Alright, I thought there is always too much negative feedback and never enough praise where praise is deserved, Just so you guys know, I loved H2 and H3 MM. Reach was bearable but still playable and H4 had a great engine, but the armour abilities ruined the game.
The XBOX Early Adapters program has given me access to H5 Beta, and since downloading it this morning, I have not stopped.
What can I say, the game is great! It seems to be a mix of Destiny with Halo 4 minus all the abilities. The maps seem to be built for proper arena game play and the addition of the new Spartan Abilities work so well. It gives the game a whole new feel, while still keeping the core elements of H2 and H3 that we all loved. That said, the abilities are not used much so it doesn’t dramatically effect the game. I have to admit, I was skeptical at first but am so glad they are in the game!
The visuals are insane. The game looks great and there is no frame rate lag during games where your prior work has had issues with. Similarly, the audio is just as good. The sounds of the guns give the game that much more feel of realism. The spartan call outs are also a nice little niche that I am enjoying. Once again, it brings a more realistic feel to the game.
Network wise, I have had no problem finding games, nor have I had any noticeable lag. On the kill cam, I do however notice that they are a step ahead of me (them being in America, and myself in Australia), but it doesn’t seem to be too much of a problem. Still, dedicated servers would be better. I believe it is still being run off a host based system? Is that correct? or is it just run off American servers at the moment? (I am not too sure).
Now for some items that need fixing/nerfing:
- The sniper: Please bring back the old style scope, it takes way too long to zoom in (you can’t quick scope anymore) and it also does not display as much as its predecessors. Also, the time in between bullets is very long. It is very hard to get a kill with the sniper if you miss the head and go for a body shot as by the time the second bullet comes off, he is gone. I did also notice a bit of bullet lag with the sniper. It was perfect in H4, please keep it the same!
- The AR: VERY overpowered. It may require a bit of a reduction to it’s range. Otherwise it would be perfect.
- The BR: The fire rate of the 3 bullets makes it feel like the DMR. Very similar other than the scope.
- There is a bit of a party problem. It does not always let you back out. Soon I realised that this is because it had found a game and was connecting us, but on the screen, it looked like there was not enough players to start a game, so you almost feel as though you are stuck. Not an issue, but might be worth putting a little update, or displaying the players when we can no longer back out.
- Lack of stat tracking. Not a major concern, but would be nice!
- Ranking: Looks like it has great promise, but finding that it still doesn’t match me up with those of similar ranks, but instead mostly lower ranks. I am assuming it might be as a result of a low number of players in the BETA, but I could be wrong. Thought I would bring it up!
- Kill Cam: Seems to be a second or 2 off. Most times when I see a kill cam, it shows what the player does AFTER he kills me and only captures the very last bullet into me. Once again, doesn’t affect game play but could need fixing.
- Frame rate lag: In the Spartan Modification page, when you spin your spartan it glitches for half a second before it turns. Thought you might need to know
Great work though. I had almost lost all hope after Halo MCC, but this game has so much promise!