Exactly what I wrote in the title. There is aim assist in this game, or more specifically, your cross-hair does track enemies when they move. And I’m not referring to the videos circulating on twitter, Load by into training and try it, unless there’s a bug disabling it in MM it’s definitely there, and probably strong enough. I think the bigger issue is that the level of ‘friction’ is too low at midrange with spawn weapons, and bullet magnetism seems to be completely gone.
Friction only effects enemies in RRR (red reticule range), and the issue with the sidekick is it’s RRR is too short. That range can be extended by smart scope (yes, even though you don’t get an accuracy boost smart scope does increase RRR, at least for the sidekick), but that only brings it into a midrange level of accuracy, and at that range it’s almost impossible not to be descoped. Which means tons of your engagements with the gun are outside this range. And without any friction, and the really high strafe speed, keeping on target becomes far too difficult. I think a pretty easy tweak 343 could implement to make the sidekick feel better would be just to make it’s un-scoped RRR the length of it’s current scoped RRR, then just add a few more feet for when it’s scoped. At the moment, it’s only really useful within the same range the assault rifle is useful. Personally, I would combine this change with a slight increase in assault rife spread, but that’s getting into a whole other thing.
RRR is really the biggest differentiator between console and PC players. Within RRR is when a console player often has an edge, especially at closer ranges, the game is helping them keep on target while the PC players are trying to hone their aim on target. At close range this can involve pretty large mouse movements, and unless they have really strong muscle memory it can be tough to keep your aim. With Halo Infinite going for AR/Sidekick starts, and the sidekicks relatively high level of accuracy even at longer ranges, it gives PC players a larger advantage in more encounters.
The other, probably more contentious point I’m going to talk about is bullet magnetism. Lot’s of players hate bullet magnetism, and I get it. It can easily feel cheap, and make aiming far too easy when it’s over tuned. But personally, I think it plays an important part in making online game play more fun. People are quick to label it as anti-competitive in some way, but I personally just don’t see it that way. Halo 3 was for many people the pinnacle of competitive play, and it had the largest bullet magnetism of all the games. Aiming in Halo 3 was still hard because they hadn’t yet switched to hit-scan weapons, but I think it somewhat demonstrates my point that as a tool, bullet magnetism isn’t inherently bad. I don’t want H3 levels of bullet magnetism in the game, but I think the game will feel much better with just a little. People will reply to this saying people should get good, saying it’ll lower the skill gap, and I get that. Maybe it will, just a little, but Halo isn’t just a competitive game. Two teams of bad players, or two teams of average players need to be able to play each other and still have a good time. The game needs to be fun at all levels of play. Not that bad players should be helped enough to beat better players, but that they can have fun in a match of people at equal skill level to them. And at the moment, aiming is just too unforgiving for that to be the case. Being great at Halo has always been about more than just staying on target. It’s about your movement, it’s about your accuracy with pre-nades, it’s about your map knowledge and positioning, your teamwork and yes, your gun skill.
Curious to know what other people think. Am I crazy, or do you agree?