Action Sack Mode Is Back in Halo 5: Guardians

Almost a year after its release, Halo 5: Guardians continues to get updates from 343 Industries, due in part to the amount of support from the community. This time, the acclaimed multiplayer mode brought to life in Halo 2, Action Sack, is returning to the franchise in Halo 5: Guardians. In a recent 343 Industries community update, 343 details some of the new features and variants Action Sack provides for other modes:

“Action Sack has officially made its Halo 5 debut with the Community Action Sack playlist! This all-new Action Sack offering, consisting solely of community-created minigames, is now available in matchmaking. Be sure to get your friends together and jump into the madness for guaranteed good time!

When the Multiplayer Team solemnly swore that they were up to no good, we had no idea what could be brewing in the cauldron on the second floor. For the first time in Halo history, a matchmaking playlist will support team-based games, Free-For-All, and Infection variants! While Action Sack in previous Halo titles has only functioned on a team vs. team basis, Halo 5’s Action Sack will provide a wide variety of unique social experiences. Now, to clarify, if you play Community Action Sack with a fireteam, you and your friends will stick together any time a team game pops up.

When we started looking to bring minigames to Halo 5, our decision to use community-made minigames was easy. The amount of awesome Forge creations out there is truly remarkable, and it would be a mistake to not show them off to the rest of the world. Although we had plenty of maps to choose from, scouting out maps that were close to be playlist-ready was still quite difficult. We had a few rules that we followed when preparing these maps for Community Action Sack; it had to be fun, it couldn’t have any honor rules, and it needed to be polished. These three tasks seem simple, but most of these maps and modes had to receive some tweaking before they hit the wild-wild-west that is matchmaking. After a great deal of coordination with community Forger, Vorked Manback, we were able to make ensure that the maps and modes both got the attention they needed in order to be ready for the public.

Now that you’ve read all of the details about the playlist, let’s show off all of the crazy modes that will be launching inside!”

One of the modes found in Action Sack include Paintball Junkies. This is similar to a mode in Halo 4, where you attempt to hit other players with your “paintball gun” and when they are struck, they are automatically out of the game.

Additionally, one of the new modes is Tankworld, where teams of four must battle each other while in tanks. This mode sounds particularly chaotic, as most Action Sack modes traditionally are.

This should be exciting news to Halo fans. One of the wackiest multiplayer modes since Halo 2, players tend to enjoy it for its unpredictable behavior. Players are constantly forced outside their comfort zones by having to use weapons they aren’t entirely familiar with, but enjoy it nonetheless for how insane the mode can get.

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