'Halo 5: Guardian' Beta Release Date & Gameplay: New Map And Strongholds Gametype Added

Jan 12, 2015 05:10 PM EST

Those unfamiliar with video game worlds have at least heard of Halo, the massively successful video game franchise that Microsoft designed to put the Xbox on the map, and it has had four massively successful iterations.  Two years ago, at E3 (a massive gaming conference held annually in Los Angeles), Microsoft announced a new entry in the Halo series, and Halo 5: Guardians has just began its third and final week of beta testing, and it focuses a lot on multiplayer experience in an arena-like atmosphere.  Here is some of Halo 5: Guardians Beta Updates and News. 

For those not in the know, beta-testing is the last stage of testing a product, such as a video game, offering real-world testing of the product before launching it into stores.  According to the International Business Times, the three-week beta run for Halo 5: Guardians will end on January 18, and will then be followed by another known as Strongholds.  In this phase, teams will have to control the majority of bases, with points being earned for each second that a team controls the base more than the enemy team.   There will also be three control zones in this mode, and a team will have to hold two of the stronghold's zones in order to earn the points.  Then it will be a match and race to get the 100 points, and it is playable on Regret and Empire (two different maps for this game). 

Speaking of maps, the Halo 5 Guardians Multiplayer Beta Update website has stated that there will be two maps swapped into the Slayer playlist.  This will allow the testers to "wield the Prophet's Bane, and cut through your opponent's on Truth".  Let's assume that diehard Halo fans know exactly what that means.  There has also been more added by popular demand with a new Forge map known as Pegasus.

About a week ago, according to IGN, there was another game added to the beta known as Breakout.  This was a round-based mode, with each Spartan (Halo super-soldier players) having only one life.  The object was to kill the enemy team to win the round, with the first team to win five rounds winning the match.  The new game mode was playable on two new maps: Trench and Crossfire.  This new update offered beta-testers a chance to play with a new weapon known as the Light Rifle. 

If you have the Halo: The Master Chief Collection and Halo: Nightfall, you can unlock exclusive content to help join the Halo 5: Guardians Multiplayer Beta.  Hopefully, you can join the Beta team before Microsoft closes off all applications. 

Halo 5: Guardians is set to be released sometime in the in Fall of 2015.  It is available for pre-order on the Halo Way Point site.  The game is set to include a post-Halo 4 Master Chief (an iconic character from the Halo series games), and Spartan Locke is asked to go after the iconic character in a plotline that is involving the intergalactic mythos of the franchise.  The Halo 5: Guardians game is planned to be released along with a TV series on Showtime that will be produced by Steven Spielberg and Ridley Scott, according to Tech Times.