Halo 5 - 7 things you need to know about Xbox One's biggest Christmas release

Halo 5 launches exclusively on Xbox One on October 27, 2015, and stands to be one of the console’s biggest releases this holiday. With the game just a couple of weeks away, The Independent has put together a list of seven essential things you need to know, including story details, microtransactions, free multiplayer content and more.

The campaign of Halo 5: Guardians follows Master Chief on the run. While previous entries in the main Halo series have followed John-117 on his journeys across the galaxy, in Guardians, players will also take control of Spartan Locke, the man sent to capture Chief and discover the reasoning behind his disappearance.

Unlike previous Halo games, Guardians features a four-player co-op campaign to create a squad-focused experience. When you’re not teaming up online with friends, these buddies will be controlled by AI, whom you can then give orders to and ask to perform certain actions.

Unfortunately, Halo 5 won’t feature split-screen, local multiplayer, so those nights of sitting around the sofa with your friends playing Halo will have to remain a memory.

As the game tells two sides of the same story, you’ll take control of two different squads, these are:

Blue Team

Osiris Team

In what 343 Industries describes as "the biggest Forge yet", Halo 5: Guardians sees the return of the iconic map editor. Players can design and build their own multiplayer battlegrounds from scratch using Halo’s bespoke system.

Unfortunately, Forge won’t arrive until after launch, in December. But with over 1600 new objects, precision editing, a new control scheme and so much more, it looks like it could be worth the wait.

Warzone will feature 24 players duking it out on giant multiplayer maps. There will also be AI bosses in the map to add to the chaos, with players earning points by killing enemies, capturing control points and taking out the AI.

Banshees, Warthogs, Phantoms and many other vehicles will also litter the area, with players scrambling to get their hands on one. However, as is the case in Halo, you’re vulnerable to being ripped out of your motor should you get reckless, so be careful.

Each Warzone map is four times the size of any previously launched Halo map.

On top of the 20 maps arriving with the game, developer 343 Industries has promised to deliver 15 free DLC maps following Halo 5: Guardians October 27 launch. These maps will roll out steadily after release, with the final map pack arriving by June 16, 2016.

This is considered an apology by the team for the heavily-disrupted launch of Halo: The Master Chief Collection, which had severe server issues and multiplayer content temporarily disabled in an attempt to steady the ship. A remastered version of Halo 3: ODST was offered as a free downoad to disgruntled buyers of The Master Chief Collection as another peace offering.

However, while players will be getting 15 maps for free, Halo 5: Guardians will have microtransactions.

A new Requisition system (REQ), which allows players to earn points in the game’s two multiplayer components: Arena and Warzone. These REQ Points can be spent on REQ Packs. Players will also earn REQ Packs when they level up their Spartan rank. However players can pay real money in order to speed up progress and unlock REQ Packs early.

These packs can include various items: unlockable weapons, armour, assassination animations and more.

For fans looking to pick up an Xbox One as well as Halo 5: Guardians, you can get a limited edition console with the new, 1TB hard drive, which is double the storage space of the original console.

The console comes with Halo-themed designs on the console and controller, custom Halo sound effects, a steelbook edition of the game and is currently exclusive to retailer GAME in the UK.