I think the fact that Master Chief is disguised by a cloak, and has a crack in his visor may be hinting at a downfall for humans, muting some advanced technologies, forcing Master Chief to return to his roots and get things done with a simple set of weapons, and whatever he can find lying around.
This also gives 343 a good way to test out giving us a non-loadout game-type, without not making sense chronologically, and giving them an escape route if it’s a flop: if people don’t like it without the “new” stuff, they already have Halo 6 confirmed, and can have the humans Rise again in Halo 6 depending on the acceptance of the community.
There’s a reason Halo CE, Halo 2, and Halo 3 are all better than Halo Reach and Halo 4. It’s the same reason Rock Paper Scissors is better than Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock.
Yes, the game can be balanced either way, but three is the magic number in balancing a competitive game. One side may gain the upper-hand, but it leaves the only remaining hand open for the opposing side. Which both sides know. Inherently, it always gives the players an “objective” (ex. get control of the sword room) dependent on the current game state. As soon as one side gets the upper-hand, it leaves the third hand uncontrolled, which overpowers the current upper-hand, while leaving the future upper-hand uncontrolled, and ready to be fought over.
There’s actually multiple three-hand situations in other Halo’s.
Weapons - long, short, and medium range. (ex. Sniper, Shotgun, BR)
Weapons & Equipment - 9 total - 3 sets of 3: [(Power Drain, Regenerator, Bubble Shield), (Deployable Cover, Flare, Radar Jammer), (Overshield, Active Camo, Portable Grav-Lift)}
Vehicles - Small & Fast; Slow & Powerful; Flying & exposed.
Even DUAL WIELDING - Human:Human combo, Cov:Cov combo, Human:Cov combo
Thats it, all I have to say…
