<mark>TO BE CLEAR: I am NOT arguing that halo 4 is a great game; I am simply arguing that Halo Reach is the worst halo game in my opinion, and I do not want to see the large majority of features from that game (AAs, Load outs, map design, etc.) in future generations of Halo.</mark>
So I have noticed that a lot of my friends are beginning to go back to playing halo reach instead of playing halo 4, which is understandable because halo 4 is a bad game. However, what I find truly disturbing is that there is a growing faction of players that want a return to the Reach formula. In my opinion, halo reach was THE worst halo game ever created.
Problem #1: The campaign
The campaign was an utter failure in my opinion. For starters, instead of just telling a story about the spartan II’s on Reach, which would have allowed for massive battles in which you fight alongside other spartans, you instead must watch a super-secret group of spartan III’s (a ridiculous concept, BTW) carry out missions alone, following a predictable story path, and never encountering spartans along the way (dead bodies don’t count).
Campaign Story
While the story was interesting at times, I never really cared what happened to the characters. When they died it was more of a “meh”. I got more angry over the deaths of marines that I could have saved than I did over the death of Kat.
I felt as though their deaths were pointless in the way they were delivered; It happened in a cut scene, in such a fashion that you KNEW they were going to die. I would have preferred it if they died in game, like you are fighting a hunter or something and it blasts one of them in the chest; then you can get ANGRY AND DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT, then have a nice cut scene to let them pass.
now on to the hard facts
The AI programming was awful. Anyone who has entered a vehicle with Kat knows this. Why? Because its the same AI used in halo CE. Instead of using the refined, perfected Halo 3 AI, they used an old and worn-out version.
They also added in a semi-omniscient AI program to the enemies (I have no idea what it’s actually called, but I’ll explain it). This means that when you line a headshot up on an unsuspecting Elite, the pull of your trigger sends a code to the target, causing it to spin god like out of the way, unharmed. This also means that enemies know where you are almost all the time.
For example, lets say you are sneaking up on an elite, crouched with camo on. While in any other halo game you would be able to sneak up and kill it, the elite magically spins around and smacks you before you are even in range. Also, Elites are far better than usual at getting head shots, blasting your brains out on the first shot rather than the 3rd or 4th.
Another thing they did to mess up the game was the terrible checkpoint placement, but everyone already knows about that so I won’t go into it.
Continuing on, there is the problem of auto tracking weapons: When you are running from fuel-rod turrets or elites with rocket launchers/fuel rods, have you ever noticed that the rockets and fuel rods seem to be following you? Well thats because they are. enemy AI explosive weapons can track you, whether or not you are in a vehicle. This is unfair, and if I might say so, a very early 2000’s approach to making a game more difficult. It’s bad enough that they have infinite ammo with the Rocket, but now their rockets follow you too?
Now I will admit the last two missions (including lone wolf) were very fun and enjoyable. I personally enjoyed the Lone Wolf mission, and me and my friends made many attempts to see how far we could get on legendary difficulty. However, this small spot of light, like the fight scene at the end of Star Wars episode 1, was not enough to redeem the earlier shortcomings.
Problem #2: Firefight
Firefight was actually ok, but it still suffered from the AI problems of the campaign. On top of that, I felt as though it was tarnished some-what by the infinite ammo crates and gametypes like Fiesta, in which everyone has power weapons and infinite lives. That, coupled with the high credit incentive, reduced any attempt at teamwork to ashes.
Problem #3: Forge + custom games
Forge was actually pretty good; I enjoyed the improved forge mode and forge was perhaps the largest redeeming quality about halo reach. However, the custom games were trampled underfoot. Without any misc. items/ items that could be thrown about, the odd uselessness of the custom power up (it never worked for me), and the difficulty in forging infection maps made it very difficult to create fun and exciting games.
Problem #4: File Sharing
I was very disappointed when I found that you could not look at other people’s fileshares; this had been my main source of entertainment while waiting for the game to start as well as my method for collecting new game types to try. Sure you have a file browser, but that doesn’t help if you aren’t looking for something specific, and half the time its impossible to find the matching game types and maps. this is a 17+ game, who cares if there are inappropriate images floating around? if some squeaker’s mom is upset, her 7 year old kid shouldn’t be playing this game anyway. Besides, whatever happened to “Online interactions are not rated by the ESRB”?
Problem #5: Matchmaking changes
This is the biggest black spot in all of Halo history. Not only did this see the removal of some of the most beloved weapons such as the BR and the SMG, but it also saw an end to Dual-wielding, which has been an essential part the franchise since the dawn of Halo matchmaking. They also nerfed the AR, making it practically useless in the face of a pistol or a skilled hand with the DMR.
While in halo 3 there we had equipments and powerups, which were balanced because only a few people had them at a time and they could only be used once, in Reach we were given Armor Abilities.
These completely and utterly unbalanced the game. Now, instead of having to hunt for the equipment, players could use it again, and again, and again, and again. This was a terrible idea. Not to mention the over-powered abilities like Armor Lock and Camouflage, which was a big boon for campers and snipers, but not so much for skilled players and prideful anti-snipers.
Problem #6: Maps
There was also the horrible map designs. the original maps were terrible; they were buggy, filled with holes and glitched spots, and WERE TAKEN DIRECTLY FROM THE CAMPAIGN. there was no effort put into them at all. In fact, the best map pack was the Anniversary map pack. quite frankly I can’t remember any of the other map packs because I have repressed them. They put a rocket with 2 extra clips on CQC maps, guaranteeing some camper noob at least 4 kills.
Not only that, but the weapon spawn rate was very high. More than once I have encountered matches on Countdown in which there were 3 shotgunners running around the map. Sometimes there were so many shotguns and swords lying around the map I would wonder if I had joined a Zombies match.
True, there were some good maps, such as Zealot, hemorrhage, and The Cage, the other maps were either too asymmetrical to be balanced, or had too dominant a map control point, like the upper floor of Countdown or the upper terrace of Reflection
