So, as far as I am aware, the 3 main changes in the TU are as follows:
-No bloom available
-Bleedthrough mechanic added
-Tweaks to Certain AA’s.
While I think the AA tweaks are a good thing, they are just not as noticeable and blatant as no bloom and bleedthrough, and thus the latter two are the ones I will give my opinion on.
Zero Bloom
Amazing. Although I have always thought that the removal of bloom would make the game better, I didn’t think it would be this much better - because it really is. The skill gap is increased, host now makes slightly less difference, the pace of the game is faster and far more engaging, and there is no more of the luck factor which close range DMR battles always inevitably bring. There is no need for bloom anymore - no bloom needs to become default as soon as it can be.
However, I’m not saying it’s perfect. If Zero Bloom is to become the standard way Reach plays, I think a slight movement and jump increase could be in order. I would think that the settings are not going to change too much which is why I’ve avoided listing a whole…list of settings, but if we are to have no bloom, a movement and jump increase - even just a slight one - will help with strafing.
The only other problem I can see is the pistol. While I appreciate the fact that it was awesome and amazing in Halo CE, this isn’t Halo CE, and the pistol can destroy a DMR and a close-medium range if aimed well enough. A slight tone down in rate of fire would be a simple fix to simple problem.
Bleedthrough
Another much welcomed change for me. Enhanced the importance of Health, which was non-existent before**,** and does seem to speed the game up aswell, with people dying sometimes a little earlier than you expect. In terms of shooting someone, I don’t think it is a problem whatsoever, but I think it can be with melees.
Before the update, melees did have a certain skill gap to them - the amount of times I’ve let someone hit me once while I continue to shoot 1 more bullet to make them no shield and then beating them down before they get the chance to deliver their 2nd melee Takes Breath is uncountable. You could outplay so many people if you knew how to use your melees properly. But this goodness was easily counted by wasted bullets - when you try my example above, but don’t have enough time to put the right amount of bullets in whilst they sprint at you and double melee - making your bullets pointless and wasted in the purest sense as far as you are concerned. Bleedthrough completely eliminates that problem.
However, as I was saying, the problem. It’s very minor, but it’s still a point. You may remember that in Halo 3, 2 BR shots in which all 6 bullets hit, followed by a melee would kill someone. In Reach though, there is no way of telling how much someone is going to take before they die because of someones health. If someone is full shields and full health, they will take 3 DMR shots and 1 melee to die. However, if their health is not full, they will only take 2 bullets and 1 melee. This creates an inconsistency which could lead to someone trading a kill which they could have got with dying - but they have no way of knowing. The reason this is not a problem with shooting is because you will always continue to shoot someone until they are dead, or you need to back off. Of course, if you don’t know if your opponent is going to take 1 or 2 shots you could argue that you don’t know when to back off, but your judgement of when to back off is usually determined by your own health rather than an opponents.
As I said, minor, but still a point.
TL;DR : No bloom is awesome, bleedthrough is awesome, why was this game any ever different.