Spiral Mountain in Halo 5
By Brad Jones 26 December 2015
A talented Halo 5: Guardians player has recreated Spiral Mountain from Banjo Kazooie using the set of tools made available last week via the addition of Forge mode to the game.
Since the game launched back in November, a slew of other major releases has stolen some of the thunder from the well-received Halo 5: Guardians. However, the creations players are able to come up with thanks to its newly available Forge mode could change all that.
One of the first notable maps to be put together using the tool takes inspiration from a franchise that’s a long way from the sci-fi stylings of Halo. Anyone who’s familiar with the cult classic Banjo Kazooie will no doubt recognize the Forge recreation of Spiral Mountain.
The map was created by a Reddit user called llamajuice — and it’s apparently not the first time these two franchises have been mixed together. The creator and a friend put together a custom map based on Spiral Mountain in the PC version of Halo: Combat Evolved.
However, the tools available circa 2015 are more sophisticated than those doing the rounds back then. Everything from the titular Spiral to villainess Gruntilda’s evil lair has been recreated with some care, and the finished product is very impressive indeed — even if it’s not particularly well suited to competitive multiplayer usage.
That being said, it certainly bodes well for the future of Halo 5 in the wake of Forge being released. The tool set was only distributed to players last week, so it’s very impressive to see such nuanced and inventive content being released and shared already. We’re likely to see even more impressive stuff do the rounds as time goes on.
Forge was originally introduced to the Halo franchise in 2007, making its debut in the fondly remembered Halo 3. Since then, it’s been expanded greatly and iterated upon in each further mainline instalment, and 343 Industries claims to have put together the best version so far for Halo 5.
With a variety of massive environments to use as a canvas, some advanced scripting functionality and the base game’s tight Halo gameplay, Forge could expand the title’s lifespan significantly. Content like this Spiral Mountain creation spreading across the Internet will surely help bring attention to the availability of the mode.
Reports that circulated immediately after launch noted that Halo 5 sold well, but a title like this really needs to hold onto the attention of those players to be considered a success. Forge will certainly aid that attempt, but at this point there are some major questions to be asked about the long-term popularity of the series.
Halo 5: Guardians is available now for Xbox One.
