ABOUT THE ARMOR
So not long after Reach came out with all its variations of armor components and the set ups that it made possible, I played the game and continued waiting for what I personally thought was going to be the next logical step in that area of developement. That the different armor pieces and add-ons would actually make a difference in the areas of ability for the person wearing it.
Grenadier based armor units that increased grenade damage or capacity…
Breaching armor sets that increased CQB survivability of the people wearing
it…
Recon armor sets or units that increased the mobility or agility of the person
wearing it so they could jump higher or sprint faster…
and I find myself looking at Halo 4 where this logical developement was not put into play.
This isn’t so much a complaint since I’m going to play the game anyway regardless if you put my Spartan into a tuxedo and cumberbumb because hey after all its Halo and thats what counts, but I still feel that 343 is limiting the playability of the game, particularly in the area of the Infinity missions by not giving this line of developement some serious consideration.
Lets face it, right now all spartan armor is cosmetic. Heavier shoulder plates
don’t slow the player down, but they don’t increase his armor rating either.
Wearing pieces of the aviator armor sets don’t give the player any vehical
bonuses.
While playing on Reach, the first time that I saw the optional forearm
attachment for extra 8 gauage rounds I got a warm fuzzy tickle thinking that if
I purchased it I would expand my ammo capacity slightly, but no joy. It’s just
cosmetic.
With all the different versions of Mjolnir armor that have been created in the Halo universe, for Spartans/players that have different area’s of strength and
weakness in combat and assignments, it just seems sort of obvious to me that the
pieces, or sets of armor should reflect that with tangible effects on gameplay.
I’m a door kicker not a jet pack ninja.
Thats how I play, boots firmly on the deck and checking my corners when I breech a room. Usually I try to run with an assualt rifle and a shotgun for back up. My Reach Spartan wears a breeching collar for his torso armor as a reflection of that. Call me old fashioned, and call it wishful thinking, but it would be pretty cool and a logical step in my eyes for that breeching collar to beef his shields, or armor, or health for CQB or increase shotty damage instead of just being a cosmetic affect.
ABOUT WEAPON SLOTS
I’m sorry but two weapon slots just isn’t enough for most situations that a player is going to run into.
Most players are going to use their primary slot for their main battle weapon, assualt rifle, carbine, suppressor, or whatever that may be. The secondary weapon slot they will try to get a specialized weapon into that compliments their play style or to fufill a mission requirement, a sniper rifle if they will be working at a distance, a rocket tube if they know vehicles or hunters are coming, etc.
Which brings us to the problem of a sidearm. Everybody wants to carry one, there’s usually more ammunition laying around for a sidearm than any other weapon, but to be honest myself and most other people don’t want to sacrifice one of the two weapon slots to carry one.
Wouldnt it be a rockin’ idea if the down button on the D-pad pulled whatever sidearm that you had equipped on your Spartan so that now you had Three (3) weapon slots, a primary weapon, a secondary weapon, and then finally a sidearm? Tapping the Y button would still cycle between the primary and secondary, but for those times when your shotgun is out of shells, and the enemy is a Little to close to risk firing that rocket tube, you could tap the D-pad and pull out everyone’s last hope of salvation, the magnum/boltpistol/plasma pistol…
In closing thanks again 343 for getting the Chief out of that cryo tube in deep space, it just wasn’t the proper place to leave everyones favorite hero…