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> I. Applaud. This.
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> Not because I agree with all of it, (God no) but because it is the first bit of sense I’ve seen added to this debate that I’m not trying to infuse. You’re going to get brain dead people hating you and brain dead people loving you, mostly because that is how these forums seem to work.
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> I do think that 343 is attempting to work out this game in a way that doesn’t garner them hate from the old fans and the newer ones - however, for every interesting thing added to Halo 5, there is another drawback that 343 felt the need to add. It is against these drawbacks that I have built, what some may call, a hate campaign. Most of my ire towards it is drawn by those who claim it is some godlike piece of heaven that has graced us all with its presence and thrown all the little, lesser Halo games out into the dust. My ire is drawn by that because EVERY Halo has been advertised (and at some point in its life) seen by the community this way. I find myself frequently debating those lost in the moment, whose optimism has wrapped around them and drowned them in seas of euphoria. I find I must also contend with the opposite party on a regular basis - those who are so angered and outraged by it…despite never having put enough thought into their arguments to discern why they are so angered and outraged about it. That is where a good portion of the perceived hate comes from, I feel.
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> I have measured optimism for Halo 5. The beta was cool, but then, so was Destiny’s. Pretty much every new addition has a drawback I’m not comfortable with.
> - ADS. In and of itself, it’s just a new animation for the same scope. Harmless, but openly unnecessary. The problem arises because now it’s on every gun. It may have been overdue for the AR, but the SMG? The Sword!? Shotguns, Plasma Pistols, Needlers, Gravity Hammers - basically any weapon that required some skill or trick to hip-fire would now have a tacked on zoom feature. If the SMG and Sword are any indication, it won’t be unnoticeable either.
> - Thrust. Once again, pretty much harmless and an interesting new addition. However, when you consider how every FPS these days is attaching added movement options to their combat, the novelty slowly wears off. Once again though, mostly harmless.
> - Clamber. No more Crouch Jumping, eh? Parkour? What about shooting? Can I shoot while I clamber? No? Well that significantly drops the amount of versatility this mechanic could have had. That is the other main thing I’d like to see in Guardians, the ability to shoot whilst I Clamber.
> - Ground Pound. Why? I mean, it would be useful to have a button that brings the player down from the mid glide after a thrust, but why must I that have all the limitations of an offensive ability?
> - Stabilizers. Not as bad as Jetpack was, but still an issue. I can go into zoom and hover. It’s basically the game telling me that I don’t have to worry about shooting while I fall.
> - Sprint. This will never not be an issue for me. Rather than explain why, let me copy and paste.
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> > Sprint makes maps massive. All useful points are too far away for a player to use base speed (moving and shooting) in a decent amount of time, not to mention the space between players is now, on average, increased. Try playing Prisoner or Beaver Creek with Sprint. Go ahead. Reach has an anniversary collection. Spoiler: you -Yoinking- can’t.
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> > Lines of sight are muddled because movement negates the use of weaponry. If I can’t move and shoot (and because maps are huge, I can’t,) then I am under insane pressure to get to cover because I can’t reciprocate anyone shooting at me. Therefore, lines of sight must be closed down to allow players to Sprint to their heart’s content, rather than have combat be initiated as soon as you step onto the map. Try playing Hang Em’ High with Sprint. You -Yoinking- can’t.
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> > “Sprint” does not fit the definition of movement, however. Halo’s Sprint is movement without use of weaponry in a single direction. In order to strafe, move backwards, or shoot my dang gun, I must be reduced to a crawl on a massive map. In order to do anything important, I must move slowly on a larger map. This is different than moving slowly on a smaller map, or faster on a larger map. Therein lies one of my greatest qualms with this mechanic. What is it? Is it an addendum that now players must stare directly forward and cripple themselves to travel from place to place? Is it a designated “tuck your tail between your legs, spin around and run the -Yoink- away” button? Is it an attempt to fit a mechanic into Halo to pretend it’s still relevant, even though, as population charts would indicate, it only stopped being so around 2010?
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> > The open center of a 4 v 4 map without Sprint is a place of death and judgment. It’s where -Yoink- gets real and all the big firefights happen.
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> > With Sprint? Well, the centers of Countdown, the Cage, Asylum, Reflection, Powerhouse, and Zealot become ghost towns. At least in 4, they had the bright idea to stick giant pieces of geometry in the middle of all the maps. After all, if the center of Guardian is too big, and the lines of sight too wide, than fighting there means that you must be reduced to a snails pace, and moving there means that you can’t shoot back at whoever is shooting at you.
I appreciate your thoughtful response. I definitely see where you’re coming from with some of the changes making you more weary, I would be lying if I said that I love every single last thing that has been altered, but I don’t. However, I also view these changes that have so many people uneasy as necessary progressions for an old formula that might not appeal to a new generation of Halo enthusiasts.
You use a key word a few times, “harmless.” I think that’s an appropriate word for many of the changes that have been made, because whether you prefer the change or not, most are harmless and don’t truly hurt the tried and true Halo formula for anyone but the most dedicated Halo 2 & 3 fans, the same ones that still cite those two entries as the “golden age” of competitive console shooters. The problem is, the market has changed drastically since the release of Halo 2/3, and it’s more crowded and competitive than ever before.
Halo will always be relevant, and it will certainly always have a vocal fan base because it’s beloved by so many (after all, the same kinds of fundamentalist Halo 5 criticisms occurred for both Halo 2 and 3 during release), but the extremely vocal few “veterans” shouldn’t influence 343’s ability to take the franchise to meaningful and engaging new places, especially when they are attempting to preserve everything that made Halo truly great to begin with which goes much deeper than trivial things like sprinting or not sprinting.
I appreciate your comment and meaningful dialogue!