Unfortunately, reading the feedback post, I feel like the aiming issue got only very little attention after the preview in comparison of how many complaints there have been about it (at least from what I’ve seen/read/heard in forums etc).
I’m not sure if this seemingly small adjustment will solve the issues the aiming had in the preview, but I’m definitely willing to see it first.
Overall the feedback post seemed to focus more on “what went well” than issues that might have been adressed…but that’s for another thread.
Getting back to the aiming:
After spending hours in the settings, adjusting basically every slider possible for several times, getting into training mode, testing, getting back to matchmaking and then back to adjusting I was, too, able to get a rather pleasant aiming which enabled me to perform on a good level. It was close to my Halo 3/4 performances, bearing in mind that I left Halo aside pretty much since the early times of Halo 5 (whose aiming became horrible) and spending only some time in MCC again whose aiming felt pretty perfect to me (especially Halo 2: Anniverary).
So was the aiming a total disaster? No.
Was it on par with MCC or older Halos (2,3,4)? No.
I think there were a couple of factors making it feel weird, especially for casual players. And I think they are too some extent related to making Infinite crossplay or both pleasing for controller and MnK.
For one aim assist felt very inconsistent throughout different weapons - actually the BR felt brilliant, so I don’t know why they touched it…
Aiming felt “wonky” as so that on controller, it sometimes felt like there was no assist at all, and the distance at which the assist stepped in seemed to have a rather hard boarder and small differences could already decide about whether your shots would hit or not (or better: whether you’d be able to aim with or without assist). While the last point certainly adds to skill levels to some degree (they described it when they spoke about the sniper) through having to know this “border”, it makes learning the weapon difficult and in heated situations where sometimes quick movements can change the distance to your opponent in a short time it will result in chaotic aim. Of course you could say “change your weapon then!” - but most casual players do NOT focus on these tiny details as they are tedious to learn. Even more, since every weapons range is different, you’d have to exactly know EVERY border to always be prepared for these changes in battle, creating the need to precisely know your maps to actually make valuable decisions on weapon choice. Again - this is a highly valuable approach to add skill levels, but it definitely comes with the price of making it difficult for casual players to adjust.
I also think in regards of Halo legacy, that it worsens the accessibility of the game. Halo’s skill level always was a good mix of predominantly movement, map knowledge and aiming.
And the differences in aim assist with different weapons, while of course apparent, felt more consistent and thus beginner friendly throughout all weapons. It was more about the weapons various roles (plasma pistol for emp, snipe for distance etc) than about their aim feeling different.
Infinite steers more into a “1.reflex, 2. aim and 3. speed”-focused skill scheme, much like most PC-FPSs do, pushing movement and map knowledge a little behind (still important though).
I guess we’ll see if the small “cone angle” changes will solve the issue. I don’t think so, but let’s see first.
Also I wondered why they didn’t talk about TTKs which also felt…weird and many other things (like AR being totally op - especially in the hands of MnK players)