Those concerned about Halo Recruit being a guided tour of the Halo universe with little in the way of gameplay can rest assured, what you're getting with this game is brief, but it's cool as hell.
You play a recruit (shocker, I know) who is being given a crash course on the Covenant. Big 3D holograms of the primary Covenant races appear before you with brief explanations of their capabilities, including a larger than life Elite with a plasma sword that will make your stomach drop if you're standing a little too close. Once you've been shown the enemy, it's time for a little target practice so the instructor Guilty Spark can rank your current skills.
The actual gameplay is a ten-wave shooting gallery, switching between highly mobile shields for you to hit and 2D holograms of the Covenant forces for you to pick off. You can choose to play with a pair of MG6 pistols if you're interested in seeing how accurate you can be, or you can have some real fun and reach for the M7 SMGs. Whether you prefer spray-and-pray or accuracy, at the end of the final wave you'll be scored. I'm not sure what happens if you don't score the top rank, but when you reach the Spartan rank Master Chief walks in and asks you to get ready for a fight.
From a VR gaming perspective, first-person shooters are a dime a dozen and this particular shooter is about as basic as it gets. It's a fun five-minute distraction, and it is ridiculously cool to be able to look around at the world and see everything through a Spartan helmet. But it's going to leave you wanting more. This will be a great thing to pull out and show friends at parties, but don't expect to spend an afternoon crushing Covenant or Flood or even Prometheans in Mixed Reality just yet.
Halo Recruit is expected to become available on October 17.
