‘Halo 5’ New Spartan Abilities Explained, Multiplayer Beta Runs At 720p [Video]

343 Industries showed off Halo 5: Guardians multiplayer for the first time Monday evening to go along with a livestream event for the launch of Halo: The Master Chief Collection. Details on some of the changes coming with the Xbox One shooter were also revealed along with an explanation as to why the upcoming multiplayer beta will only run in 720p.

When the Halo 5 multiplayer beta launches on December 29, players will get their first taste of seven new Spartan Abilities – Thruster Pack, Ground Pound, Clamber, Slide, Charge, Sprint, and Smart Scope. It’s important to remember that every player will start matches with these abilities to ensure a fair start.

The Thruster Pack is essentially a quick dash for Spartans in any direction and even while jumping. It’s for getting in or out trouble quickly, but it’s not something you’ll trigger non-stop. There’s a four to five-second cooldown on the ability.

Ground Pound can be chained off of the Thruster Pack and, just like it says, players attack the ground from above to do damage in a small area. It requires a close to direct hit on enemy Spartans to be effective, which means you’ll be left exposed if you miss.

Clamber is the solution for those “I can’t believe I barely missed that jump moments.” Instead of bouncing off a ledge, you will be able to hit the Clamber button at the right moment to scale on top of the platform you were aiming for.

Slide can be triggered when players hit their maximum running speed, allowing them slide across the ground. You can use it to slide into cover or into an up-close attacking position.

Charge also makes use of hitting “terminal velocity” when running to bash through enemy players when hitting the melee button. It appears to make use of the Thruster Pack so it likely has the same four to five-second cool down.

Sprint is one of those controversial items in Halo 5 as the community is divided on whether it belongs in a Halo game or not. 343 Industries is attempting to balance it by tying the ability to your Spartan’s shields. As long as you are running, your shields will never recharge after taking damage. Once you stop sprinting, your shields recharge.

Smart Scope is the last controversial ability for Halo 5 as measured by the reaction to a leak on Sunday that was previously covered for Inquisitr. It’s essentially a new aesthetic to the classic aim/zoomed-in look for weapons ranging from the Assault Rifle to the Battle Rifle to the Pistol. Players can still be descoped when hit by the enemy and firing from the hip is still accurate to keep with classic Halo gameplay.

The Halo 5: Guardians multiplayer beta will launch with seven different maps for players to run through. 343 Industries says it is treating this as “a true beta,” since the game is not launching for almost a full year. This will give them time to take feedback from players during the three-week beta run and apply it to the game. During the livestream, Freddie Wong asked Halo 5 Studio Head Josh Holmes, and Multiplayer Designer Quinn Del Hoyo, which abilities they thought would be nerfed first from the beta. Del Hoyo said he wouldn’t be surprised if it was Thruster Pack, while Holmes picked Ground Pound.

Meanwhile, Holmes revealed to Eurogamer that the beta will run at 720p and 60 frames per second. It’s sure to be a subject of the on-going console wars, but it is still understandable given how far away the game is from release.

“For the beta, at this point we’re totally focused on gameplay,” he explained.

“We’re midway through development. We’re balancing and tuning the gameplay systems. All of the polish and optimization graphically is stuff that typically comes towards the end of the production cycle.”

“So, for the beta, we’re going to be coming out at 720p and 60fps. That’s not the final resolution for the game. You can imagine as we go through the remainder of the project we’ll be focused on polishing the visual look of the game. You can expect it will look amazing when it comes out.”

Halo: The Master Chief Collection is now out for the Xbox One. Are you picking it up to check out the Halo 5 beta? Sound off in the comments below.

[Images via Halo Waypoint]