Halo: Warhunt

Halo: Warhunt is a first-person shooter game in the Halo franchise developed by and  for the current  console. It is the thirteenth installment in the Halo series franchise.

Halo: Warhunt is standalone, taking place in between the events of and. It is, however, easy to be picked up by new players, and serves a an introduction of sorts into the Post-War Era. As with most Halo games, the rating is ESRB "Mature 16+" instead of the "Teen" rating for more recent games.

Revealed at E3, 2018, along with, the game was largely overshadowed by it's mainline cousin, but the release date was given out earlier, preparing to launch on October 9, 2019 worldwide. 343 Industries revealed that the game would run on 1080p 60fps, and would have four player splitscreen available.

Compared to other Halo games, Warhunt has one of the largest multiplayer platforms, with the three major aspects being Arena, Warzone, and the return of Firefight. All of these games have various modes, as well as custom games, and an overhauled Forge. All of the aspects of multiplayer are grouped into the canon "War Games" aboard the UNSC Infinity. The armor customization is similar to, but consists largely of armors from the instead. Credits are the currency in Warhunt, and are earned by playing Campaign missions and Multiplayer matches. Reqs have not been completely removed from the game, rather appealing to fans by removing microtransactions and making it so players can use earned credits to buy armor, weapon, and vehicles Reqs in the Spartan Hub for use in Warzone and Firefight. The game shares the same Spartan abilities as Halo 5: Guardians, keeping the player very mobile.

Halo: Warhunt operates very similar to Halo 5: Guardians in the fact that all updates are free, and has had 4 major updates over the years as well as 27 minor ones. The major updates have all featured new maps and weapon variants, and one even introduced a new armor set and weapon.

Plot
In early July, 2558, The Spartan IV team Fireteam Caliber suits up for a mission to take out a Covenant defense spire. The team's rookie, a new Spartan Recruit known only as Caliber Five, is subjected to a training tutorial before the mission. Afterwards, Five is greeted by the various members of the fireteam, before deploying from a Pelican into a barren desert where the Covenant are located.

After eliminating the enemy patrols, Caliber moves in on a pair of AA guns defending the the spire. Five is sent along with Spartan Julia and Spartan Jaques to take out the Covenant forces guarding the first AA gun and destroy it, while Fireteam leader Spartan Cadence and Spartan Liana go for the other one. After the AA gun is down, Five and his/her two companions infiltrate the Spire and deactivate its defenses while Cadence and Liana take control of the second AA gun, preparing to use it on an incoming CRS-class light cruiser. The cruiser deploys a number of Banshees and Phantoms, however, and Five must fend them off by fighting more Covenant on the way to the AA gun to assist Cadence. After destroying a considerable number of enemy fighters, more come, and the team is overwhelmed and defeated.

After they are defeated, it is revealed that the entire conflict is only a War Games simulation, and Fireteam Caliber is congratulated for setting a new record on surviving the longest in the particular simulation. They then meet up with Spartan Commander Sarah Palmer, who briefs the team on their next mission: To investigate a seemingly abandoned Covenant command outpost housing a large storage of Prometheans.

Travelling to the planet Kalincton, Fireteam Caliber ventures through the jungle, eliminating Covenant forces, before eventually reaching the site. After infiltrating the structure, Caliber Five is paired with Jaques to fight through close quarters to reach the storage bay. Upon reaching it, the pair find out that the majority of the carapaces are gone, leaving only a single Knight Battlewagon remaining. After it awakens and activates the Forerunner defenses in the bay, Caliber Five and Jaques are forced to combat the Knight an its small host of Promethean Crawlers, finally taking down the construct. After the rest of the team locates the command base's archives, it is discovered that the Zealot in charge of the base, Field Master Grono 'Yendam, left with the majority of the Promethean carapaces shortly before Caliber arrived. Fighting their way back through the jungle, the team holds off multiple waves of Covenant ground vehicles from the LZ before a Pelican arrives to pick them up.

After returning to the UNSC Infinity, the team is introduced to Swords of Sanghelios Commander Nak 'Yendam, a former friend of the Covenant Field Master's, and in command of a detachment of troops stationed on the neutral planet Righteous Cause. Nak informs the Spartans that a Sangheili Shipmaster from the Covenant Remnant in close alignment with Grono has set up multiple bases on the planet and increased hostilities. With help from the intelligence officers on the Infinity, the Shipmaster is revealed to be a former warrior from the Covenant Empire named Kyro 'Dezan, and that capturing him may give them vital information on the Field Master's whereabouts.

Arriving at Cause via Lich, the joint forces touch down in the city of Garuk, which the Covenant have recently taken over. Nak, three Sword lances, and Fireteam Caliber are deployed on the outskirts of the city as Nak's Lich attracts enemy fire. The group splits into two, with Caliber and one lance going through the streets and liberating citizens from the Covenant, while Nak leads the other two lances to Ortnuk Tower, where 'Dezan's commander is located.

As Cadence leads Caliber through the city, Five captures an enemy armory, compelling several human and Sangheili citizens to take up arms with the troops. Storming through a Covenant convoy, Five and Cadence split up from the rest of the strike force after an order from Nak, leaving Julia in charge. The duo make their way to a Covenant Spire, which is housing the generator for a force field around Ortnuk Tower. Using their skills from the simulation, Cadence and Five ascend the Spire, destroying the generator. Swords of Sanghelios reinforcements arrive, and the pair man the plasma turrets on a Phantom to eliminate the remaining Covenant forces below. After destroying a triumvirate of Wraiths covering the Covenant forces as they retreat, Nak informs Five over COMs that he has slain the Covenant commander, and that they are ready to assault Shipmaster Kyro's personal base.

Fast forward to the next day, Fireteam Caliber, Commander Nak, and the Swords of Sanghelios speed towards Kyro's palace in a trio of Liches, escorted by several Phantoms and Banshees. Encountering heavy resistance, Nak orders the other forces to fall back and focus their fire on Covenant Shrikes while his personal Lich goes ahead. Unfortunately, after Spartans Cadence, Julia, and Liana deploy below, Shipmaster Kyro's CRS-class light cruiser, Universal Resonance arrives, shooting down the transport. Nak is shielded from the blast by Spartan Jaques, and as such is the only survivor of the crash besides Jaques and Caliber Five.

Jaques then separates from the two to link up with Caliber, while Five and Nak fight their way through Covenant forces, destroying three Shrikes while ascending the top five levels of the palace. Reaching top floor, the Covenant forces start to retreat as the Swords of Sanghelios move in. The Resonance joins the evacuation, with Shipmaster Kyro staying behind to fight off the oncoming forces. A brief transmission from Spartan Cadence tells Five that the Covenant are retreating back to Kalincton, which eliminates the need to keep Kyro alive. Nak and Five reach the Sangheili, and Kyro berates the Sword Commander before easily defeating him, leaving Five to face him alone.

After the death of Kyro, Fireteam Caliber returns to Garuk with an injured Nak in tow. Rendezvousing with the UNSC Horus in orbit, the Spartan IVs prepare to go once more unto the breach. Shortly before the slipspace jump, they are informed that a small Swords of Sanghelios fleet will join them in the fight.

Main Menu
The Main Menu serves as a table going from left to right, with Campaign, Multiplayer, Forge, and Settings, respectively. The background is an orbiting view of Infinity as it traverses around an unknown planet. The Campaign box's symbol is a grey flag with the emblem of a Sangheili skull on it, while the Multiplayer one shows a grey Spartan Recruit helmet with a black visor. The Forge icon shows a hammer striking an anvil, while the settings symbol is a ten-toothed gear. Pressing the Menu button will show the Spartan Hub, where there are the following options in order: Customization, REQs, Career, and Store.

Campaign Menu
The Campaign Menu is a vertical up-to-down table that lists through the ten Campaign missions in order. Selecting the wanted level will bring up a description of the level, as well as another vertical table of options. At the top of the second table is the difficulty selector, with Easy, Normal, Heroic, and Legendary modes. Easy Mode's icon is a circular Kig-Yar shield. Normal's is a shield with an energy sword laying upon it, and Heroic's has two energy swords instead of one. Finally, Legendary Mode's icon is Heroic's with a Hesduron Sangheili skull atop it in a Jolly Roger fashion. Below that is a horizontal skull list, with all unlocked skulls shown. After that is the Scoring mode, with either Team, Free for All, or none at all. At the bottom is the Start Mission option, which will activate a five-second countdown that can be stopped by tapping X.

Multiplayer Menu
The Multiplayer Menu is vertical in the same sense as the Campaign Menu, with the Campaign missions replaced by the three main Multiplayer options, Arena, Firefight, and Warzone. Clicking into Arena will bring up two classes, Social, and Competitive. Choosing either one will locate the player to the different game types for the respective category. There might be sub-game types as well, and a countdown will initiate once a mode is chosen.

For Firefight, either Matchmaking or Custom can be chosen. When bringing up matchmaking, the player will be teamed up with three other players, and depending on the mode, can press the left or right bumper to switch teams. Pressing Y will show what REQs are available on the Firefight map. If playing a custom game, there will be a bar above the one that starts the game. Pressing this bar will bring up custom game options, including player mechanics, enemy spawns, vehicle and weapon options, and timers.

The Warzone Menu plays out similarly to Firefight, but with either Warzone, or Warzone Assault. Clicking Warzone will bring up the default modes, or the Heroic, Legendary, and Mythic variant of the combined game mode Warzone Firefight. Pressing Y will not bring up the available REQs, as all REQs are usable, but will rather show the Boss layout for the map, including times and minions.

Forge Menu
The Forge Menu has a vertical table of options with the Start option, Map Selection, Mode Selection, Featured Builds, and the search engine from top to bottom. There are 20 different maps to choose from, as well as multiple game modes. There are ten top voted Featured Builds rotated in every week, and the search engine is for searching up any public Forge build.

Settings Menu
In the Settings Menu, the table is vertical yet again, with options for adjusting the audio, changing the player controls, and reviewing one's career. The career section shows the player's name, rank, service description, and emblem. There are a total of 10 premade button layouts, including Default, Southpaw, Boxer, Green Thumb, Bumper Jumper, Recon, Fishstick, Halo 4, Pashooter, and Helljumper.

Cutscenes
Like Halo 5: Guardians and Halo 4: Spartan Ops, the cutscenes for Halo: Warhunt are made by. The same armors of the Reclaimer Saga are used in the cutscenes, and they are in-game rendered similar to most other Halo games. The graphics and framerate are similar to that of Halo 5: Guardians, with little notches here and there for improvements. One difference is the absence of terminals in the game, which removes the need for another animation studio to make cutscenes for them.

Weapons
Halo: Warhunt's weapon mechanics are very similar to Halo 4 and 5: Guardians, with the ability to carry two weapons at once, and if able, a turret as a third. Duel-wielding does not return, although M6C2 Magnums are always dual-wielded, similar to the Submachine Gun from. Six grenades can be carried total, with three types and two of each type.

UNSC Weapons
 * Dual M6C2 Magnums
 * Dual M6C2 Magnums
 * Dual M6C2 Magnums

Covenant Weapons
 * T-56 Plasma Striker
 * T-56 Plasma Striker
 * T-56 Plasma Striker
 * T-56 Plasma Striker
 * T-56 Plasma Striker

Setting
In Halo: Warhunt, the setting changes to multiple locations. The first levels take place aboard the Infinity, while the third and later levels take place on the jungle planet Kalincton. The remainder of the levels however are either located on outer worlds in the Joint-Occupation Zone, or on space vessels.

Armors
Armors are the defining part of a player, and 343 Industries incorporates a much more advanced customization system compared to Halo 4 and 5. Players have the ability to customize helmets, chestplates, shoulder pads, visors, genders, and colors as Spartans. The armors available are Gen 2, due to the Spartan-IV perspective of the game.

Sangheili are also usable, but cannot be cross-customized. They have a varied range of armor sets, as well as the new feature of subspecies. Instead of customizable genders like Spartans, Sangheili can be customized to either the Hesduron or Classic subspecies, due to popular demand. The Sangheili armor permutations are as follows: