Xbox NZ allows us to play Halo 5, Rise of the Tomb Raider and more

Xbox NZ hosted a special event in Auckland this week that allowed us to get our hands of the likes of Halo 5, Rise of the Tomb Raider and more.  The event gave us a taste of what's to come on the Xbox One console over the upcoming Holiday season. Two of the blockbuster games coming out will be Halo 5: Guardians and Rise of the Tomb Raider. We also had a chance to play Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege.  First up, Halo 5: Guardians was playable at the event and we got to experience the all-new mode called "Warzone". Warzone is a huge new online multiplayer mode that has the biggest ever maps in Halo history. We also got to experience some of the changes 343 Industries has made to the gameplay.  The Warzone mode is downright fun because there are numerous players on the field at the same time. It's a chaotic mode because there are a mix of enemy Spartans, Covenant and vehicles that are all around trying to kill you. Your goal is to basically kill them all in hopes of capturing the enemy base.  Gameplay wise, Halo 5: Guardians has improved over the previous games. The additional features such as sprinting and aiming down the sights makes it far easier to play. It also makes the gameplay feel faster and smoother as a result. You are no longer the slow moving Spartan from the older games.  Next up we got a chance to play 20 minutes of Rise of the Tomb Raider. The previous Tomb Raider game that came out in 2013 was full of action and some people didn't like how exploration took a backseat. In Rise of the Tomb Raider however, actual tomb raiding makes a triumphant return.  The level we played was set in Siberia and Lara Croft was inside a tomb finding a hidden treasure. The change of pace was nice because the game required you to solve a few puzzles and actually go out and explore this tomb. The throwbacks to the older Tomb Raider games is most welcomed indeed.  Graphically, Rise of the Tomb Raider shines on the Xbox One console. The 2013 reboot had nice graphics, but they do not look as pretty as the new game. It could be one of the best looking console video games I have ever seen and that's saying a lot. I cannot wait to see what the rest of the game has in store.  The final game we got to experience was an online multiplayer mode for Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege. It was a 5v5 match and it was very unique. Rainbow Six Siege is the thinking man's FPS because going out like Rambo will get you killed instantly.  The thing that makes Rainbow Six Siege different from other FPS games is because there are no respawns, When you get shot and killed, you are out of the rest of the round. You are forced to co-operate with your teammates in order to survive long enough to take out the enemy team.  Anyway, this is just a small taste of what the Xbox One will be offering over the next couple of months. There will be other video games coming out soon such as Rock Band 4 and of course Fallout 4.  Keep it locked at Netguide next week as we will be posting up our interviews with developers for both Halo 5: Guardians and Rise of the Tomb Raider.