if 343 Industries uses the default mode as a jumping off point, there's a good chance that Firefight could end up becoming a fan-favorite mode.
Considering just how much the studio has already done for the game, the version of Warzone Firefight that fans are playing through now is likely just the beginning.
The Halo 5: Guardians Warzone Firefight beta is live through April 19.
