Halo 5 Guardians Team Elements, Seamless Co-op Joining and New Mechanics Detailed

343 Industries updated Halo Waypoint recently to provide a smattering of new information on Halo 5: Guardians and the various new mechanics it introduces. This is the first part of a series of developer blogs so there will be plenty more to look forward to in the coming weeks.

The developer talked about the new team mechanics and how players would be able to seamlessly drop in and out of the co-op campaign. Players can take control of different members of their AI squad, each with unique abilities (Kelly is the fastest Spartan on Blue Team, for example). Any Achievements, Skulls and collectibles discovered will be shared among all players in the squad. Subtle visual differences between the HUDs of Master Chief and Agent Locke were also detailed.

Other new elements that are discussed include the Artemis Tracking System used by Fireteam Osiris which can serve a variety of purposes and the new Revive mechanics wherein you can pick up downed team-mates. 343 Industries also addressed its decision to leave out split-screen co-op. “Many of our ambitious goals for Halo 5 would be compromised in a split-screen setting and the time spent optimizing and addressing split-screen-specific issues would take focus from building other parts of the game.”

Halo 5: Guardians will be out on October 27th for Xbox One. Stay tuned for more information in the coming weeks.