343 Industries

Halo 2 and Halo 5: Guardians have a lot in common. Both have split narrative campaigns. Halo 2’s boasted the return of Master Chief and gave fresh perspective by allowing players to play as the Arbiter, previously a Covenant enemy. Halo 5 has players playing as Master Chief and his Blue Team, while following the path of Spartan Locke and Fireteam Osiris who’ve been tasked to track him down. Both games feature strong player versus player arena multiplayer modes, which went on to shape the future of the series in the case of 2, and is certain to do so again in the case of 5.

Alongside Halos 1 through 4 in the upcoming Master Chief Collection, fans will also have access to the Halo 5: Guardians multiplayer beta, starting December 27 and ending January 22, 2015. Not much else is known, but it will go beyond server stress tests unlike most modern betas, analyzing and incorporating user feedback to create a more balanced, refined experience. This makes sense considering the beta begins almost one year before Guardians is expected to ship in the winter of 2015.