Tonight I’d like to talk about the Hunters in Halo 5. They are NOT fun to kill or fight in the campaign and they are definitely NOT fun to kill or fight in Warzone (in my opinion).
Allow me to explain why I think so.
Reason: Only 1 Spartan is required to defeat 2 Hunters, NOT 24.
If you remember playing on the ship “Truth and Reconsiliation” in Halo 1, you’ll know what I’m talking about. You’ll remember that Master Chief was able to defeat 2 or more Hunters on his own on Legendary difficulty (not to mention already defeating invisible Elites before they showed up) without the aid of others (because the marines died too easily). You probably died a few times fighting the hunters, who were a pain in the -Yoink-, but most of the time, you were able to defeat them. You were able to walk up to a hunter and manoeuvre out of the way before it hits you. You were able to evade it’s attacks including its fuel rod cannons. It was hard but you could defeat them, ON YOUR OWN.
In Halo 5’s campaign, me and my crew (4 in total) were struggling to fight the Hunters on herioc difficulty on Sanghellios. This shouldn’t been such a problem for us but it was. It was very unusual to play a Halo game where the Hunter would strike every time you were within a few feet away from it. It was unusual to fight the Hunters who never missed a shot. It was very unusual to fight the Hunters because they stood in the same spot the whole time and never moved or actually tried to sneak up on us while we were trying to take cover. The same goes for Warzone. These “legendary” hunters, are BULLET SPONGES!
Go back to Halo 3 on the Ark, I remember fighting Hunters on both Heroic and Legendary difficulties, and yes they were a pain in the -Yoink- to beat, mainly because of their serious damage, but you know these hunters would actually come looking for you if you were taking cover so the could kill you. These hunters were still vulnerable and could be defeated by just 1 or 2 players. These Hunters fuel rod cannons would NOT always hit you and predict your movements. These Hunters were hard but also very interesting to fight, and eventually we came up with a strategy to beat the Hunters, just 1 or 2 of us!!! We didn’t need a whole army to take them down.
Go back to Halo 3: ODST on Legendary, I used to hate the Hunters. I would avoid them at all cost because I hated crawling through the streets of New Mombasa in the dark. Occassionally though I had no choice but to fight them if they were in my way, and Lord behold they were hard, but I still defeated them on my own. I died a couple times sure, so you could say I respawned only to fight them again, but this time they would be beaten. I could run around them, shoot them, miss both their fuel cannon shots if I timed their actions carefully, evade their punches (otherwise I would die) and it was very rewarding, relieving for me to kill them.
Fast forward to Halo 5, you can NOT do any of things to fight hunters. You can not evade their fuel rod cannons. They WILL punch you if you get near them. They won’t miss a heartbeat. You can’t sneak up on them. You can’t run around them. You can barely beat them on your own. I dare you to fight those hunters on your own in Warzone ALONE and you will die and you barely hurt them. Your strategies will not work on them. 343 has made sure that it doesn’t take skill to beat them, but it takes LOADS of firepower.
I’ve tried to tell my friends that the changes made for the Hunters are not good. They are too hard. I’ve tried telling my friends it only takes 1 Spartan to kill 2 hunters yet they believe it’s much better to have 24 to kill them. Worse yet, 24 Spartans still struggle to kill the Hunters in Warzone because they are practically immortal UNLESS you have serious firepower. You will NEVER be able to take 2 hunters down on your own in Warzone because it takes firepower to kill them, not skill. You don’t need a rocket launcher to beat 2 of them even though that would be fantastic, Hunters can in fact be beaten even with a plasma rifle or an SMG. Not in Halo 5. Dare prove me wrong? Do you think that it’s better to have the Hunters so untouchable? Or would you prefer to take 2 on by yourself, die a few times maybe, but come up with a strategy to kill them instead of shooting a bullet sponge?
I know what I’d rather, I’d much rather fight 2 hunters with just SOME friends, take cover as I distract one, while my team mates shoot it, then the hunters will try to punch them but my crew is able to evade their attacks (mostly), and after my shields recharge I can Spartan charge that one to death and then focus our attention on the second Hunter. The second Hunter will have already been firing on my team mates, so it’s my turn to fight it. It’s already started to creep up to my team who are hiding so I’ll run around it evade it’s attacks. I’ll punch it and shoot it with my SMG until it drops within. This entire battle should 1 or 2 minutes for just a few of us, not 5-10 minutes for 24 (what a joke right). That’s what I’d prefer.
Please comment below if you agree, would like to add, or if you disagree and believe that Halo 5’s hunters are much better than they are the other Halo games, please have your say too.
NOTE: Tgis article is not intended to rant about Halo 5, I am merely comparing how difficult it is to fight Hunters in Halo 5 than it is in other Halo games. In other Halo games 1 Spartan was able to fight 2 Hunters using different skills, evading its attacks, and within a short period of time. Thankyou for reading!
