from what I’m seeing on twitter/reddit/forums it looks like it’s gonna be another MCC again.
I’ve played halo since 2006 and I know the majority of waypoints users play on the controller. I don’t have anything against people playing a certain input, I’ve played halo the longest on controller but honestly the aim assist it comes with is going to scare away M&K players. 343i decided to take the live service route and if you’re scaring away M&K players like what happened to MCC then the game isn’t going to remain on the surface with other competitive shooters.
The pool of M&K players is so much larger compared to controller players, as a company you would want to tap into the M&K market especially if you’re relying on the live service formula. I do agree that halo has always been made for controllers but that doesn’t mean it can’t change, I’ve played 33 hours of the flight so far with both inputs and M&K still struggles badly against controllers.
I’m sorry but the aim assist makes this game piss easy even when it’s been toned down compared to MCC. I don’t understand how people are wanting it buffed. Some of you on PC need to try M&K out, the skill ceiling is drastically larger and takes so much more effort to get a kill. No M&K is going to want to bother with this title even if there’s an input filter for matchmaking and no M&K player is going to attempt to play in HCS. That’s already a shot in the foot for your game 343i. If I lose a gunfight to someone that’s better or I’ve made a bad decision then it’s fine but losing a gunfight to someone effortlessly from aim assist then that large pool of players 343i wants won’t bother with the game. Obviously aim isn’t the only thing that matters there’s more to it like communication, teamwork, positioning etc but there will always be a time where you are in a 1v1 gunfight and I already know who has the advantage instantly.
I understand there’s a lot of casual players who jump on the couch, start up the Xbox (even PC) and grind halo but If 343i caters to that small audience by increasing the aim assist then it’s already another shot in the foot. Halo’s Multiplayer has always been a competitive arena shooter by nature including BTB.
A direct note for 343i and for anyone that cares. (HCS & Ranked)
On the HCS side of things, I played R6:S pro league on PC for a couple of years (2018/2019) and the first year of Pro league it had Xbox and PC split up into two different leagues, after the first major Ubisoft decided to drop Xbox entirely as all the viewers, money and competition was on PC (M&K). The game was competitively superior, more enjoyable to watch, nothing would’ve worked to have both inputs on the same league and HCS won’t either. I want to see this game next to competitive shooters like CS, Valorant but it ain’t looking like that so far. Full respect to the current pros of halo, I think they are absolute gods at the game and deserve all the praise for how good they are but there’s nothing comparable with M&K on any FPS.
Apex legends, It’s really bad when you have pros and their team force themselves to use a certain input for aim assist as not only an advantage but also to try and keep up with everyone else in the pro scene doing the same thing. The Apex Legends pro scene is struggling from this issue, I see this here with HCS, I just don’t think there’s ever going to be a fair balance, controllers plain and simply struggle without aim assist.
If you had a M&K Onyx/Champion player go up against a Onyx/Champion controller player, it’s over for the M&K player. If they’re the same rank, they should mostly be the same skill level as one another but that will never be the case. Just like what happened with MCC ranked, you won’t find any M&K in high ranks and then there goes your large market 343i.
As much as I don’t mind halo on controller, I’m sorry but M&K needs to thrive and be the favourite input. I love halo. It hurts me when I talk about halo to my friends and they don’t want to even look at it because of how bad MCC was with controllers vs. M&K. I don’t think aim assist in the game is as crazy as it was and the game isn’t “unplayable” as some are claiming it to be. You actually need to put some sort of effort in your gunplay now, especially long distances. Making it any better and best of luck for Infinite’s life span.