The ESRB has published its rating for the upcoming Halo 5, revealing some tantalizing new details about the upcoming game and its single-player campaign along with some interesting details about the gameplay and visuals.
Here's how it reads:
Rating Summary: This is a first-person shooter in which players assume the role of a super soldier (Locke) searching for a missing character. Players use pistols, machine guns, grenade launchers, and futuristic weapons to kill alien and human enemies in frenetic combat. Battles are highlighted by realistic gunfire, explosions, and occasional blood-splatter effects. Characters can also use “assassinations” to kill characters by snapping their necks, or by stabbing them with bladed weapons. The word “a*s” appears in the dialogue, as well as occasional taunts/insults (e.g., “I have copulated…with your genetic progenitors!”; 'Your father was a filthy colo and your mother was a hole in the wall!').
Few things to note:
Locke is mentioned in the synopsis but not the Master Chief. What's up with that?
There are both alien and human enemies. In previous Halo games, you only went up against a variety of aliens, but never humans. This may mark the first time players encounter human enemies outside of multiplayer, unless the summary also means to include that.
What's interesting to also note is that the summary mentions "occasional blood-spatter effects" instead of Halo 4's "large blood-spatter effects" when humans are shot—meaning that there might be a lesser depiction of violence in the game, not that it'll actually change anything. Here's what it looks like for contrast:
Rating Summary: This is a first-person shooter in which players control futuristic super-soldiers who engage in military campaigns against alien forces. Players use pistols, scoped rifles, machine guns, grenade launchers, and futuristic weaponry to kill enemies in ranged combat; battles are highlighted by cries of pain, realistic gunfire, and large explosions. Stealth moves (i.e., “assassinations”) can also be used to attack enemies from behind (e.g., snapping their necks or stabbing/impaling them with bladed weapons). During one cutscene, a human character cries out as her body disintegrates, exposing layers of muscle tissue. Large blood-splatter effects occur when humans are shot; some sequences depict bloodstained environments.
Halo 5: Guardians will be released for the Xbox One on October 27, 2015.
