Firefight 3.0

Games Halo Infinite
1

Hello all! With Halo Infinite looming over the horizon of the next year, there was something on my mind after extensively replaying Halo: Reach that I think just has to be in Halo Infinite, and that’s obviously by the name of the title: Firefight 3.0, the “Improved” version of Halo: Reach’s Firefight 2.0.

TL;DR at the very bottom!

While I have no problem with Halo 5: Guardians’ take on the mode, (I actually love it!) There is something that feels a bit empty about not having the original form of Firefight mode ALONGSIDE the Warzone variation of Firefight, which unlike Warzone FF, is easily able to be customized, AND played offline by the players, versus the Warzone Firefight Gamemode of Halo 5, which obviously leans toward the Online Matchmaking side of things, which I don’t have a problem with, if only Halo 5 had a “Classic” Firefight mode, that was playable offline, which Infinite, I believe NEEDS, especially since the game seems to be going back to the classic roots of the series so far as we’ve seen, save the AR design lol, now, joking aside:

I would like to ask: what improvements could be made on the base of Halo: Reach’s Firefight 2.0, for Infinite’s hypothetical “Firefight 3.0?” We’ve had almost a decade with multiple variations of the mode from ODST, Reach, Halo 5 and even Halo Wars 2’s Terminus Firefight, I’m sure over all this time we’ve had these modes, as well as from other modes in the series and possibly from other games, there many ideas you have all thought about for improving upon Firefight.

As for additions I have, for convenience I will spoiler them

  • Adding in the variety of skulls that Halo MCC has into the Infinite. - Adding in more ally A.I like in the firefight map" “Installation 04” in Halo: Reach into Halo Infinite, and being able to customize the ally A.I from the menu, from types of Ally AI, to weapons, ect. - Purchase defenses like automated turrets, additional Ally A.I, weapons, vehicles, equipment, armor mods, abilities, ect, with available score points (Like how players get REQs in Halo 5, not by microtransactions, the req terminals that you can use to get the stores of reqs you have. Instead, simply enter a menu and scroll around, and use what scorepoints you have to get a shotgun, or random item, with free refills of ammo included if enable, ammo too, could be purchased if customized to do so in the pre-game lobby. - Lightly forgeable maps, a possibility, but not required in my opinion, simply take Halo 3’s Basic Forge Tools, and let players edit maps, over create maps like in Halo 5, which would still be amazing, but not needed as I’ve mentioned. There could be problems with players abusing the forge, but that’s for 343 to decide, I do think forgers could create and recreate some REALLY cool Firefight maps and gamemodes if they could! - Boss fights and objectives for players to complete, all customizable to the player’s content in the custom options, from picking specific encounters and objectives, to randomized objectives. - MORE CREDITS, and CHALLENGES for offline play, one of the worst things about playing Halo: Reach is getting credits when offline, making Challenges built into the offline, as well as if credits return for Halo Infinite, should allow players to be awarded with more than several hundred credits in a base, not custom match of Firefight 3.0, since players will easily find ways to cheat the system, (example, like how alterimg options will not allow score to be posted on Halo Wars 2 Terminus Firefight Leaderboards, want credits in Firefight? Play the unaltered matches, and if you customize it, you get less credits.)

Now for the TL;DR: what ideas do you have for improving Halo: Reach’s Firefight 2.0, for Halo Infinite’s Hypothetical Firefight 3.0? This can include ideas for improving Warzone Firefight as well, as I do like the ideas and the mode itself, and I do think Warzone Firefight should return, but it should have many changes, but keep the core: “X amount of players, versus 5 rounds of objectives” idea intact.

Something to start you off if you can’t think: are there custom options you might want that aren’t present in Halo: Reach’s Firefight, than you want in Infinite’s?

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Halo Firefight is boring. Refer to Gears.

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> Halo Firefight is boring. Refer to Gears.

If it’s boring, maybe talk about how you would make it fun? Instead of just saying “refer to gears” which is effectively worth nothing and adds nothing to this discussion.

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> > 2533274791734613;2:
> > Halo Firefight is boring. Refer to Gears.
>
> If it’s boring, maybe talk about how you would make it fun? Instead of just saying “refer to gears” which is effectively worth nothing and add nothing to this discussion.

I don’t understand why not add all of those Flood types from H2, H3 and HW, it’s fun and tense as hell. Halo firefight is too casual, one bullet to kill a grunt.

5

I’d like it to be like Reach Firefight at its core but played on large maps like those of Halo 5. Everything else barred, H5’s Warzone maps are pretty sweet for Firefight. They feel like real locations in the Halo universe and offer plenty of room to move around. I did not like having rounds and time limits in WZF though and don’t get me started on the REQ system.

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> > 2535450981578803;3:
> > > 2533274791734613;2:
> > > Halo Firefight is boring. Refer to Gears.
> >
> > If it’s boring, maybe talk about how you would make it fun? Instead of just saying “refer to gears” which is effectively worth nothing and add nothing to this discussion.
>
> I don’t understand why not add all of those Flood types from H2, H3 and HW, it’s fun and tense as hell. Halo firefight is too casual, one bullet to kill a grunt.

Ah, yes, too bad every enemy can’t be an obnoxious bullet sponge.

OP, I like 1, 3 and 5. I think adding customization/improvement stores to spend ‘points’ on (Like, points earned in the match, obviously not deducting from your earlier score) improving your gear, stats, et cetera (Adding more shots to your magazines, increasing health, speed etc etc) would be pretty neat too, so long as enemy difficulty scaled ODST style but harder.

Biggest problem with Reach’s firefight was that it felt so… Same-ey, so I feel like looking to lessons learned from H3ODST Firefight and Warzone (And, funny enough, Section 8, if anyone remembers that neolithic-era game, regarding stat boosts) would be neat.

7

Right, improving Firefight. Here’s what I’ve got:

’Progressive Firefight’ (The new default ‘Firefight’);

  • 4 Player co-op, ‘survive and thrive’ type mode with one ‘set’ limit for Matchmaking. - Mode specific currency system (e.g. Energy) tied to medals and score; that facilitates the following;

  • Ammunition Terminals for Tier 1 / 2 weapons and grenades with currency / ammo ratio balanced according to the weapon’s power. - These effectively replace the infinite Ammo Banks that were featured in Reach.

  • Equipment Terminals that dispense one time use Equipment.

  • Requisition Terminals detailed below.

  • Contextual Interactions that vary from map to map. Examples could be calling the train on Terminal, operating the crane on Headlong or activating sentry guns like in ‘The Package’.

  • Security Doors (similar to the ones in ODST) gating off other areas of the large, mode specific maps, adding a risk vs reward element to unlocking each new area. - REQ Terminals which allow you to spend currency on improving your end of round drops.
    Given the capacity of a Pelican / Phantom, that can be filled with a combination of vehicles, weapons and reinforcements to aid you in battle. e.g:

  • Gauss Hog / Two Weapon Pods / Four Marine Squads, or Scorpion / Mongoose / Two Marine Squads, etc.

  • Two Ghosts / Two Covenant Weapon Pods / Four Elite Squads, or Wraith / Two Elite Squads / Hunter Pair, etc.
    These Terminals would also have ‘Instant Action’ Reinforcement options, such as an ODST / Spec Ops Elite Squad and a Longsword / Seraph quick drop. - Spartans and Elites would both be playable, with appropriate variations of the Ammo and Weapon Terminals. - All enemy factions could be present and possibly come into conflict with one another. - Secrets would be dotted around the maps, rewarding those who chose to explore them with hidden weapon caches, vehicles, and occasionally hidden lore bites in the form of audio logs or data pads.Classic Firefight:

  • 4 player co-op, survival mode with one ‘set’ limit in matchmaking. - Skull modifiers added at the end of each round. - Maps would vary from ‘zones’ carved out of the larger progressive maps.

  • e.g. Map ‘New Mombasa’ - ‘Crater’ zone, ‘Terminal’ zone, ‘Headlong’ zone. - Custom Variants in Matchmaking like; ‘Fiesta-Fight’, ‘Score Attack’, etc.Terminus Firefight:

  • 4 player co-op, survival mode, with matchmaking limit tied to completion of objectives. - Objective based Firefight revolving around the Flood and focused on an ‘escape’ scenario. - Maps would play in reverse to their progressive counterparts, giving you access to the full map from the get go while tasking you with completing objectives in various areas, using ‘Energy’ to blockade areas, set up defences and create choke-points to stave off the Flood. - Map interactions like Barricades, Turret Emplacements, Traps, etc.Firefight Vs:

  • 6v6 PvPvE with standard point limit for matchmaking. - Full maps unlocked from the start, with Terminals moved into strategic positions for each team and Vehicle Pads replacing Vehicle Drops. - Players earn currency, with a significant boost given for PvP kills (Similar to Attrition in Titanfall 2), which can be spent on Tier 1 Weapons or Equipment, while vehicles and power weapons remain sandbox oriented. - Generator Defence variant that revolves around objectives instead of kills.Custom Firefight:

  • Custom Firefight options would build from the foundation of Reach’s extensive options, allowing custom loadouts, skull modifiers, time / life / round limits, wave compositions, etc.

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> - - Security Doors (similar to the ones in ODST) gating off other areas of the large, mode specific maps, adding a risk vs reward element to unlocking each new area.

I don’t really view Forge mode as really adding much to firefight beyond headaches. Preset stage options/purchasable defenses might be better overall.

I also really hate the idea of follow-the-leader with CoD Zombies. That’s just ugly and wrong. Should just be one arena near the size of Lost Platoon (The Firefight map) at most, with no level barriers. You don’t want a huge map in a “Survive the enemy!” mode, that just drags the game mode out in ways that stop being enjoyable. Hated it in Call of Duty, and I know for a fact I’d hate it even more in Halo.

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> > 2533274900668879;7:
> > - - Security Doors (similar to the ones in ODST) gating off other areas of the large, mode specific maps, adding a risk vs reward element to unlocking each new area.
>
> I also really hate the idea of follow-the-leader with CoD Zombies. That’s just ugly and wrong. Should just be one arena near the size of Lost Platoon (The Firefight map) at most, with no level barriers. You don’t want a huge map in a “Survive the enemy!” mode, that just drags the game mode out in ways that stop being enjoyable. Hated it in Call of Duty, and I know for a fact I’d hate it even more in Halo.

The problem I’ve always had with Firefight is that the map is just a single arena, to me its the biggest contributor to the mode’s staleness over time. Having multiple areas to unlock gives a sense of progression to the gameplay, which I think could potentially suit the matchmaking environment better than classic Firefight. I’d also say there’s a significant difference between Halo’s various enemies and CoD’s Zombies (notably vehicles) which would lend itself better to this style of Horde mode than the latter.

I’m not saying we should have arenas the size of Lost Platoon on vehicle absent maps, for example; (though if Mobility ends up sticking around that arguably wouldn’t be as much of an issue) but having something like Crater that gradually opens up to the size of Lost Platoon, changing into a vehicle centric map late game, would help to keep the mode fresh, and provide palpable motivation for people to survive to higher waves beyond just their score - which again, isn’t something I’d want rid of, since I firmly believe a classic variant should be present as well so that people like yourself who aren’t interested in the new mode can still enjoy a Firefight that’s on par with, if not better than Reach’s.

10

I want to see a Firefight where you have to fight all enemies, Covenant or w/e they are now, banished, promethians, sentinels, and Flood! I would like to see it broken down by what faction you want to fight. Like maybe you have a nightmare mode where the only enemy you fight is the Flood. Bring a little more horror theme to Firefight. I mean the randomness of Halo 5 is ok but it just doens’t make me that excited. Also, FIX THE GLITCHES!!!1!!! Can we have a Firefight that doesn’t have 3 randomly spawning pelicans in the intro cutscene, or Phantoms with invincible gunners, or Phantoms that spawn and despawn in really odd ways? That’d be great…