Dear 343,
This is really important that 343 reads, if anyone reading this knows a 343 employee, or knows someone who knows someone please give them my message.
My message is mainly focused on the sandbox but I do touch on some other topics.
Reqs. They should not return in Halo 6. Or at least not variants of a weapon. Halo 5 is very fun, don’t get me wrong, its my most played game right now, but Halo 6 should focus more on a classic type theme to attract more fans, which I figured out how to do. Over the years Halo has had many different types of weapons and if Halo 6 had every single weapon from a halo game (excluding variant weapons) the sandbox would have more diversity, gun play would be unique, and map balancing would be lot more interesting. Halo Reach has some of the most unique weapons that should diffidently return, like the needler rifle, or plasma launcher. I think 343 is realizing that a casual and competitive game is a game where each weapon has its own niche. That’s what the newest update was about. The needler rifle was a DMR type gun but shot needles! Like that was so cool when I was a kid, the needler rifle was my favorite weapon that wasn’t a power weapon. And the plasma launcher was also really cool, charging it up and then four plasma grenades would track your enemies! It was the neatest thing. A larger weapon variety would also mean custom games would be more interesting, like this weapon only type of thing. One weapon that I think a lot of people forgot about was the sticky detonator. That gun was so fun to mess around in custom games with. It also made some good kills. I used to put it above a doorway and wait for someone to come in and then I would detonate it. I thought the sticky detonator would be in Halo 5 and I kept waiting for to be added but I eventually gave up hoping. I have made a list of every gun from every Halo game that should be in Halo 6 to add more variety, and add more creativity in custom games and map balancing.
Assault Rifle
Battle Rifle
Shotgun
Sniper Rifle
SMG
Spiker (Forgot about this one didn’t you?)
Magnum
Plasma Pistol
Plasma Rifle
Concussion Rifle
Needler
Brute Shot
Rocket Launcher
Beam Rifle
Fuel Rod
Spartan Laser
Energy Sword
Gravity Hammer
Covenant Carbine
Mauler
Sentinel Beam
Flamethrower (It should probably be like how it was in Halo 3, where it was worse than a shotgun but could put fire on the ground to damage people, so area denial)
DMR
Grenade Launcher
Plasma Repeater
Needler Rifle
Focus Rifle
Plasma Launcher
Rail Gun
Sticky Detanator
Saw
Storm Rifle
Suppressor
Hydra
Plasma Caster
Incineration Cannon
Light Rifle
Scattershot
Binary Rifle
Bolt Shot
And any turret and most of the grenades.
In my first draft I had a list of all the vehicles but there is no room.
I hope I didn’t leave anything out, I was going through a list.
As you can see, there are many weapons with their own niche. Now when creating maps and I want to choose to make a sniper weapon I have to choose one, either the one that shoots a continuous beam but less damage per second (for balancing reasons), focus rifle, the four shot per mag normal sniper rifle, or a battery type sniper rifle, beam rifle, or a burst laser, the light rifle.
The same thing should also be done with vehicles. Over the years there have been many unique vehicles, such as the revenant, hornet, or even the chopper. The elephant was defiantly a highlight of Halo 3, especially because it was only on one map, so you had to hope the map was that one if you wanted some elephant time. If the elephant was to be put in Halo 6 (which I think it should be) then it should do what Halo 3 did and only put it on one or two maps. The only problem with all the vehicles would be a balance clash between the wasp, hornet, and falcon. I think to fix this the falcon should be made faster, so a more elegant, get get-my-team-mates-in-and-kill-everyone-with-the-turret-and-then-get-away-before-we-are-attacked sort of thing. The hornet should no longer have missals and be more like a flying warthog with a machine gun controlled by the pilot. The wasp should be relatively the same but should be more nimble/speedy and maybe less health.
This part I am just going to let my OCD (which I did not let interfere with anything I am righting now) get the best of me and through out some ideas
Scarab? Its just a covenant elephant
Target locator? Obviously not in competitive play, but in firefight (which the game should launch with) and custom games.
And obviously Halo 6 should have new and unique weapons and vehicles. This is important but shouldn’t be (well it should, but it can be forgiven) if 343 follows what I’s saying.
Warzone is really neat but relies on the variant weapons to much. If 343 wants to have Warzone in Halo 6 they should do it in a way with out reqs, I think the maps would have to be a little smaller to make it easier to find people and pick up weapons and use your own weapons. Reminder variant weapons should not be in the game.
Halo 6 should launch or quickly gain many game modes. It should have old game modes, breakout would be cool to see return, especially because of it’s impact on custom game modes. Halo 6 should also have many knew game modes. Many, many game modes. So much to play and do the game will never get boring or repetitive. It would be interesting to see all the knew game modes that Halo 6 will have. And maybe even some simple, weird ones for the weekend, like a domination game mode but only one capture point. Something like that.
In regards to Halo 5:
Halo 5 is very fun, I play it a little too much and love the game with a passion but I think it would have done much better as a side game like Halo 3: ODST or Halo Reach. This should be done in the future if spartan abilities are to return. Which is another thing: spartan abilities should not return. I think this is already known because of the popularity of the Halo 3 classic throwback playlist but I just want to make sure it makes my list for my formula to create the best selling Halo game. I don’t think I need to explain why they shouldn’t but my opinion is if they should return in a later game it should be side game like Halo reach or Halo: ODST. And I am going to state again that variant weapons should not return in Halo 6 (but maybe a side game).
For Halo 6 to succeed it needs to attract current, old, and new players, and you can do this by making the game casual, i.e. no spartan abilities and many game modes. There should also be a competitive seen that should probably stay the same as it is. Grabbing new players is the most important part of a game and you do this by making it look easy to pick up, Halo 5 is a little to hard to get good at and can scare some people away.
I have devised a formula that I have made from looking at previous games and the new video game market and have a formula to give to you, 343, to make the best selling Halo game. Please consider what I have said.
All weapons (for variety in sandbox) + All vehicle (for variety in sandbox) + Many game modes at launch (so there is a lot to do) + a powerful forge (Halo 5 already has this so just do what Halo 5 did) = Halo 6
I hope I didn’t leave anything out. I’ve had this idea in my head for a few days now and I hope I didn’t forget anything. Please 343, I want you to succeed more than anything and I wrote this hoping that someone out there listens and tries to apply what I have said.
Thank you,
Me