Firefight must return to Halo. Let 343i hear our voices. We must roar and we must be heard. Please, 343i, bring back our beloved Firefight.
My own personal opinions and desires are stated below.
Please bring back ODST style firefight. I have introduced so many people to the Halo universe through ODST FF who would otherwise not play Halo at all. Unlike Halo Reach’s FF where the object was to steal your teammate’s kills, ODST’s objective was to survive as long as possible against ever increasing difficulties. This created a more cooperative experience and a strong sense of team work. ODST was welcoming to all skill levels and all player types.
My personal suggestions for 343i.
ODST style firefight
Story through gameplay. 343i used Spartan Ops to tell a story. I believe a story can be told through the environment and through hints/easter Eggs on the levels. A story doesn’t need dialogue or cut scenes. Spartan Ops is another form of campaign. We wanted Firefight.
Forge firefight. Let us create our own maps. Not only can we share it, but we can also play those maps by ourselves if we so desired. This would be a much more fun experience for creators and players alike.
Defensive structures. Like Gears’ Horde mode and Sanctum 2, give us the ability to fortify our positions. Placing walls, calling in vehicles, and maybe even setting up traps. Let us be creative in our Covenant killing. These don’t have to be auto-sentry systems; just give us the ability to change the battlefield a little.
Objective based FF. Defending a structure or object from enemies.
These are my humble ideas and suggestions. Any Firefight in any capacity would be welcome. Please 343i, bring back the great Firefight. (personally prefer the ODST kind, but we’ll take what I can get)
Yes, they need to. Actually Spartan Ops was supposed to be an objective version of firefight but then they changed to what it is today. But, anyways, I remember reading somewhere that when somebody asked 343i devs if there would be spops season 2 they said “No but the story of crimson is far from over” and my best guess would have to be a version of firefight either for halo 5 or dlc for halo 4 where you get to play as crimson.
They should have both. It would be nice to see a firefight limited (halo 3 ODST firefight) and a firefight arcade (halo reach firefight) added to halo 5’s matchmaking playlists. Having firefight forge and defensive structures would be an awesome addition to firefight
The more forums and posts I visit, the more I keep seeing the same thing. Infinite waves and ever increasing difficulty. Is that how everyone else here feels?
This shouldn’t be that difficult to implement if you consider that the AI is already done and most (if not all) of the game assets are ready. This is an easy way to make us Halo fans very happy.
If I had to choose between SpOps and Firefight, I’d definitely go with Firefight. I wouldn’t mind seeing more SpOps, but it is no replacement for FF by any means. SpOps was basically another campaign. I liked the coop survival.
What do you think?
I mentioned this in a different post, but I felt this sentiment should be expressed here as well.
Spartan Ops was basically another campaign. If I wanted to play campaign, then I would go and play campaign. The only redeeming quality of SpOps was the weekly updates. It gave players a new story to look forward to every week. Other than that, it was exactly the same as playing as Master Cheif in the main storyline.
Here is my main point. (and I think this is reflected everywhere) I feel that Firefight was meant to be a game mode unto itself. Different rules, different feel, and most of all a different purpose. Defend and survive. It is meant to be significantly different that campaign or multiplayer. ODST did an excellent job in creating a new gaming experience.
YES, GOD PLEASE. Make it more cinematic though, something like Titanfall where in the beginning you start in a space ship in which you can walk around to grab you gear and then you either go in a drop pod or pelican to your destination. It needs to have scarabs and other big bosses like Gears of War horde. It needs to have the flood. It could based around an elephant, in which the longer you survive the better the equipment and vehicles become but the enemies get harder. A castle defense game would be pretty cool too, it needs objective.
As a community, we need to focus on what makes a halo game feel like a halo game.
As you can tell, the subject of Firefight is very near and dear to me. I am constantly thinking about it and I sincerely hope 343i has taken notice of the community’s desire for FF’s return.
One idea that I was mulling over was that of fortifications. Strictly speaking, this seems like a great idea on the surface. Maybe 343i could pull it off, but the more I think about it, the more it seems that fortifications in and of themselves are not very ‘halo’-like. Building during a firefight has never been a game mechanic of the halo experience. As a halo fanatic, I like many of the new ideas I’ve seen throughout the forums, but like I said, as a community, we need to keep in mind what makes a halo game feel like a halo game. Keeping it simple seems like the best option.
As far as telling a story and/or cinematics, what if Firefight did something slightly similar to Spartan Assault? What if each Firefight map is a recreation of a battle fought during the war? Players could ‘re-live’ battles where Spartans made their last stands. Much like the hopelessly outnumbered Spartans defending planet Reach or Harvest. In this way, backstory and cinematics could be used (much like SpOps and Spartan Assault) but we would still get the ODST FF feel of fighting off endless waves of bad guys. Just a thought.
I would like to re-iterate that these could be “reenactments”. Since these ‘historic’ battles were always lost and all lives were lost, it sets a slightly depressing tone. ODST was not depressing. By maintaining that these ‘reenactments’ are simulations, we can fight wave after wave without feeling like we are destined to lose the war. Much like the premise behind Halo 4 Infinity Multiplayer. Infinity Multiplayer was a practice grounds. I could see the Halo 5 Firefight being much like that except fighting aliens instead of other spartans. In the simulation, a spartan team gets more honor and shows their skill by how many waves they complete.
I’d rather have an improved SpOps, but since that’s unlikely I would prefer Firefight over no PVE mode at all. I think Firefight should explore more of what made it an intense survival experience in ODST (mainly the extremely limited ammo and the lack of BS arcade gametypes) and aim for a more challenging experience.
To me Halo Reach’s FF always felt like a joke- by the end of it, all we had in matchmaking were the arcade modes (and that’s ridiculous). Also, I think that FF should give the same amount of XP on and off matchmaking in select gametypes (such as the standard Firefight) to motivate us to play the classic, endless version of the game mode that made it great (with no limitations). It would also offer a good way to level up in offline/non-Gold play for those who need it. And it would be completely fair, too.
I like seeing all these cool ideas from the Halo community! I would like to re-energize this forum to keep it focused on bringing back our beloved Firefight. Keep this topic alive so 343i can’t help but notice!
Keep the ideas coming but keep it centered around the main topic and keep in mind what makes Halo feel like Halo.
That being said, we have had some great ideas so far. Playing Firefight missions that were simulated “reenactments” of “final holdouts” or “last stands” from Halo history such as the fall of Reach and Harvest. These firefight missions still adhere to the same (ODST firefight) wave based survival mode with ever increasing difficulty level.
If 343i wants to ensure Halo 5 replayability, then (in my opinion) ODST firefight is a MUST.
Please post if you want to see an ODST style Firefight return to Halo 5. Just played last night with Graywolf307 and made it to the 9th round. Hellz yeah! Something like 200,000 points! Beat that guys.
I’d love for Firefight to come back, though it would be nice if it gained some things from Spartan Ops, and Mass Effect. In laymen’s terms, I’d like waves where an objective must be completed to continue, and a short campaign with a plot featuring one mission on each Firefight map, and cutscenes.
One positive thing about ODST firefight was not having to run around a giant map. The enemies all came to you. As for a plot, I say again, if I want to play something with a full plot line, I’ll play the campaign. If I want a wave based survival firefight (ODST Firefight) with a sprinkle of story on top, I say the reenactment idea still merges those two ideas very well.
How do you make a wave based survival game while adding objectives? Maybe finding, securing, and defending supply drops or evac platforms. By putting objectives in there, you now give the game a timeline/deadline and therefore a definite ending. With ODST, there was no end. That was the best (IMO).
A firefight with more options would be fantastic! An upgrade system like fortifications would be an awesome addition. The player could build turrets and barriers just like in Halo 4’s Dominion.