With the new Halo 5 trailers revealing the first hint at the game’s plot, the majority of franchise fans have their eyes on Master Chief’s next adventure. Although the October 27 release of the next numbered installment is the next Halo game on the horizon for most gamers, PC players in Russia also have Halo Online to look forward too. Last week’s teaser announcement for the free-to-play competitive adventure left us all with some burning questions about the game’s content and this week we have a few answers.
Halo Online launches a closed beta in Russia later this year and it’s possible that the free-to-play PC game will make it to other regions if it finds success in the region. The teaser offered a minute-long glance at the game’s competitive universe and thanks to some resourceful modders, we get to see even more of that action today.
YouTuber Noble posted the nearly 20-minute long clip online today thanks to the groundwork done by modders Gamecheat13 and Lord Zedd. Noble is basically playing around in the game’s sandbox by booting up in Halo Online’s loader. Because this isn’t an actual online session, that means we’re able to see lots of armor and weapons, but no player versus player combat.
Although we don’t see any actual combat, the leaked footage does give us a much closer look at the game’s graphics and capabilities. As suspected, Halo Online looks a lot like Halo 3’s multiplayer mode, but with some armor and weapon enhancements from the Halo 4 era. Unfortunately, Noble is unable to to access the game’s main menu, which would give us a peek at its storefront.
The YouTuber suggested that he suspects the game could suffer from a pay-to-win problem, based on the extreme difference in power levels between the starting weapons and some of the more advanced gear. His time in the game files also led Noble to believe that weapons will be rented rather than purchased outright. He found evidence that suggests items are unlocked for certain periods of time and then revoked.
If items are rented based on an in-game currency, this likely won’t cause much of a problem. It is likely that Halo Online is setting up a serious for-pay store, but there’s always the chance that the game is trying to replicate a system similar to Counter Strike: Global Offensive’s, where players earn credit and can buy better weapons and armor before each round. CS: GO still makes plenty of money off of skins and aesthetic changes to weapons, so there’s no doubt that Halo Online could pull that model off, as well.
Do you think Halo Online will be successful enough to warrant a North America release? Would you be interested in a Halo game that required micro-transactions for weapon upgrades? Let us know in the comments.
There is no official release date for the Russia-exclusive Halo Online.
Source: YouTube
