1st trilogy stuff that will make halo 5 great

Community General Discussion
1

Here’s my list of things that I LOVED from previous Halo games. In my humble opinion, these few things could make Halo 5 that little bit better.

CAMPAIGN:

Throughout the first trilogy, there were several levels which I played repeatedly. They were unbelievably fun and I still go back and play them today. Any level that had 3 different forces fighting each other (I.e. Covenant, flood and master chief). These levels were absolutely amazing because you could play the level in many different ways. You could grab a bowlofpopcorn, sit back, and laugh as the enemies decimated each other, then pick off the stragglers. You could try to sneak past everyone speed run style or change your gamer tag to Rambo and kill everything yourself. The levels that really come to mind are Sacred Icon, Quarantine Zone, Graveming and High Charity from Halo 2. Walking into a room filled with bodies, terrified grunts, and flood fighting elites was an awesome feeling. We got a taste of that feeling in Halo 4 during Forerunner (pardon me if I have the wrong level), when headed to the second pillon. In each area you’d walk in to see elites and prometheans tearing each other a digital new one and it was awesome! In the chaoctic fighting, the scenario felt desperate and like the objective was something really worth fighting for. That feeling was what initially drew me to the Halo franchise. If you’re not sure what feeling I mean, think back to Halo CE. Any level after 343 Guilty spark had small and large scale enemy battles that the master chief would walk in on. Two betrayals is an excellent example. The two coolest/badass/awesome feeling of the entire halo franchise (for me) were in that level. Right after fighting your way through some covieinfested rooms, you walk up to a ramp. At the top a large swarm of flood run past the entrance and covenant plasma fire erupts. Listening to them fight it out, then rounding the corner and seeing the aftermath was sooooo cool. Throughout the next few minutes the frantic three way fights in the close quarters hallways were the most memorable fights in Halo. A little while after there’s that entire section where you are walking through the bottom of that canyon fighting groups of all-ready-engaged flood and covenant… The entire setting was perfect to walk up to, and really made the whole mission seem like it was the do or die situation Bungie wanted it to be.

If I were to pick my favourite 10 soundtracks from the entire halo franchise, 8 would be from Halo CE. Marty O’Donnell’s drum run track is the perfect example. It’s not complicated, but feels like it tells a story and helps draw you closer into the game. I’ve always thought that the drum, cello and electric keyboard pieces have best suited halo, not because of my personal music preferences but because of how it sets the mood and complements the gameplay. I wasn’t really drawn in by the orchestral music of halo 4 the same way as Marty’s music, even though I loved the opening screen music.

And finally, the last thing that has kept me playing old Halo games… EASTER EGGS! From big to small, they are a great way to laugh off being decimated on Laso and just cool to find. Ones that are interactive (I.e. reach racer, the four banshees, talking grunt at the end off Halo CE and Halo 3, Halo 2 scarab gun) are the best, hands down. I liked the Roosterteeth Easter eggs a lot, but sadly there weren’t really any Easter eggs in the campaign. That was one on my very short list of Halo 4 pet-peeves. Oh, and bring back the hunt for skulls! Halo 3s hunt for the IWHBYD skull was an awesome experience and one that I’ve been dying for again. The skulls have been a part of halo culture since halo 2 and should have a spot once again in the game.

Conclusion: More three way fights (longer the better), awesome Marty style drum/electric keyboard music, and fill the game with awesome Easter eggs (references, Funny stuff and skulls).

MULTIPLAYER:

Honestly, Halo 4 multiplayer was almost perfect. There’s very few things that I could suggest from previous games that would make Halo 5 multiplayer better. The load outs worked perfectly with the gameplay and weapon drops, and the games always felt more or less balanced. One pet-peeve though… Max rank is way to easy to reach. When I see a SR-130, I am not really impressed. In halo reach, when I saw an Inheritor I had ‘gamer repect’ for that guy. The hunt for the elusive title of inheritor in Halo reach for me was a lot of fun, and what compelled me to put more than two weeks worth of game time into multiplayer alone. Halo 5 will truly benefit from having an almost unreachable max-rank, as players will always be coming back to try to get as high up on the spartan ladder as possible. I’ve found that I’m am kind of an achievement hunter (not roosterteeth). In every halo game I try for all achievements, Laso completion and highest online rank possible. Halo 5 will be that much better for me if the completion of max rank is something to truly respect.

Conclusion: Halo 4 has the best multiplayer of any game I’ve played. Throw in max rank in halo 5 and I’ll keep coming back for years to play.

Final note: all this is just my humble opinion, feel free to disagree or respectfully debated in this forum. If anyone has more well throughout suggestions they would like to add please do so, I’m interested in what other halo fans think.

CPT Del Rio (gamertag)

2

Off topic: Del Rio, you can go die in a hole for your hatred for Master Chief!
Back on topic: I can’t remember the name but I usually replay the level with the mammoth because the I get that old feel of large vehicle battles and large open levels. That’s the one thing I miss are the large open vehicle levels that CE and 2 where known for. Hopefully that’s fixed with new hardware or a new form of physical media (I don’t know what to call it) like a best case scenario for me are high memory SD Cards because they’re fast and they can contain a lot of memory.

3

Off topic: I choose it before I knew he was an -Yoink-… Lol
On topic: I know exactly what you mean. I think that level you’re talking about is reclaimer. I’m really looking forward to all the awesome stuff we are gonna get in halo 5 with the new system. Maybe then we can get those massive vehicle levels again :slight_smile:

4

The three/four way battles from the original trilogy are what’s missing in Halo 4. Bringing back the Flood in Halo 5 could fix this. Battles between UNSC, Covenant-Promethean, Flood and Neutral Sentinels would be welcome. Pluss, we would finally see Prometheans fighting the Flood!

I would also like to see the Covenant begin to use more Promethean weapons, and work more with the Prometheans. Maybe even using forerunner armor.

5

> Off topic: I choose it before I knew he was an -Yoink!-… Lol
> On topic: I know exactly what you mean. I think that level you’re talking about is reclaimer. I’m really looking forward to all the awesome stuff we are gonna get in halo 5 with the new system. <mark>Maybe then we can get those massive vehicle levels again</mark> :slight_smile:

Halo 3 double scarab level = pure epicness

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> I can’t remember the name but I usually replay the level with the mammoth because the I get that old feel of large vehicle battles and large open levels. That’s the one thing I miss are the large open vehicle levels that CE and 2 where known for. Hopefully that’s fixed with new hardware or a new form of physical media (I don’t know what to call it) like a best case scenario for me are high memory SD Cards because they’re fast and they can contain a lot of memory.

Halo 3 had epic vehicle battles too, in fact it probably had the most (though I’ll admit the vehicular gameplay wasn’t up to the standard of the first two games). ODST and Reach also had some pretty big battles. Think of Coastal Highway in ODST and the end of New Alexandria in Reach (flying vehicles are still vehicles).

However the problem with Halo 4 is that the lighting engine is so taxing on the memory that having so many vehicles at once would cause huge frame rate loss. Unfortunately gamers base too much of their opinion of a game on the graphics so developers can’t afford to tone down graphics to give us large scale encounters any more.

Old Halo engines can manage enormous battles on newer PCs. If you’ve played it, remember the last vehicle battle in the Lumoria campaign, where you fighting your way up a hill with about 3 allied tanks and handful of warthogs and marines on foot, against about 9 wraiths 4 shadows and a load of banshees, in addition to covenant infantry on the ground and in towers. That battle was much bigger than anything in Halo 3, Reach or 4. It can only be achieved because of Lumoria’s modest graphics.

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TLD - Del Rio, is that you?! :o Also, I’ve skimmed through your post, looks like a worthwhile read.

typing reply

8

> Any level that had 3 different forces fighting each other (I.e. Covenant, flood and master chief). <mark>These levels were absolutely amazing because you could play the level in many different ways.</mark> You could grab a bowlofpopcorn, sit back, and laugh as the enemies decimated each other, then pick off the stragglers. You could try to sneak past everyone speed run style or change your gamer tag to Rambo and kill everything yourself. The levels that really come to mind are Sacred Icon, Quarantine Zone, Graveming and High Charity from Halo 2. Walking into a room filled with bodies, terrified grunts, and flood fighting elites was an awesome feeling.

Spot on.

You could even manipulate enemies into killing each other.

When I was going for the Mythic skull, I skipped the combat forms that spawned in that room, which caused them all to head on to the next area. It was nightmarish being charged by so many of them (about 10).

And on Two Betrayals, I brought a Zealot from the twin bridges to the end of the level, on Legendary. He destroyed most Flood but still succumbed to rocket launcher and shotgun Flood. :frowning:

> We got a taste of that feeling in Halo 4 during Forerunner (pardon me if I have the wrong level), when headed to the second pillon. In each area you’d walk in to see elites and prometheans tearing each other a digital new one and it was awesome!

Part of the issue is that the story was rushed at that point.

From that point on, it was nothing but Covies fighting separately from Prometheans for the rest of the Campaign. It wasn’t until mid-Season (of Spartan Ops) that they began to be organized encounters (Crawlers with Elite leaders, Crawlers and a Hunter pair, Watchers and Elites, Elites with Promethean weapons).

Also, I’d have liked to see the Librarian retain control over some Knights. I’ve glitched Knights into fighting their comrades. It was awesome (it would have been even more awesome if their former allies noticed them). I had impressions of Knight vs. Knight battles from the trailer and ViDocs so I was disappointed to see Didact assume control of them in an instant.

<mark>I think having the alliance occur this early in the game is what really made the Campaign and Spartan Ops feel repetitive</mark> because the newer Spartan Ops episodes which feature the enemies as one team are a lot more enjoyable.

> In the chaoctic fighting, the scenario felt desperate and like the objective was something really worth fighting for. That feeling was what initially drew me to the Halo franchise. If you’re not sure what feeling I mean, think back to Halo CE. Any level after 343 Guilty spark had small and large scale enemy battles that the master chief would walk in on. Two betrayals is an excellent example. The two coolest/badass/awesome feeling of the entire halo franchise (for me) were in that level. Right after fighting your way through some covieinfested rooms, you walk up to a ramp. At the top a large swarm of flood run past the entrance and covenant plasma fire erupts. Listening to them fight it out, then rounding the corner and seeing the aftermath was sooooo cool. Throughout the next few minutes the frantic three way fights in the close quarters hallways were the most memorable fights in Halo. A little while after there’s that entire section where you are walking through the bottom of that canyon fighting groups of all-ready-engaged flood and covenant… The entire setting was perfect to walk up to, and really made the whole mission seem like it was the do or die situation Bungie wanted it to be.

Couldn’t have said it better.

> And finally, the last thing that has kept me playing old Halo games… EASTER EGGS! From big to small, they are a great way to laugh off being decimated on Laso and just cool to find. Ones that are interactive (I.e. reach racer, the four banshees, talking grunt at the end off Halo CE and Halo 3, Halo 2 scarab gun) are the best, hands down. I liked the Roosterteeth Easter eggs a lot, but sadly there weren’t really any Easter eggs in the campaign. That was one on my very short list of Halo 4 pet-peeves. Oh, and bring back the hunt for skulls! Halo 3s hunt for the IWHBYD skull was an awesome experience and one that I’ve been dying for again. The skulls have been a part of halo culture since halo 2 and should have a spot once again in the game.

You’re damn right.

Giving us a pseudo-marine challenge which unveils an imposter Johnson wielding an inaccurate yet appropriate weapon is vastly inferior to CE’s killing Keyes, fending off invincible marines, and seeing the Megg with your last dying breath.

9

> However the problem with Halo 4 is that the lighting engine is so taxing on the memory that having so many vehicles at once would cause huge frame rate loss.
>
> Unfortunately gamers base too much of their opinion of a game on the graphics so developers can’t afford to tone down graphics to give us large scale encounters any more.
>
> Old Halo engines can manage enormous battles on newer PCs. If you’ve played it, remember the last vehicle battle in the Lumoria campaign, where you fighting your way up a hill with about 3 allied tanks and handful of warthogs and marines on foot, against about 9 wraiths 4 shadows and a load of banshees, in addition to covenant infantry on the ground and in towers. That battle was much bigger than anything in Halo 3, Reach or 4. It can only be achieved because of Lumoria’s modest graphics.

True. Toolbox shows the effects of overloading here and here.

True. I find all this emphasis on graphics repulsive. The distracting HUD elements, the colors in the background being similar to foreground elements neutralizing depth perception, looking for weapons on the ground, tall grass, realistic rocks. Compare CE to CEA, the former is clearly superior. CEA made the HUD harder to see, made it harder to see where your pistol shots landed, put tall grass in places where it was absent, made it harder to find weapons on the ground, making plasma grenade explosions deceptive and lessening blood splotches not to mention ruining the atmosphere on 343 Guilty Spark. The only level that was done well IMO was The Library. To me, someone who fervently loves CE, CEA was an atrocity.

10

> Compare CE to CEA, the former is clearly superior. CEA made the HUD harder to see, made it harder to see where your pistol shots landed, put tall grass in places where it was absent, made it harder to find weapons on the ground, making plasma grenade explosions deceptive and lessening blood splotches not to mention ruining the atmosphere on 343 Guilty Spark. The only level that was done well IMO was The Library. To me, someone who fervently loves CE, CEA was an atrocity.

I agree, I loved CE. The atmosphere matters much more than the graphics, which only really need to be good enough to maintain immersion and act as graphical queues (e.g. to help you orientate yourself and show you where to go).

11

> > Off topic: I choose it before I knew he was an -Yoink!-… Lol
> > On topic: I know exactly what you mean. I think that level you’re talking about is reclaimer. I’m really looking forward to all the awesome stuff we are gonna get in halo 5 with the new system. <mark>Maybe then we can get those massive vehicle levels again</mark> :slight_smile:
>
> Halo 3 double scarab level = pure epicness

I played this level so often, it was perfect, flying the Hornet, dying because trying to hijack a banshee while jumping out of the Hornet, suddenly the Flood, two Scarabs and ridiculously awesome music

some things that Halo 5 needs: Scarabs, Hornets & and the Flood

12

I would pay good money to see Halo 4 Spartans fight flood… That’s the popcorn bowl moment that I’d play through over and over again

13

The graphics in CEA and Halo 4 were truly amazing. Clear crisp, and ran smoothly. This was a detriment to the game for me. Not severe, but still a detriment. I found that the better the graphics became, the more detailed the environment became. This kinda took away from the mood of the game which I initially loved from halo CE. Think back to the bare walls of 343 guilty spark and how scary that level felt. Now think of CEAs 343 guilty spark. Not as scary. It was harder to get into the mood and the detail tended to distract me from the gameplay. It’s hard to explain in words, but I hope you can understand what I’m trying to convey. I am totally cool with sharp, precise graphics, but simpler and less detailed. The simpler makes you feel more like a ‘barbarian with a cudgel’ (anyone catch the reference?) than a intelligent human and that was also part of what attracted me to Halo. I would be really happy if Halo 5 had sharp, crisp, and simple graphics as it would get me more into the game.

I’ve noticed the exact same thing in halo music. The more simple the music (drum run, gun point at the head of the universe), the more it got my heart pumping because it was almost brutal, instead of a eloquent, beautiful orchestral piece. The later has a tendency to calm me down rather than get me excited.

Thoughts?

Btw if anyone wants to play any of the halo games online, add me and send a message. I’m currently trying to find people for Halo 3 and halo 3: ODST vid master challenges. My gamer tag is Cpt Del Rio.

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> > Any level that had 3 different forces fighting each other (I.e. Covenant, flood and master chief). <mark>These levels were absolutely amazing because you could play the level in many different ways.</mark> You could grab a bowlofpopcorn, sit back, and laugh as the enemies decimated each other, then pick off the stragglers. You could try to sneak past everyone speed run style or change your gamer tag to Rambo and kill everything yourself. The levels that really come to mind are Sacred Icon, Quarantine Zone, Graveming and High Charity from Halo 2. Walking into a room filled with bodies, terrified grunts, and flood fighting elites was an awesome feeling.
>
> Spot on.
>
> You could even manipulate enemies into killing each other.
>
> When I was going for the Mythic skull, I skipped the combat forms that spawned in that room, which caused them all to head on to the next area. It was nightmarish being charged by so many of them (about 10).
>
> And on Two Betrayals, I brought a Zealot from the twin bridges to the end of the level, on Legendary. He destroyed most Flood but still succumbed to rocket launcher and shotgun Flood. :frowning:
>
>
>
> > We got a taste of that feeling in Halo 4 during Forerunner (pardon me if I have the wrong level), when headed to the second pillon. In each area you’d walk in to see elites and prometheans tearing each other a digital new one and it was awesome!
>
> Part of the issue is that the story was rushed at that point.
>
> From that point on, it was nothing but Covies fighting separately from Prometheans for the rest of the Campaign. It wasn’t until mid-Season (of Spartan Ops) that they began to be organized encounters (Crawlers with Elite leaders, Crawlers and a Hunter pair, Watchers and Elites, Elites with Promethean weapons).
>
> Also, I’d have liked to see the Librarian retain control over some Knights. I’ve glitched Knights into fighting their comrades. It was awesome (it would have been even more awesome if their former allies noticed them).
>
> How???
>
> I had impressions of Knight vs. Knight battles from the trailer and ViDocs so I was disappointed to see Didact assume control of them in an instant.
>
> <mark>I think having the alliance occur this early in the game is what really made the Campaign and Spartan Ops feel repetitive</mark> because the newer Spartan Ops episodes which feature the enemies as one team are a lot more enjoyable.
>
> Agreed. Perhaps in Halo 5 they’ll have a falling out and get into a massive battle? Similar to the civil war from Halo 2… That would be glorious.
>
>
>
> > In the chaoctic fighting, the scenario felt desperate and like the objective was something really worth fighting for. That feeling was what initially drew me to the Halo franchise. If you’re not sure what feeling I mean, think back to Halo CE. Any level after 343 Guilty spark had small and large scale enemy battles that the master chief would walk in on. Two betrayals is an excellent example. The two coolest/badass/awesome feeling of the entire halo franchise (for me) were in that level. Right after fighting your way through some covieinfested rooms, you walk up to a ramp. At the top a large swarm of flood run past the entrance and covenant plasma fire erupts. Listening to them fight it out, then rounding the corner and seeing the aftermath was sooooo cool. Throughout the next few minutes the frantic three way fights in the close quarters hallways were the most memorable fights in Halo. A little while after there’s that entire section where you are walking through the bottom of that canyon fighting groups of all-ready-engaged flood and covenant… The entire setting was perfect to walk up to, and really made the whole mission seem like it was the do or die situation Bungie wanted it to be.
>
> Couldn’t have said it better.
>
>
>
> > And finally, the last thing that has kept me playing old Halo games… EASTER EGGS! From big to small, they are a great way to laugh off being decimated on Laso and just cool to find. Ones that are interactive (I.e. reach racer, the four banshees, talking grunt at the end off Halo CE and Halo 3, Halo 2 scarab gun) are the best, hands down. I liked the Roosterteeth Easter eggs a lot, but sadly there weren’t really any Easter eggs in the campaign. That was one on my very short list of Halo 4 pet-peeves. Oh, and bring back the hunt for skulls! Halo 3s hunt for the IWHBYD skull was an awesome experience and one that I’ve been dying for again. The skulls have been a part of halo culture since halo 2 and should have a spot once again in the game.
>
> You’re damn right.
>
> Giving us a pseudo-marine challenge which unveils an imposter Johnson wielding an inaccurate yet appropriate weapon is vastly inferior to CE’s killing Keyes, fending off invincible marines, and seeing the Megg with your last dying breath.

my favourite Easter egg of all time has to be the halo 2 scarab gun. I loved it because of how difficult it was to get and the amazement I had that someone had found it in the first place. I wish there had been Easter eggs put in halo 4 that were meant to be almost impossible to find… Those are the best.