I think Halo 5 arena needs some serious changes. To me it feels like they made this game so players that usually go super negative, get more kills to help them feel better. They made the maps so small with so many tight corners/hallways and overpowered the automatic weapons. In my opinion this makes gunfights that normally take skill to land your headshots and outgun your opponents happen significantly less, and the game is mostly spray n pray around every corner. The small maps also make it hard for your team to spread out and once again significantly lowers the amount of times you’re actually in a 1v1 gunfight. Everyone is always right near each other, so even if you win a gunfight there is always one or more of his teammates right there to clean you up. The automatic weapons are also way to strong in my opinion, especially the smg and storm rifle. I think this is lowering the skill gap in Halo and they are doing it intentionally to help the lower to mid level players and attract more casual players. I understand that attracting more players would make them more money, but I feel like the change in gameplay is a slap in the face to hardcore and skilled Halo players. I feel like the game is designed to make everyone go even, or slightly positive/negative. Which I know is fun for all the lower end players or casual players, but I feel like they didn’t think about how the higher end players would feel about it. When your a hardcore Halo player that has put in the time to get good at the game, and is used to dropping 15-7 or 20-10 in games, and now your constantly going positive 2 or 3, its a big change for you and it makes you feel like you’re playing bad. Halos H2 through H4 I would be disgusted if at the end of a game I went 16-12, now in H5 that is actually a decent game it seems. I get that with the ranking system your playing with people of “similar or equal skill” and your not supposed to be able to constantly get 2.0 k/d vs equal skill, but I feel like no one is actually testing their skill vs eachother. Its mostly just nades and spray n pray with automatic guns, which to me is not skilled combat. You used to have to be at least a decent shot in Halo to do well, now the players that run around spraying with ARs do just as well, if not better than the players that try get map control and use BRs. To me that is such a big change in gameplay that is a major shock to my system. I’m so used to easily killing the players that are trying to run at me with ARs. Now the automatic weapons kill you so fast, alot of the time I don’t get more than 2 shots off with my BR/pistol before I drop dead. At close range the guns like the smg or storm rifle kill you so fast it feels like I’m playing COD at times. It is just such a big change in how Halo is usually played and I feel like its good for the lower end players, but bad for the skilled Halo players. Since I’d consider myself as a skilled Halo player (or at least the style I play) I’m not happy with the change in map design and how the game is played.
Below is what I would like to see changed or updated.
- Lower the damage done by automatic weapons.
This Is Halo not COD, automatic weapons should not kill you in less than 1.5 seconds and weapons like the smg and storm rifle should not be able to be used like they are power weapons.
- When you put new maps into the game, don’t make them so small with so many small halls and tight corners.
Small maps can be fun, but not when every map in the game is small and chaotic with everyone spawning right on top of each other. Getting spawn killed or having someone spawn behind you is the most annoying thing in FPS and on these small maps it happens way to often. Put more medium sized maps with a little more medium to long sight lines.
- For the love of god, please put a playlist in arena that has BRs off the start. (and no, Swat don’t count)
I understand that BRs are not for everyone, but for the veteran and skilled Halo players, that is what we love to use and most of the time BRs are all that we use. BR gunfights have been the best part of competitive Halo and the best way to test true skill by having to out gun your opponents in gunfights.
- Make a arena playlist that is not ranked.
It is annoying playing ranked when you don’t have enough friends online for a 4 man party or at least 3 good players. Also sometimes you don’t have enough friends in your skill level. You’re not going to play ranked with friends who are gold when your in diamond and onyx. Also sometimes you’re not playing well that day, or you just played ranked for hours and your tired of trying hard and just want to relax and play Halo. I know alot of people will say that’s what warzone is for, but not everyone likes warzone. Warzone isn’t bad, but I don’t want to play 12v12 with bots on the maps and people being able to spawn power weapons and vehicles. It is fun to mess around with for a game or two, but its not something I want or like to play for an extended period of time. It’s just not my thing, but I think it is a good addition to Halo. I like traditional 4v4 halo and I think having a slayer or team arena playlist that is unranked would be great. This would also give people a chance to warm up and learn maps better without having to jump right into ranked play.
I’d like to end this by saying, I’m not completely hating on the game or giving up on it. I feel like this could be a good Halo if they just make some changes for the hardcore players, like they did for the lower skilled and casual players. I’m just getting my current opinion about the game out there to see how others outside of the people I know feel about the game. I’d like to see if it is just me and my friends that feel this way, or if there is a significant amount of people that feel the same or similar. At least enough to possibly make these changes happen. If you actually read this whole thing, thank you for your time and I am looking forward to seeing some responses to see what people out there think about Halo 5 and its gameplay.