Xbox Live Gold is no more, but in its place comes dozens of ??Xbox Game Pass Core games to play alongside access to the console's online services. It's certainly the end of an era, and we've gotten some request?s to create a clear list of what's available: here you go!

With Xbox Game Pass Core, you can play many games, including Among Us and Fallout 4. There are a bunch of single-player and multiplayer titles to chec??k out. The neat thing is that you don't have to do anything if you're already subscribed to Xbox Live Gold.

Every Xbox Game Pass Core game, listed

Here are all o??f the Xbox Game Pass Core games you can play right now. They include:

• Among Us
• Astroneer
• Celeste
• Dead Cells
• Descenders
• Dishonored 2
• DOOM Eternal Standard Edition
• Fable Anniversary
• Fallout 4
• Fallout 76
• Firewatch
• Forza Horizon 4 Standard Edition
• Gang Beasts
• Gears 5 Game of the Year Edition
• Golf with your Friends
• Grounded
• Halo 5: Guardians
• Halo Wars 2
• Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
• Human Fall Flat
• INSIDE
• LIMBO
• Ori & the Will of the Wisps
• Overcooked! 2
• Payday 2: Crimewave Edition
• Powerwash Simulator
• Psychonauts 2
• Slay the Spire
• Spiritfarer: Farewell Edition
• Stardew Valley
• State of Decay 2: Juggernaut Edition
• Superliminal
• The Elder Scrolls Online
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge
• Unpacking
• Vampire Survivors

[Thanks, Windows Central]

What should you download first?

There are some standouts from the Xbox Game Pass Core list. Golf With Your Friends is a thrilling multiplayer mini-golf game that's a lot of fun with...well...your friends. The courses feature all sorts of twist??s and turns along the way to catch you off guard. I've laughed so many times because of seeing my pals' failures.

If you want another indie hit to play, Celeste is one of my favorite games, period. It has a gorgeous pixel art style matched with wonderful, atmospheric music from Lena Raine. The engrossing story it tells, which goes hand-in-hand with the difficult platforming ??truly hooked me in. It says you can conquer your struggles and triumph.

Some first-party Xbox games are part of the Xbox Game Pass Core lineup as well. It has Halo 5: Guardians, Psychonauts 2, and Gears 5 Game of the Year Edition just to name a few.

Xbox Game Pass Core costs $9.99 per month or? $59.99 per year. It includes all of the games above and on??line multiplayer access.

The post Here’s a clear list of every Xbox Game Pass Core game appeared first on Destructoid.

Master Chief sticking with Xbox for now

In a recent reaching-but-understandable bit of guesswork, fans have been musing over the possibility of Xbox One shooter Halo 5: Guardians being porte??d to the PC. This came about do to some updated Amazon box-art pictures that changed "Xbox One Exclusive" to "Xbox One Console Exclusive".

Unfortunately, despite the hopes of said fans, Microsoft has released a statement clarifying that there are currently no plans to bring the epic sequel to the world of Mouse & Keyboard. "As we've shared previously, we do not have plans to launch Halo 5: Guardians on Windows 10 PC" said a Microsoft spokesperson to CNET?, shattering hopes and dr??eams with a mere sentence.

Still, we do know that Halo: Infinite is coming to the PC platform, so at least there's some light at the end of the tunnel. Now it's just a case of waiting for the mighty MS to bless us with a release date. Anytime soon would be fine, guys...

Halo 5: Guardians is not planned?? for PC release despite ?boxart rumors [CNET]

The post Despite rumours, Microsoft clarifies Halo 5 is ??not headed to PC appeared first on Destructoid.

Campaign, too

If you're an Xbox Live Gold member and have somehow not played Halo 5, this coming weekend will be perfect for you. Running from today, January 11, until January 14, all currently subscribed Live Gold members will be able to download and enjoy the entirety of Halo 5: Guardians on their Xbox One's or Xbox One X's with no compro??mises.

This includes all the multiplayer DLC and the complete campaign mode as well as the 4K upgrade patch. If you find yourself digging the game, you will also be able to pick it up for 20% off during this promotion. You'll just need to download the client ?from the Xbox One ?dashboard and you'll be all set for when the promotion goes live.

Play Halo 5: Guardians for Free This Weekend with Xbox Live Gold [Xbox Wire]

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A flood of announcements

July 7 used to be Halo Day. Well, it was technically Bungie Day, but with Bungie at the helm of the entire Halo series, it effectively meant that it was also Halo Day. That's dashed now that Bungie has moved onto Destiny. But, this year, Ju?ly 6 ??has some announcements that would be fitting for a Halo Day under 343's leadership.

Called the "Summer Celebration," 343 Industries has some fairly big news pertaining to past Halo installments. The most major development is that Halo 5: Guardians will be ??getting a true 4K update on Xbox One X later this fall. The studio says that this reveal wasn't made during E3 last month because "[it wasn't] quite ready to make the announcement" the??n.

The other important news looks even further to the past. Later this year, Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST, Halo 4, and Halo CE: Anniversary will all be added to Xbox One's backward compatibility program. Additionally, they all support multiplayer and LAN play, including LAN cross-play from Xbox 360 to Xbox One. A lot of folks already have access to these titles on Xbox One through the Master Chief Collection, but?? this is still a fine way to play th?e original versions.

Not a bad one-day haul for Halo fans. This is about as good as anyone could hop?e for, short of concrete news about future games.

Halo Summer Cel??ebration: 4K, Backward ??Compatibility, Epic Events & More [Xbox Wire]

The post Halo 5 is getting the 4K treatment, lots of Halo classics being made backward compa??tible appeared first on Destructoid.

Feature will return for future games

Halo and split-screen is a combination?? similar to peanut butter and jelly. They just go together so well and have provided millions with a tasty and nutritional meal...I mean, a fun evening killing each other...Maybe PB&J has lead to a? death or two...I have no idea where I'm going with this metaphor.

Either way, 343 Industries has recognized that excluding split-screen multiplayer from Halo 5: Guardians was a big mistake. While the feature won't be coming to that specific game, all future first-person games in the series will include the f??eature by default. At the DICE 2017 conference, executive producer Bonnie Ross admitted that the exclusion of the cherished mode was one of the "painful learnings" that company went through with the franchise.

These 'learnings' were "incredibly painful for the community and us," Ross stated in her speech. She then gave some detail about how this choice (along with the launch of the Master Chief Collection) has led to some distrust within the Halo community. At least 343 has learned its lesson and we won't have to worry about any future titles locking us out from old fashioned sandwichy goodness...I mean, c?ouch co-op action...I guess PB&J can be enjoyed cooperatively on a couch...

Halo 6 will feature split-screen [Game Zone]

The post 343 Industries promises to bring spl??it-screen back for the next Halo appeared first on Destructoid.

Well, details half of it

It has been more than a year since Halo 5 launched, b??ut developer 343 Industries continues to support it with new maps, helpful features??, and quality of life improvements. Actually, one of the biggest updates is right around the corner, almost 14 months after release.

As 343 details on Halo Waypoint, Monitor's Bounty is scheduled for December 8, two day?s from now. Apart from new Warzone maps and in-game items, the add-on contributes two substantial features: A custom? game browser and an observer mode.

The custom game browser adds the functionality to look for and join in-progress custom matches. Vincent Hui, Halo 5's UX design lead, comments "We've also updated the content browser so that if you find a map or mode that you like, you'll be able to browse for in-progress custom games from that file's options." He adds "This custom games browser is something the team has want?ed to add for a long time for the community, but we needed the content browser and the search engine that powers it up and running first."

The other notable addition, Observer mode, has an eSports bent. Hui explains "For the 2016 Halo World Championship, we unveiled an in-game overlay known as the Observer HUD that showed the status and weapon details for all eight players in the match. It was a great tool for viewers and casters to see how many pla??yers were on respawn and who had Power Weapons and Power-Ups." This is available is custom game lobbies.

This is technically only half (or so) of what's in Monitor's Bounty. 343 plans to reveal the rest of it tomorrow, including what it calls "the biggest Forge update ever seen in a Halo game." For specifics on the added items and whatnot, head over to the post on Halo Waypoint. Until then, here'?s a sweet new assassination animation:

Monitor's Bounty Preview [Halo Waypoint]

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I shot the pilot, I'm begging you to fly this for me

Halo 5 takes place in 2558 but some playe??rs are turning the clock back some 600 years. Thanks to the wonders of Forge mode, you can get your fix of old-timey war right alongside all that futuristic war.

Forge creator JoeAct20 made this Slayer variant where players pilot fighter planes in hopes of shooting one another down. It's called Air Superiorit??y, and it seems to mostly be a re-skinning and repurposing of the game's Banshee vehicle. This mode supports anywhere from 2v2 to 8v8. The latter would make for quite the chaotic dogfighti??????????????????????????ng.

This feels especially pertinent because Battlefield 1 is one of the biggest titles this fall. Air Superiority might be a bit more World War II than World War I, but it gets the trick done. Maybe it won't quite scratch the same itch since it's in Halo and all, but it's still a neat way to get a little Battlefield in Halo 5.

Air Superiority [Halo Waypoint via reddit]

The post Someone added a touch of Battlefield into Halo 5 appeared first on Destructoid.

Halo 5: Forge drops next month for free

Starting Thursday, September 8, PC players will be able to dip their toes into Halo 5: Guardians map-making. As previously covered, 343 Industries and SkyBox Labs are bringing the game's For??ge mode over to Windows 10 -- that's the day it'll roll out as a free ?download on the Windows Store.

The companies are promising "support for mouse and keyboard for highly refined object placement and manipulation, higher-resolution displays (including 4K) for stunning graphic fidelity, the ability to host and play custom matches ??for up to 16 players, and a new content browser that spans platforms. Creators will be able to download levels from the Forge community created on both Windows 10 PC and Xbox One, which they can then customize, or create their own from scratch."

You might, for instance, want to play some digital beer pong. That's already possible in Halo 5 on Xbox One thanks to intrepid Forge creators, and soon enough, it will be possible on PC as well. Definitely do that in lieu of the entire Halo 5: Guardians experience arriving on PC, which sadly isn't happen??ing (ye??t).

Halo 5: Forge Comes to PC on Septembe??r 8, Anvil’s Legacy Content Release Reveal?ed [Xbox]

The post You’ll soon be able to make and play Halo 5 maps on Windows 10 appeared first on Destructoid.

Swillamanjaro

Beer pong. It's an innocent party game that is sometimes turned not-innocent by idiots with hyper-competitive tendencies and lack of perspective. It's also the subject of many bad songs. Now, it's in Halo 5 too.

Making use of Halo 5's Forge mode, user AFTM Reclaimer made beer pong based on a Grifball variant. You stand on one side and throw a ball at a triangle of cups that are far away. Sounds like beer pong to me. But, when you make one, you head over to a series of s?witches and activate whichever one corresponds to the cup that needs to be pulled. A little complicated but it gets the job done.

For anyone who's interested, AFTM Reclaimer wrote a little bit on ForgeHub about what went into this game mode. Those who want to get straight to the partyin' can download beer pong on Halo Waypoint.

It's a good premise, but it's not unprecedented. Beer pong has shown up in video games before, one of my personal ironic favorites being Beer Pong! Considering Kyle gave that a 1/10, Halo's take is almost undoubtedly better.

Beer Pong [ForgeHub]

The post Sink it and drink it: Folks are playing beer pong in H??alo 5 appeared first on Destructoid.

Shoot grunts until July 5

I don't think I've ever played a bad Halo game. I have my favorites (Reach & ODST), but I can see the merits in every installment. Even Halo 5: Guardians, which received a fine, if muted reaction, is still a well-m?ade video game. When the low points in your series are just "good," that's an impressive batting record.

(Except for that one time 343 Industries bungled the easiest slam dunk in the history of current-gen remas??ters, but those games are still good! They're just smothered by technical issues.)

If you've been looking for an excuse to judge Halo 5 for yourself so you can post angry comments on our review about how seven is too low/too high of a score, here's your chance. Xbox Live Gold members can now download and play the full game for free until July 5, at which point you'll have to pony up if you want to play more. The deal is ostensibly promoting the release of Warzone Firefight -- an enormous unpaid expansion that Jordan covered last week. At first, I was confused as to why you'd need to promote something people don't have to pay for...until I remembered Halo 5 has microtransactions. Now it all makes sense.

For us Americans, this lines up perfectly with our upcoming holiday weekend. Take this opportunity granted to us by the Founding Fathers, and wring every last drop out of this video game before you have to pay for it. (If you want to pay for it, the game is also 50% off.) Or, if you bought Halo 5 a??t launch, this is a fine excuse to h??op back in while the servers are full of new players.

The post PSA:? Halo 5 is f?ree to play for Xbox Live Gold members appeared first on Destructoid.

Play the whole game for a limited time with Xbox Live Gold

Next week is a big one for Halo 5: Guardians, whether you own the game or not.

On June 29, 343 Industries is adding Warzone Firefight, a round-based PvE survival mode, as well as Score Attack for the campaign, three maps (Attack on Sanctum, Prospect, and Molten), a?n oceanic canvas for Forge mode, and more REQ items. Just so we're on the same page, that is indeed a Grunt in a Grunt-loo??king mech up there -- it's a new boss type for Warzone and Warzone Firefight.

Starting on that same day, Xbox Live Gold members will get a week of access to "the full game." With your subscription, you'll be able to download and play Halo 5 at no extra cost from June 29 to July 5.

If you're up for that, be sure to make ??room on your hard drive. I'm talkin??g 80GB+ here.

Warzon??e Firefight?? Comes to Halo 5: Guardians on June 29 [Xbox]

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Keyboard, mouse, and 4K support

For years now, Halo content creators have been making incredible things in the series' Forge mode. Today, Microsoft announ?ced a change in the tools that could potentially give those creators a level of precision they never thought possible.

Later this year, Halo 5's Forge will be available on Windows 10 PC for free. Players can use the map-making platform on their computers to design and test custom Halo?&nbs??p;levels. PC creations can be published to Xbox One for play on console.

The most important part of this revelation is that there's keyboard and mouse support on PC. Rather than tediously editin??g everything with an Xbox One controller, players will be able to use keyboard and mouse to efficiently refine their levels with the exact meticulous care that this audience demands. Even better, the PC version o??f Forge will also support resolutions up to 4K.

Even though this is a part of Halo 5 on PC, it's not any indication that Halo 5 will come to PC. It's just a toolset being released on another platform in hopes that it'll enhance the user-made experiences on Xbox One. In that context, this is a fantastic addition. For anyone looking for more Halo 5&nb??sp;than just Forge on PC, they'll only fi??nd misplaced disappointment.

The post Halo 5’s Forge mode is coming to Windows 10 PC for free appeared first on Destructoid.

Isn't Forge great?

I haven't played a lot of Halo 5: Guardians since the map-making Forge mode released, but I might just have to with all these cool c??reations players are releasing. 

CaptainDireWolf took the time to model multiple Pokémon for a Rock, Paper, Scissors ;style min??i-game that includes animations for the pocket monsters' attacks, as well as moving Poké Balls. I love that people take the time to create silly things like this, but I've personally never had the patience.

The post You can kind of play Pokemon in Halo 5 now appeared first on Destructoid.

Ascendio!

Grifball is one of Halo's most popular community-made game types. It's a bit like Rocket League but with a lot more killing. Two teams try to move a rugby ball-like bomb into the opponent's goal. Everyone's equipped ??with unlimited-use Gravity Hammers and Energy Swords, so success is rarely sustained for any significant amount of time. Yes, it's as chaotic as it sounds?.

A Harry Potter variant on Grifball ratchets up the bedlam. Ostensibly Quidditch, this version has players flying through the sky while trying to put the ball through one of the arena's large hoops??. This video paints a clear depiction as to what Grif??ball Quidditch is all about -- the earlier portions giving an overview of the action before moving into a player's perspective.

If this seems like something you want to be a part of, go download user XxHugabearXx's map variant and game variant from Halo Waypoint.

Halo 5 ;Grifball Is Better When It??'s Played I??n A Quidditch Pitch [Kotaku]

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Now with five games

It's a new year, and while Microsoft has released a few Xbox One bundles to date, its best of 2016 is the new 1TB Spring Bundle. Launched just yesterday, you effectively are getting five bonus titles plus a limited-time $50 discount at the Microsoft Store.

The bundle has everything from the 2015 Holiday Bundle plus a copy of Halo 5: Guardians. All together, that's Halo 5, Gears of War: Ultimate Edition, Rare Replay (30 games), Ori and the Blind Forest, and another free bonus Ubisoft title.

At checkout, you'll also be able to choose a free Ubisoft game with your choice from either Watch Dogs, Assassin's Creed: Unity, The Crew, Just Dance 2016, or Just Dance Disney 2. The $50 discount a??nd free game is part of Microsoft Store promotion which began April 17 and is likely to run through the end of the month.

Microsoft Store Xbox One Deals

($50 off + free Ubisoft game)

• Xbox One 1TB Spring Bundle + Free Game — $349 (list price $399)
• Xbox One Elite Bundle + Free Game — $449 (list price $499)
• Xbox One Rainbow Six Siege 1TB Bundle + Free Game — $349 (list price $399)
• Xbox One Quantum Break Bundle — $299 (list price $349)
• Xbox One Gears of War Ultimate Bundle + Free Game — $299 (list price $349)
• Xbox One LEGO Movie Videogame Bundle + Free Game — $299 (list price $349)

Dell Xbox One Deals

• Xbox One Name Your Game Bundle + Extra Controller — $299 (list price $349) <- Code: FREECONTROLLER
• Xbox One Quantum Break Bundle + Vizio 43" 4?K UHDTV — $599.99  (list price $950) <- Code: GAMEON

eBay Xbox One Deals

• Xb??ox One Rise Tomb Raider 1TB Bu?ndle + 4 Free Games — $349.99 (list price $400)
• Xbox One Console + Free 3 Games (Certified Refurbished) — $239 (list price $540)
• Xbox One Console + HDMI (Refurbished) — $189 (list price $299)

At the time of writ??ing, Amazon, Best Buy, and other major retailers are not selling the Spring Bundle or offering free games like Microsoft. That said, there are othe??r good eighth-gen console bundles out there, but for those we need to look to eBay.

This week a few new offers reared their head from select retailers on eBay such as Antonline and NewEgg. One bundle of note is a refurbished Xbox One unit for $239.99 with three bonus games: Ryse: Son of Rome, Sunset Overdrive, and Forza 5.

Game deals from Dealzon. Sales help support Destructoid.

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Free Ghosts of Meridian update out now

343 Industries is going to let Halo 5: Guardians players try out the upcoming eight-person cooperative mode Warzone Firefight early with a beta. It'??s set to run next Thursday, April 14 at 10:00am Pacific until that same time on Monday, April 18, with one map, Escape from A.R.C., available.

I liked Firefight in past games, and I'm into Warzone, generally speaking, so it stands to reason that I'd also enjoy Warzone Firefight. It's a five-round mode that will have your team leaning on the REQ? Syst?em to complete increasingly-tough objectives. You'll take on the "most on-screen enemies in the history of the franchise" and bosses, including a foreboding new Mythic tier. The finished version of Warzone Firefight is going to release this summer, pending the beta goes as planned.

In more immediately gratifying news, Halo 5's Ghosts of Meridian update went live today, adding ?maps for Warzone (Skirmish at Darkstar) and Arena (Tyrant), weapons, vehicles, and a slew of game improvements and bug fixes. Follow that link for the full breakdown, or stick to the??se highlights:

Halo 5 Con??tent, Ghosts of Meridian, Available Tod?ay [Xbox]

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Yay!

Infection, Halo’s own zombie-flavoured multiplayer mode, is coming to Halo 5.

The news was unveiled in a livestream last night during which Halo developer 343 industries revealed more about upcoming content u??pdate, Ghosts of Mer??idian. 

Infection was missing from Halo 4 but was a fan-favourite in Halo 3 and Halo Reach. Here's a teaser.

343i has yet to reveal the release date, so ??expect it sometime later this year, which is just as well, as I'v?e officially given up trying to play bloody Warzone. 

Halo 5: Guardians developer 343?? Industries recently included a tribute for a fan who lost his?? children in a tragic accident.

The post Zombie-mode Infection coming to Halo 5 Guardians appeared first on Destructoid.

Enjoy!

To celebrate the Halo World Championship finals?? today, developer 343 Industries has released a fre??e REQ pack to all Spartans.

Th??e pack also in??cludes the Challenger armour set and the new HaloWC emblem. 

And that's not all. If you&rsquo;ve been waiting ??to see how the new Warzone Firefight mo??de shapes up, 343i spilled the goods with a new trailer than debuted at the championship competition.

“Warzone Firefight is an ambitious new multiplayer experience that takes the initial promise of Halo 5’s Warzone multiplayer – the epic battles, incredible scale and huge maps – and appl??ies that to c?reate the biggest Halo cooperative experience ever in franchise history,” states the press release. “In Warzone Firefight, up to eight players will work together to complete five rounds of increasingly difficult, dynamic objectives set against a timer to emerge victorious.”

“Warzone Firefight will feature more enemies than ever – including a brand ne?w tier of “Mythic” enemy bosses. Thought the Warden Eternal was menacing? You ain’t seen nothing yet. Warzone Firefight features the most on-screen enemies in the history of the franchise, making for frantic and exhilarating matches.”

Warzone Firefight is coming to Halo 5: Guardians? late??r this year. Question is, will the Covenant enemy teabag me as often as my PvP comrades do?

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Worth waking up before noon for

I've always been a big fan of the Halo series, and I especially love the multiplayer for Halo 5: Guardians, so when I heard the MLG Halo World Championship North American Finals wer??e taking? place in Columbus, Ohio, literally under a mile from where I live, I had to go.

Last Sunday, I woke up early and made the three-minute journey to the relatively new MLG Arena to experience my first-ever professional eSports e?vent. I regret nothing.

Upon arriving, I thought I had pulled into the wrong parking lot. The arena was essentially unmarked. I texted my friend I was meeting there who had? been at the event the previous two days to confirm this was the right place. "There should be a taco t?ruck in front of it," she replied. Indeed, there was. And there was much rejoicing because who doesn't love tacos?

I don't often like to make?? a big deal about being press, but the moment I walked in the door, a security guard barked at me as if I was violently coming at him. I blurted out, "I'm press!" so the nearby MLG reps would calm him down. I felt both pretentious and relieved that was over with.

Entering the arena, I was shocked at how small it is. Turns out the venue only seats 200 people, and not comfortably, I might add. The seats literally touch and leave much to be desired for leg room. That said, I've had far worse, though I couldn't help but have a flashback to the PC Gamer conference at E3 2015 where my and Laura's asses near??ly die??d. Nearly identical seating.

I noticed a machine up front pumping ampl??e amounts of fog into the air so all the bright, colorful lights could hit it just right and look pretty for the cameras. I think they overdid it. My contacts started to feel dry, but then the fog backed off a bit once the first match started.

I didn't pay much attention to the announcers that crowed over the event. I was more enamored with the atmosphere and taking mental notes to better my own skills. The predominantly ??white male audience around me got animated, yelling when th??ings would get particularly exciting in a match, which in turn made me excited. "This must be what it is like to be a sports fan," I thought. "I like this." At one point, a voice shouted from the back of the arena, "Give him a bullet!" and everyone laughed. I laughed, too. I'm still not sure why.

I noticed a lot of women in the audience, whom my friend informed me were all girlfriends of the professional players on stage. She knows them personally. I had hoped they were just fans of the eSport or hopeful future players, but alas they were there rooting for their men. My friend was there because she loved competitive Halo though, so that makes one!

A few sets passed by which seemed one-sided. I thought this was odd for what was supposed to be the best of the best. Three teams clearly stood above everyone else there: CLG, Evil Geniuses, and my new favorite team, Denial eSports. If you've ever seen any eSports competitions at all, you've probably heard of CLG and Evil Geniuses -- they seem to have teams in every game imaginable -- but Denial eSports is the new kid on the block. And I mean that literally: some of the players were kids in their teens.

Denial eSports ended up making it to the finals to take on CLG, who had been completely dominating every team it went up against including its arch rival, Evil Geniuses, in the semifinals. Prior to the start of the finals, an announcer interviewed Bubu Dub??u from Denial.

Bubu was visually nervous while the announcer hyped up how his team seemingly came out of nowhere as the underdog of the tournament. It was almost as adorable of a display as the Unravel guy announcing his game. I found it hard not to root for Denial, especially considering one of the players, Huke, had only been playing Halo competitively for two months, having made the jump from Call of Duty.

The crowd in the arena was overwhelmingly behind Denial as the finals happened. Lots of cheering and yelling, especially when Huke would pull off something impressive. I was certainly invested. My heart raced during the finals -- though that could have bee??n from the cheesecake chimichangas I was eating. In the end, CLG won. The crowd politely golf-clapped.

CLG may have taken home the prize money, but Denial put on a show and clearly made a name for itself. Th??e team certainly earned a fan in me, and made me crave going to more eSports events, something I never thought I'd want to do.

I have to say, if you?'ve shown an interest in a game and you ever get a chance to attend a professional tournament for it, go. Watching eSports online just isn't the same as being in the crowd and experiencing the thrill of being a spectator. You might end up loving it. I know I did, even if I drove home feeling sad my favorite team didn't win.

The post Halo World Championship NA Finals were my first MLG event, won’t be my last appeared first on Destructoid.

Look up to the skies

Halo 5: Guardians developer 343 Industries has included a tribute for a fan who lost his children in?? a tragic accident in the l??atest update.

Community member Adam (thecrzedspartan) lost his two girls, Trinity and Lena, in an elect??ri?cal fire last month. 

To honour Adam’s children, if you look up into the sky whilst playing new map Torque, you’ll see their names writte?n in the stars. 

New emblem True Light - which has been rolled out to all players in this month’s free update - also celebrates the lives ??of the girls, their initials glowing gently in the background of the animated emblem.

“In the days following the tragedy, it was inspiring to see the Halo community come together to support Adam and Rebecca in a variety of ways,” writes 343i’s Josh on Halo Waypoint update.

“In honor of Adam's family and his daughters, Trinity and Lena, we've created the Spartans Never Walk Alone pack. This pack contains the True Light emblem, which is named after the first initial of each of his daughters' names, and is the first animated emblem to come to Halo 5. All players will recei??ve this pack as part of this month's free update."

“These are but small gestures meant to honor Adam’s daughters, ensuring that their memories are always clos??e at hand within the universe he loves.” 

Hammer Storm brings three free new modes to Halo 5: Guardians, as well as ??a new map, new weapons, and? a load of new REQ goodies including new assassination animations, weapon skins, loadout weapons, emblems, visors, and armo?ur. 

The post Halo 5 dev honours fan’s tragic loss in latest update appeared first on Destructoid.

Yay Gravity Hammers!

Hammer Storm brings three free new modes to Halo 5: Guardians, as well as a new map, new weapons, and a load of new REQ goodies including new assassination animations, weapon s??kins, loadout weapons, emblems, visors, and armour. 

If you enjoyed Grifball back in the day (and why wouldn’t you, it’s awesome), you’ll be delighted to know that, along with Assault and Fiesta, it's making its return. Yay for Gravity Ha?mmers.  

We&rsquo?;ll also see the introduction of new map Torque. An?? &ldquo;entirely new environment primed for battle, Torque is a large symmetrical map that caters to Capture the Flag and Assault game modes. T?he pistons in each courtyard can provide key gameplay for cover, traversal, and objective? movement.”

Developer 343 Industries also detailed new co-o??p survival mode Warzone Firefight. Though the studio was coy about the release date, it did confirm it's scheduled to drop later this year.

Writing on Xbox News Wire, the developer said it will bring “PvE to Halo 5: Guardians multiplayer and let players battle together against ??common foes (and t?ruly show off their custom Spartans to boot!).”

Here, watch a video starring S?partans who ?are infinitely better than me:

O??nly last week I was complaining to a fellow Spartan that I was missing PvE Firefight? modes. Am I the only one delighted to see it returning?

For more, head to Halo Waypoint.

The post Grif??ball, gravity hammers, and PvE F?irefights confirmed for Halo 5: Guardians appeared first on Destructoid.

Map is cleverly named 'Rocket League'

_{[Disclaimer/reminder: the Destructoid flag is available to download in Rocket League.]}

Rocket League is still the rage in some circles, but it isn't coming to Xbox One until next week. That hasn't stopped the community from crafting their own custom map in Halo 5 of course, which allows people to use Ghosts to play their own version of the game. By defau??lt it supports 16-player madness, and it seems like a nice little diversion while ??you wait for the real thing.

I've never been all th??at crazy about the game but it's impressive that it's grown this much since launch.

The post You can now play Rocket League in Halo 5 appeared first on Destructoid.

Brick by brick

Someone re-created Peach's Castle from Mario 64 in Halo 5. That's good!

Due to the object lim?it though there's no interior. That'??s bad!

The resourceful Bearskopff has taken to Halo 5's Forge mode to craft his own version of the iconic setpiece, and has used all of the game's assets in a rather ingenious way. The trees for example, are soccer balls, and the entire thing is basically built brick by brick. You can learn a bit more about his process here.

It would be really cool if one day we enter an era where crafting an entire game within a tool like this would be commonplace without size limitations. It's one of the reasons why Minecraft is so great, years?? af??ter its launch. It allowed people to do just that.

Bearskopff [imgur]

The post Someone created Peach’s castle in Halo 5 appeared first on Destructoid.

Scroll down for the gif!

Forge mode wasn't ready in time for Halo 5: Guardians' launch, but it's here now. The map creation sandbox debuts with some 1,700 objects and will continue to change as 343 Industries takes in feedback from players. Knowing how ridiculously good people have gotten with these tools in prior games, I bet we'll see a bunch of impressive stuff out?? of the holiday break.

Today's "Cartographer's Gift" update also adds SPNKr rocket launchers, several maps (one for Warzone, one for Overgrowth, and two for Big Team Battle), and more in-depth control options. Well, that, and a ton of other smaller but still important things. Plus fixes for existing content.

You can read the full notes below or head to the blog post f?or pictures and ??a fancy layout.

Cartographer's Gift [Halo Waypoint]

New Features and Content:

• Forge is now available!
• Added a basic implementation of File Browser. Players can now bookmark and share custom maps and modes through Active Roster, by following (or become friends with) a player.
• Over 30 new REQs including weapons, armor, emblems, and more have been added.
• Battle of Noctus map added to Warzone.
• Overgrowth map added to Arena.
• Entombed and Antifreeze maps added to Big Team Battle.
• Commendations and Service Record for Spartan Companies have been added, and can be tracked on Halo Channel and HaloWaypoint.com.
• Social playlists have been added (Big Team Battle and Holiday Social).
• Holiday Doubles playlist added (ranked).
• Advanced controller setting options have been added, including controls for aim acceleration as well as deadzone controls. These settings are automatically set to the previous defaults you've been playing on. Full details here.
• Seasons for ranked playlists have been added; The January 2016 Season begins today.
• Enabled the ability to purchase multiple gold REQ Packs in one single purchase, several of which include free bonus packs. (These will be coming online within the next few days).

Multiplayer:

• FFA playlist reduced to 6 players from 8 players.
• Fixed the Warzone Assault armory exploit
• Replaced Scorpion on Recurve with Gauss Warthog.
• Removed Mantis from Guillotine and added a Warthog for each team.
• Fixed spawning bug that sometimes spawned a player on Red team in the Blue base on Deadlock at the start of a match.
• Fixed an issue where players could escape Gambol’s normal play boundaries.
• Added interactive switches to Deadlock to control window shutters and doors for each base.
• Fixed a bug in Breakout that awarded kills after the flag has been captured.
• Add Flag Grabs statistic to the post-game carnage report.
• Fixed a Free-For-All bug where kills were shown in scoreboard rather than score.
• Added medal for melee’s performed to an enemy’s back.
• Added in-game text for Flag Driver medal.

Campaign:

• Improved stability when joining a Fireteam’s Campaign mission in progress.
• Joining a Fireteam’s Campaign mission in progress will no long force all Fireteam members back to the character select screen.
• Fixed a bug on Guardians that hindered a player’s movement if they’ve died and were unable to complete the mission.

Ranking:

• Adjusted CSR placements for SWAT and FFA playlists.
• Fixed bugs surrounding players being placed too high across all playlists.

User Interface:

Lobby:

• Amount of REQ Points and number of unopened REQ packs will be visible during intermission and in Lobby.
• Fixed bug around Fireteam sorting - The Fireteam Leader will now be displayed at the top followed by his or her team in alphabetical order by Gamertag. For Custom Games, all other teams will be grouped together and then sorted alphabetically as well.

Active Roster:

• Friend Status will now be visible from the Friends list so you can see what your friends are doing in Halo 5: Guardians.
• Fixed bug around Friend sorting so it sorts online and offline friends alphabetically.

Spartan Hub / REQs:

• REQ Rarity and Description will be visible for all REQs when opening a REQ pack or browsing your Collection whether you own it or not.
• REQ Energy Cost will also be displayed for all REQs when opening a REQ pack or browsing your REQ Collection.

Spectate / Theater:

• Added hidden controls to change player POV for up to 8 players in the match. Holding left trigger will enable the use of the d-pad and ABXY face buttons to change player POV on the fly. Players are mapped to buttons alphabetically.
• Added ability to change player POV from the Scoreboard. Press the View button to bring up the Scoreboard; use d-pad to navigate and A-button to select a POV.
• Fixed bug aroundPlayer POV Selector sorting. It will now sort by team, and then alphabetically by Gamertag.
• Fixed bug around controls for Zooming while in Free Cam.
• Fixed bug around not being able to hide the Player POV Selector in some cases when toggling UI visibility.
• Fixed a bug where ending a theater film placed players into a solo campaign lobby
• Added ability to play and pause film while UI is hidden using the A button.

HUD:

• The location callout will now appear when dead, spectating, in Smart-Link, etc.
• The Highest Score per Column in the in-game Scoreboard will have a visual callout allowing you to see very quickly which player has the most kills, most assists, and least deaths.

Controls:

• Added advanced controller options. Full details here.

Networking:

• Improved ping times to dedicated servers in matchmaking.
• Improved gameplay quality under network conditions with high packet loss.

The post Huge Halo 5 update adds Forge mode,?? maps, and we??apons appeared first on Destructoid.

Customize look acceleration, dead zones

A legitimate reason to use a Christopher Walken header ?image? Today is a goo?d day.

There's more to next week's update for Halo 5: Guardians than Forge mode, maps, and REQs. The game is also expanding its control options. You'll be able to adjust the look acceleration and the inner and outer dead zones, as detailed in this blog post by 343 Industries.

Look acceleration affects how long it takes to hit max look speed while holding the analog stick all the way in one direction. If you liked the feel of Halo 5's multiplayer beta, d?rop this setting down to "2." The default is "3," which "was done in part to help you make large aim corrections a bit faster."

The inner dead zone is the small area where the analog stick's center position ignores input. It can be adjusted to better prevent the camera from drifting. Similarly, the outer dead zone can help with slow turn ("when you are applying 100% input on the look stick but not reaching top look speed"). Lastly, there's The Dead Zone. It's one of t?he better Stephen King film adaptatio??ns.

Advanced Controller Settings [Halo Waypoint]

The post Halo 5 is getting advanced control options appeared first on Destructoid.

Plus the return of Forge

After announcing it at this year’s Game Awards, 343 Industries has released a whole load of details about the upcoming Cartographer’s Gift update for Halo 5: Guardians.

The update features the return of the popular Forge mode from previous games, as well as four new multiplayer maps: Battle of Noctus, a Warzone map, and Overgrowth, Entombed, and Antifreeze for Arena.

There’s also new armour, the Mark IV and Raijin armour sets, and the return of some popular weapons such as the SPNKr Rocket Launcher with three variants. Add to that a ton of new REQs, and what you’ve got is a lot of new toys to go shooty bang-bang with! 

Cartographer’s Gift launches next week, and will be free to all players. As far as free updates go, four new maps and the return of Forge is a really damn generous! Good work, 343. 

The post The Cartographer’s Gift update for Halo 5: Guardians launches next week appeared first on Destructoid.

REQ packs payin' off

The best of the best Halo 5 players face off against each other in March 2016 at the Halo World Championship. Getting there is a long and arduous p?rocess though, and the r?oad starts on December 6. That's when ladder play begins and the contenders separate themselves from the pretenders.

Microsoft and 343 Industries have nailed down the schedule for the Halo World Championships. It goes like this: Online ladders begin on December 6. From December 19 to January 31, online qualifiers and regional in-person live events take place. January 23 to February 21 sees the regional finals across North America, Europe, Latin ??America, and Asia/Australia/New Zealand. Finally, the big event starting on March 1 with the Halo World Championship preliminaries, a??nd ending on March 20 with the finals.

As of right now, the purse for all that Halo playin' sits at $1.7 million, with $700,000 of that coming from the community. Like other eSports, a portion of the proceeds from Halo's in-game purchasables (REQ packs in this instance) go toward the prize pool for the best teams. There's still plenty of time for that number to grow, too. It's not quite Dota levels of staggering, but it's a very n??ice chunk of change nonetheless.

The post Halo 5’s World Championship starts early next month, prize continues to grow appeared first on Destructoid.

And more customization items

With today's 6.2GB "Battle of Shadow and Light" update for Halo 5: Guardians, Big Team Battle is in. My old favorite!

The eight vs. eight multiplayer playlist supports Capture the Flag, Strongholds, and Slayer, and it's playable on four new maps: Basin, Deadlock, Guillotine, and Recurve.

Besides those additions and some tweaks to existing content, 343 is rolling out a bunch of new REQs. Not a??ll of these items will be immediately avai?lable, but everything should be in the game within 24 hours.

 If you're ?anything like me, you'll want to see that Shinobi armor up close. Here you go!

Battle of Shadow and Light Update is here! [Halo Waypoint]

The post Halo 5 now has Big Team Battle appeared first on Destructoid.

Or how I learned to love the Breakout

"Fuck this stupid fucking Call of Duty bullshit. Get your shit together, Bungie...er...343, whoever!"

This is how my first night with Halo 5 ends, in a fit of rage after a kill-less losing streak in the game's new tepidly received Breakout mode. Breakout is a small arena-ba?sed four vs. four game type where spartans have no shield and one life. Capturing a flag or eliminating the opposing team nets you a win. Win five rounds and you win the entire match. 

Anyone who knows me on a personal level knows I love Halo; I've played every game at or before launch, no matter the means necessary. While the hype train has been in full force for Halo 5 for months, I've stayed out of it. I hate getting hyped up only to be let down, and after the disastrous launch of The Master Chief Collection, I had little faith in 343 not screwing up Halo 5.

At E3, I even purposefully avoided playing the build available there, though I had played and mostly enjoyed the beta earlier in the year. I say 'mostly' because it went from being fun and fresh yet familiar, to quickly catering to the screaming minority of MLG players that eventually lead to Halo 4's multiplayer being ruined when 343 heavily changed the balancing to favor the battle rifle, the go-to gun for wannabe eSports E-thletes. Suddenly the beta was all battle rifles, all the time, just like many of the game types included in The Master Chief Collection. I hated it.

Almost every Halo game has launched with the default guns being assault rifles and the pistol, or something similar. The battle rifle was considered a power weapon that had to be collected from the map. Halo was a mad dash to obtain po?wer weapons and to remember when they would respawn so as to grab them before your opponents. Not this starting with the best weapon in the game bullshit.

Fast forward to just a few days before launch: I've avoided basically all hype and news regarding Halo 5, aside from thoroughly enjoying the amazing Hunt the Truth audio series. Then I slipped up and watched a video on REQ packs by GreenSkull, a popular Halo YouTuber. As much as I don't like microtransactions I have a thirst...neigh...addiction to opening blind packs of cards brought on by my obsession with Hearthstone. My hyp?e meter instantly went off the charts. I couldn't wait.

Midnight hits. My boyfriend and a couple of friends set out to finish the campaign. I typically play the campaign on the Normal difficulty, but my friends insist on playing on the game's hardest mode, Legendary. After about three grueling hours of dying, swearing, and respawning, the game freezes right at the end of chapter three for me. I can hear my teammates, and they can't hear me??. They finish the mission. My progress doesn't save, and I receive no achievements. A nearby salt shaker falls, spilling salt everywhere.

"Great! This new dashboard is a real piece of shit. It lags, games and apps crash, and I have constant issues with it. Somehow the Xbox One has managed to get worse since launch!"

My friends si??t in silence while I lament how console gaming has morphed into a bunch of hoops you have to jump through.

"Remember back when gaming consisted of putting in the game, turning on the console, and pressing start? Those were the days. Now I have to update my consoles software, sign in to Xbox Live, install the game, update the game that just installed, open a party in a separate app, pray to a god I don't believe in that others can connect, and then I can play."

Since then, the new Xbox One dashboard has gotten far better, but it doesn't change the fact that so muc??h bullshit stands in the way.

It is just me and my first-ever Xbox Live friend Kevin left ?now. Everyone else has gone to bed. It's getting pretty late. We decide to play some multiplayer, only to discover that my headset is cutting in and out?. At this point, I'm still not sure if it was the software or hardware. I haven't bothered to attempt chatting since. I just yell into my Kinect, which works surprisingly well now, as if Microsoft has refined its voice functionality through updates. 

After a few games of SWAT, which my friend is absolute shit at, we move onto Team Slayer, which my friend is also absolute shit at. "Kevin, we have played Halo together since the second game in the series. How are you suddenly so terrible?" He laughs. His laughter? is one of m?y favorite things; it is contagious.

Kevin heads to bed, so I decide to go back to comp??leting matches to be assigned a rank in each of the online game types, starting with one of my go-to playlists, SWAT. In SWAT, there are no shields, a single headshot will bring opponents down, and you either start with a magnum or a battle rifle (one of the only times I don't mind BR starts). After ten qualifying matches, I am awarded the rank of onyx, or what was previously known as semi-pro in the beta. Onyx is the highest rank you can qualify for apart from being one of the top 200 players in each playlist; those players are ranked as champion.

After achieving onyx in SWAT, I decided it would be a good idea to go ahead and get ranked in all the other playlists. Next on the list was free-for-all, because I'm a wolf pack of one. Free-for-all is probably my most-played game type across all of the Halo series because I don't have a lot of people I play with and tend to avoid making new Xbox Live? friends for no particular reason. Even though I'm confident in my skills, I lost a few of my ten qualifying matches but still managed to achieve onyx.

Then I set my sights to the all-new Breakout game type. I wasn't a fan of it in the beta, but perhaps I'd like it now. I got destroyed nearly every single match for?? my first few matches and managed to get carried for a few wins by my teammates. After winning my last few qualifying matches, I was feeling confident I'd be ranked at least in silver or higher. Nope. Bronze. Me in bronze, the lowest rank in the game!? The person who has played every game in the series at launch given the lowest possible rank!?!? Bullshit. I went to bed after angrily shutting off my Xbox One while cursing 343 and Breakout.

The next day I finished getting ranked in the other playlists by achieving gold in Slayer and platinum in Team Arena. I couldn't stand that I was r?anked bronze in Breakout, so I decided to torture myself some more and give it a go again. Turns out, I was hilariously under ranked. 

"What a r??elief," I thought to myself, "?but wow are these kids awful."

My opponents and teammates were s??o bad, it was like competing with someone that had never played an FPS before, or like a young relative. They walked into walls, stared at the sky and ground, and were just all-around bad. I'm not saying this from a place of feeling superior, but the people I was playing with were clearly ranked correctly.

Suddenly Breakout became fun. I'd hear people on my team cheering me on as they watched from the grave as I mowed down the remaining three players on the other team??. This happened again, and again, and again. Eventually, I hit rank six?? of bronze, and the competition picked up a smidgen but would wildly vary between matches; some were a piece of cake, others were more evenly matched. Then it finally happened: I hit silver with a nice five-round sweep.

I know it wasn't much of an achievement since I was grossly under matched, but I was thankful for it. Thankful for the opportunity to learn how to play Breakout without having much in the way of competition, and learning from my opponent's mistakes, as well as seeing the error of my ways in the qualifying matches. Plus, it doesn't hurt th??at I could easily get commendations for kills. 

Breakout has quickly become one of my favorite game types, and not just because I win a lot, but because it is fun. I know a lot of Halo players aren't huge fans of it yet -- including the team that rage quit during the finals of a tournament recently by suiciding and afterward tweeted at the official Halo account, "I'd rather commit suicide on mainstage than play your shitty game type." But really, people should give it a chance. It might just grow on y?ou.

I'm sure I'll be playing Halo 5's multiplayer for some time, as it feels like one of the most balanced games in the series thus far. If you'd like the chance to hear me angrily swear from time to time while playing Halo 5, then be sure to join Destructoid's Spartan Company and prepare to be carried.

The post Fear and loathing in Halo 5: Guardians appeared first on Destructoid.

Fortunately, it doesn't seem permanent

Some who have dumped several hours in Halo 5's multiplayer over the past two weeks might see an unwelcome sight when they ??turn on the game. There's a chance that their multiplayer progress has been reset. That's the nightmare scenario come true for a lot of pla?yers.

Right now, Halo Waypoint's forum is littered with threads from people who have been hit with the mystery reset. Reports state that the reset impacts rank, commendations, REQ, and other things. Developer 343 Industries doesn't have an explanation for the situation, just that it's "working on a solution."

The silver lining is that the unintentional wipe doesn't seem to be permanent. Some users are reporting that everything's back to normal now. While 343 looks into the cause, Halo 5's matchmaking might be affected. That's okay -- word is that there are a few other games for Xbox One players to enjoy.

Halo 5: Guardians Support [Halo Waypoint]

The post Oh Halo no: 343 flooded with reports of??? Halo 5 multiplayer rank resets appeared first on Destructoid.