First of all, let it be said that aside from what I assume are simply pre-release graphics glitches, the game is beautiful, both artistically and graphically, feels great to play, and even performs well despite my worries that it wouldn’t. Many of the issues I have found simply come down to audiovisual polish. Also, AR/Pistol starts are great. Sprint is in a very good spot, and the current weapon sandbox feels really good for the most part.
HUD/UI:
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Readability of combat scenarios is great, but the sheer excess of visual noise is extremely distracting at least with default settings, this feeds into the issues with outlines. - It’s still extremely hard to tell the status of someone’s shields at a glance, I think this is partly due to outlines being far too intense, even on allies. It would be nice to be able to change shield colour independent of outline colour. - Icons showing that an ally is in combat or dead should be amber and red respectively, very hard to read at a glance. - Menus feel extremely clunky compared to 3/Reach, no pre-game lobby to speak of, no easy way to leave Fireteam. - Radar has too much visual noise. Radar range also feels very short given that sprint is ingame, even if the speed increase is very small.Sound & Visuals:
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AI and Spartan banter makes me embarassed to share clips and videos to people who aren’t already Halo fans because it’s so cheesy. Hearing Spartans and their AI’s quip like cartoon characters is very distracting. It’s okay to have these AI’s as an option, but it’s sad that all of the defaults are so cartoony. - Vehicles look a little too clean where everything else looks appropriately weathered and rough. - Ammo readout on Needler model is redundant as the needles protruding from the top already serve that purpose, it’s also inaccurate. - Shell casings disappear too quickly. - No blood effects on the ground. - AI colours have been muted heavily, in the first preview Lightish Red was bright pink, now it’s a dull orange. - Improvements to weapon sounds like Needler and Plasma Pistol are excellent, but seem lacking in punch compared to UNSC weaponry. - From what I’ve seen of the Sentinel Beam, it sounds a little too Hollywood, and lacks the unique personality of the sentinel beam in Halo 3. - Plasma weapon particle effects are too liquidy, in previous games, they had more of an super hot energy feel. - The Warthog’s engine should be more guttural and deep. - More default ‘armour coatings’ would be nice, especially if there aren’t going to be a lot of basic ones included in unlocks. - I’m unsure how emblems will be handled, but in depth emblem customisation as seen in previous games would be appreciated. - Physics effects from power weapons like rockets and especially the gravity hammer still need work, a direct hit from a gravity hammer should send people across rooms. It would also be nice to see the Skewer actually skew opponents to nearby walls as the crossbow in Half-Life 2 does. - Anti-Aliasing needs more and clearer settings. - A nitpick, but the orange highlights on UNSC weapons such as the sniper, rocket and bulldog are kind of silly. - There’s a need for greater destruction models on vehicles, the way damage changes handling is great, but there needs to be more visual feedback too. The way the ghost explodes compared to Halo 3 is a great example. - Dynamo grenades are fun, but their audiovisual effects feel somewhat underwhelming.Gameplay:
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You should be able to drop both of your weapons, just for fun. - Dislike random weapon spawns on maps, such as Heatwave/Shotgun on Bazaar. - Jump routes are far too reliant on vaulting even with crouch jumping. A good example of this is the route into the cafe with the orange AC unit on Bazaar, in the original games, these jumps would be possible while shooting. Vaulting is good, but it should be used for long jumps or correcting errors rather than a primary navigation method. - I think the TTK on the Commando may be a little too short. - I can’t put my finger on it, but there seems to be an issue with consistency in general. I’m unsure if this is down to connection, map design. Sometimes I find myself dead before I realise what’s going on, which I admit may be in part user error, but may also be down to other feedback levelled on things such as shield feedback and radar range. - Movement options like grenade jumping and gravity hammer jumping should be fully implemented even if they aren’t particularly useful. - I’m assuming it’s just off for beta, but friendly fire and collision are essential.EDIT: Armour coatings are so blatantly a cash grab it’s insulting. These unlocks should be individual colours, and granular colour customisation should be up to the player.