I know there’s been a poll going around the past few weeks asking which aircraft people would prefer in Halo 5, and i would like to take that discussion a bit further.
As we know, only the banshee is confirmed at this point, but what with the rumors that BTB will be getting bigger in H5, i cant possibly see 343 NOT adding additional aircraft to the game. Now in my opinion its probably safe to say we wont be seeing any more covenant aircraft, but UNSC and forerunner birds are both quite plausible.
The consensus from the poll i mentioned earlier seems to be 2-1 in favor of the falcon. I could not agree more, the falcon was almost perfect in its damage output and handling, and was easily the most team oriented vehicle of any halo game. If we get any aircraft in addition to the banshee, it should be the falcon.
The hornet (or a similar light attack VTOL) would also make a great addition to the game, acting as a UNSC counter to the banshee in terms of autonomy and ground suppression ability. That being said, we all know how OP the hornet was in H3, which was why it never really got placed on BTB maps. I can think of multiple methods of nerfing the hornet to put it more in line with the other vehicles, the most prominent methods being either removing its rocket pods entirely, or reducing its rocket output to 1 rocket every 5 or so seconds. If either of these methods was implemented, the Hornets chain guns would need to see a decent buff so as not to nerf it into oblivion.
The final, and most important topic i would like to discuss is the handling of aircraft in halo 5. I think almost anyone would agree to the claim that Halo Reach had, by far, the best vehicle handling. While it is still a topic of debate as to whether the banshee should be returned to its reach maneuverability, we MUST have UNSC aircraft returned to the falcon slight model. To elaborate, the falcon was controlled by a simple 3 mechanism input; RS, LS, LT. The right stick was used to move the camera and thus turn the aircraft, LS was used to move the aircraft in the horizontal plane, and LT was used for altitude control. The control scheme was far superior to anything that came before or has come since in that it allowed perfect fluidity of motion. The falcon would sink toward the ground when LT was released, and would gain altitude when LT was held down. Skilled pilots could use LS and LT to control the output of the falcons onboard jet engines as well, allowing for quick transitions between speed and maneuverability.
By comparison, the current flight model (MCC hornet) is an abomination. LB and A are used to control altitude, and flying the MCC hornet feels choppy and unnatural. The main reason being that you cannot turn the aircraft while gaining altitude (must take you thumb of RS to press A). The Falcon flight model would work perfectly for the Hornet as well. They are both VTOL aircraft, the only difference being the Hornet as pilot controlled weapons, which doesn’t not effect the aforementioned 3 mechanism flight control scheme in the slightest. In essence, i am proposing the following flight controls for all VTOL aircraft in Halo 5:
-LT: altitude control
-LS: horizontal movement
-RS: camera controls / turn
-RT: fire pilot weapons
-RB: lock altitude
-Y: switch weapons
TLDR: The falcon fight controls in reach were amazing, the hornet flight controls in MCC are terrible, Halo 5 should have the Reach flight controls for all VTOL aircraft (assuming we get any)
Let me know what you guys think, we need 343 to hear this assuming they haven’t already.