I would like to offer my feedback to 343 so that hopefully it is seen.
First off, the beta is tremendous. The gameplay has great pacing that makes it feel exciting again. The addition of sprint, clamber, ground pound, and the other movement abilities really adds to the game, and makes maneuvering the map have more possibilities than ever.
Possibly my favorite thing about Halo multiplayer has always been that it felt fair. When i encounter an enemy, it feels as though it is a fair face off based on skill. Dependent upon movement, grenade placement, aiming, weapon choice, and other factors. I felt that either one of us could beat the other, no matter who shot first, or who had the jump on who, in most cases. This is something i don’t get from CoD or most multiplayer shooters. If the enemy has an AK-47 and i have an M16, and they see me first, im dead, without a doubt. They are twitch shooters, where as Halo was a full out competitive shooter.
This still seems to be the case in H5. The pace is definitely faster, but not as fast as CoD. I still feel as though i can take on an enemy head on, and the best man will win.
Adding all the staples of shooters today however has made the game more enjoyable, and more accessible, surprisingly. These are things that had to be added to the game to make it appealing to the newer generation of players. Purists will complain and say it doesn’t feel like Halo, but at the end of the day, it’s still Halo, it just isn’t how they remember it. And this isn’t a bad thing. You guys just released an entire suite of the classic games for them to play multiplayer on.
Overall the weapon balancing isn’t perfect, but doesn’t feel broken either. The sword lunge seems a little too far, but i need to play more before i can really speak on the details of the weapon balancing. However, there does need to be more weapons, and i have a feeling we will see more power weapons on other maps in the coming weeks.
Which is where my negative critique comes in. My largest problem with Halo 4 was the map design. While the maps were fun, they lacked the personality and in some cases replay-ability of past games. Bungie’s maps oozed personality, and i personally never got tired of some of them. Guardian, The Pit, Valhalla, never got old to me, and had their own nuances and tricks to them. Halo 4s maps seemed to be “Asymmetric map with forerunner theme. Symmetric map with this theme.” they just didn’t stack up to the map design of past games.
With that being said, Empire seems to be a step in the right direction. While Truth falls in line with my previous complaints (And i personally prefer the H3 remake better), I really feel as though Empire has better overall design. It still lacks the personality, but it is very close to being on par with Bungies maps in other aspects.
The game so far has the addicting gameplay. The gameplay is extremely fun, and adds enough to make Halo very interesting again. The only other aspect that needs to be improved upon for this to be an overall smash success is the progression system. CoD became the juggernaut it was for two things, - Its addicting gameplay, and exciting progression system. While i don’t think weapon and ability unlocks are the way to go, (because as i said earlier the fact that the playing field is always even is my favorite thing about the franchise), I don’t know if simple vanity armor unlocks will do the trick.
Thats my feedback for now, and im sure by the time the beta ends i will have more to say. Thanks guys, the game is a blast.