I’d first like to congratulate 343 on their first game. Plainly put, it’s wonderful, I couldn’t have asked for more from a fledgling studio. This is by far my favorite game of 2012, and is certainly a fit successor to the Mantle of Halo (see what I did there ;)) Here’s my thoughts and a few questions on this game (please answer if you know umm answer):
Visuals:
This game is amazing looking. Coming from a PC gamer that is saying something. People can complain all they want about shaders and water effects, but the graphics were surprisingly realistic. I did find a few little complaints
The textures on the Infinity Missile batteries; the mammoth; and the phantoms were surprisingly low resolution. I saw these instantly but by no means were they that noticeable.
The textures sometimes feel too smooth… But this may be because we’re on Requiem (a perfectly working shield world) rather than two halo’s that are falling apart and Reach and Earth (both being destroyed). I feel like in the other games the textures were grittier, a bit more realistic. But it also does make sense that because we’re on a regulated shield world with “perfect” conditions, that the grass and such would be prettier than Reach’s
Absolutely love the lighting. It’s simply amazing.
Gameplay(general):
I like the new pacing. It seems like battles seem to go a tiny bit faster, but you still have to be strategic.
The new enemy AI is wonderful. Each mob has its own niche and fills the job nicely. On Legendary the Prometheans are actually pretty hard.
The ally AI is utterly horrid though. I know it has never been much (The marines in every game since CE have been a bit ummm slow) but it can be way better. I know you’re job is to try and be the defender of these people (often) but they’re still helpless. The Reach AI was much better, but that’s probably because the characters were invincible.
The Promethean weapons were obviously made for Flood, (they incinerate tissue and go in basically all directions). But in some cases they seem underpowered for a species that is supposed to be the apex of technology. This could be fixed easily fixed in lore (they were mass produced, sitting for 100000 has degraded their energy cores).
Crawler Snipes only appear rarely for some reason
Campaign:
Spectacular
I like the variety of missions: Flying a Pelican (OMG they heard my prayers), ground vehicle (That ghost thing was pretty cool.) Flying a broadsword (like Reach, although considering the Sabre was experimental wouldn’t it make sense to use an upgraded version of that?), MANTIS.
I liked how Cortana degraded before your eyes (The bits of humor were especially great (condescending -Yoink- beat me at chess :)) sniff sniff
I loved that quicktime event avoiding obstacles while climbing (and no quicktime events don’t ruin games)
I’m glad they were able to give me a human I could hate with such passion (Del Rio)
The Infinity seemed untouched by crashing, when it lifted off (more on that later) even the antenna sticking out of the bottom were still there.
Also why didn’t the ground shake when a 3 mile+ vessel impacts a hollow shell at high speeds?
And what were the destroyed chunks of wreckage if the Infinity was untouched
Why does Forerunner stuff always seem to fall apart when you touch it? (turn off the Didact’s shields to access the satellite.
There should be way more backstory to the characters in game. Some players don’t look at the Terminals (I do). Please add more in-game backstory to Halo 5, It only adds to the experience, and everyone loves exploring to find little tidbits of info.
Add more cutscenes in space. I loved seeing the ships in Reach, but we only see the ships in Halo at a glance (Excluding Infinity), I think I speak for everyone when I say I’d like to see more of the space battles.
I know a lot of people have said this but it seems that a lot of unnecessary stuff was added to lengthen the game. Cortana should be able to activate/deactivate anything anywhere (Infinity/Requiem/Ivanoff) Instead of doing a ton of menial stuff like that, make us explore, do things Cortana can’t.
Cortana should be able to give us more backstory with all the Forerunner info (I know she’s dead no, but we all know it’s not totally the end of her (or something like her)).
OPEN OPEN OPEN OPEN. The levels seemed too enclosed. Anyone remember the island with the Cartographer in the first game. Do something like that, very sandboxed. It makes it easier on you (less pathing and such) and more fun. Also I like to hang back and snipe, so closed quarters are not as much fun for me.
Too many scene changes. In Halo 1/2 most of the stuff was travelled to by the player, underground caverns took us to the next location. I like that better, It also makes the world seem that much bigger.
My biggest complaint is that the last level (flying the broadsword) seemed to be gameplay for the sake of gameplay. There was no logical layout to the Didact’s ship. Walls coming in and out at random don’t make any sense, and if he was smart he would close them faster. This could be explained by Cortanian interference, but even that is a stretch. Please adapt gameplay to the story, not vice versa
I know it seems like a lot of complaints but it took me a while to think of these. That is a sign of a great game, and I’m only trying to give tips for my favorite game franchise.
Lastly a couple questions for the lore-masters (and 343) to satisfy my curious mind:
Why did the Infinity’s MAC canons look like lasers, is that what MAC canons would look like.
Why did the Infinity’s MACs work but not the UNSCDFs Big Stick Macs against the Didact’s ship
Why wasn’t there an enormous fleet orbiting the ring and Ivanoff, I would think the UNSC would try to defend such an enormous weapon.
How was the Didact using “the force,” Hardlight?
Where did the engines of the Infinity come from?
Why does Palmer hate Halsey so much?
How does the UNSC Aladin cloak itself like that?
What are the Spartan IVs augmentations specifically?
What class are the new frigates/cruisers and this Aladin stealth ship?
Why isn’t everyone at ONI a war criminal?
Thanks in advance, and thanks 343 for such a great game.