When Jenn's youngest sister eventually bought her own Xbox, we dabbled in two-screen/multi-room LAN play, a cumbersome setup that amped up the excitement even more (it's amazing how much more intense Team Slayer gets when you can't screencheat!) As the years rolled on, we still enjoyed the occasional split-screen and LAN multiplayer session with each successive Halo release. And it was the kind of interaction that worked so much better in person. Her reply? "Fuck you!" It was a visceral, in-the-moment reaction to a logical, practical suggestion - the kind of impassioned reaction split-screen Halo reliably provided. During one typically intense 2v2 local match, I calmly explained to Jenn that perhaps she should switch from the shotgun during a long-range shootout since it's a close-range weapon. Split-screen multiplayer is a throwback to a simpler time when we played games with our friends in person because we didn't have much of a choice.Ģ001's Halo: Combat Evolved was more than a game for me it was a bonding experience like no game I had played to that point. A lot.īy subscribing, you are agreeing to Engadget's Terms and Privacy Policy. We had to invite our friends over to our house to play Halo. In my gaming heyday, we didn't have broadband access. Split-screen multiplayer, in some ways, is a vestige, a throwback to a simpler time when we played games with our friends in person because we didn't have much of a choice.
HALO 5 SPLIT SCREEN OFFLINE
In one Halo 3 match, I brought a sniper rifle to a Brute Chopper/Warthog fight and immediately regretted it.īeyond all that, I understand the notion that local, offline multiplayer doesn't give developers the sort of real-time stats and telemetry that online matches provide - data that can be used to improve the existing game and provide insight for future titles. And reports of uneven split-screen performance in Halo: The Master Chief Collection likely made 343's decision to forgo it a bit easier.
With 343's goal of fluid, 60fps gameplay, it's unlikely two-player, let alone four-player split-screen would have been possible without some serious compromises - compromises the studio is evidently unwilling to make. And in this day and age of widespread broadband access, split-screen local multiplayer just doesn't make the cut. To successfully launch Halo 5: Guardians, it needs to focus on delivering the most popular and most lucrative aspects of the franchise.
HALO 5 SPLIT SCREEN FULL
And if any studio knows the danger of promising the moon and failing to fully deliver, it's 343 - the launch of four full games under the umbrella of Halo: The Master Chief Collection proved to be a bit too ambitious and the studio spent months post-launch addressing issues. It's a big investment to make for something comparatively few Halo players likely utilize these days for something so niche. It would require an intense amount of resources from engine optimization to level design to tweaking the UI to testing. Everything needs to be tested to make sure no single aspect brings the whole game down. Incorporating something like split-screen mode isn't as easy as flipping a switch. I spent a year and a half as a game tester - working alongside some great folks who are actually now part of the hard-working team at 343. For me, and likely many other longtime Halo fans, the news is a bitter pill to swallow. Allow me to repeat: No local multiplayer. We knew from earlier reports that local campaign co-op was out of the question, at least at launch, but the Ars Technica report confirms we won't see any split-screen multiplayer modes or native LAN support. Last week, Halo's current custodian, 343 Industries, revealed that it's abandoning local split-screen multiplayer and native LAN support for this fall's Halo 5: Guardians. It was amazing, frantic, swear-filled fun. In the early 2000s, four-player, split-screen Halo was a revelation for my then-girlfriend Jenn (who would later become my wife), her two sisters and me.
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