Quick note - I searched the forums for a Halo thread and found relaxing video game music instead. Good thread, but not what I'm after. If there is an up-to-date Halo thread, just go and close this please.

I'm one of only four friends (out of the former twenty-one of us) who are still clinging on to Halo, and so I've been following it because the people who'd dump info on me have left for other games now. And just recently some Halo 5 news was dropped. Here's some stuff that Game Informer released today:

Chief is joined for the first time in-game by Blue Team, the legendary Spartan squad from the books.

Locke has his own team of Spartan IV's and one ODST (who happens to be Nathan Fillion!)

Locke's team is called "OSIRIS"

Blue Team are declared AWOL

Blue Team (and probably Osiris, too) can be commanded by the player in-game.

In co-op campaign, everyone picks the character they play as, each with a unique loadout.

I'm excited, to be frank. I love the characters and it's awesome to see them in-game at last. Plus I like the twists to co-op, and I'll be buying my own Xbox One in September (wisely spending my finance payment) to play rather than hijacking my flatmate's every day.

343 is definetly taking an interesting turn with the series. We know from Halo 4 that they are taking lots of stuff from the novels and other non-game canon, but we didn't get to see much of that since Halo 4's setting was restricted to one ship out on a forerunner planet. A lot of people didn't like Halo 4 but I thought that it had many good qualities worth appreciating and I liked it overall. I think Halo 5 will be better.

Any one listening to that "Hunt the Truth" series they're doing? I wouldn't expect much from something like that but it's actually really good! The voice acting, music, plot, and characters are all really well done. I would definetly recommend it.

I am excited to see Buck again and how they will use him. So many old characters to bounce off eachother. I'm looking forward to the campaign.

I haven't been following a lot on Halo 5, as my interest in the series has slowly diminished since Halo 4. And the awful experience that was the MCC and the so so experience with Halo 5's multiplayer beta didn't make it any better. However, if there was one thing that always kept me slightly intrigued with Halo 5, it was the campaign, as I was actually curious as to where the story would go after Halo 4, and mainly the Arbiter making an appearance is something I can't pass up.

But I have to say, the story that is unfolding from the events of Halo 4 seems pretty cool with Master Chief's character taking a completely different turn. But this new info regarding commanding a squad sounds interesting. Also, [censored] Buck is back. I loved ODST and it's characters so I'm all for it.

Halo 5 was the first time ever where I actually didn't plan on getting the next Halo game after never ending disappointment on 343's part. With this news on how the campaign will play out and perhaps whatever Microsoft plans to show at E3, I might just get it. Not sure if at release however (another first for Halo), as I'm far more interested in other games.

Halo 4 really soured my enthusiasm for the franchise, i wish i could get excited for halo 5 but i just cant. 343 are hopeless imo.