I feel like for Halo 6 to be groundbreaking in the stagnating FPS genre, it has to go back to and improve on what made shooters so fun to begin with. This post is about core gameplay and game feel. Not the REQ system. Not how there’s barely any content. Not the bad campaign. Just the gameplay itself. Here it goes.
The basics of a shooter should have more attention before you start adding all these bells and whistles into a game. That’s not to say that the extra stuff isn’t fun but the core pillars of what make an FPS a satisfying and fun experience should be perfected first. When you walk, you should hear the heavy footsteps of your character (especially in Halo’s case). Gunfire from a first-person perspective should be loud and satisfying, unless the point of the weapon is not to be so in-your-face. Simply pulling the trigger and scoring hits on your target should be fun enough to play the game. There are several ways to do this: Making blood splatter from wounds on your target, creating satisfying sound effects from shooting your gun and hearing the connection on the enemy, etc. Gears of War is a great example of all these parts working together. I’m not saying every game should be like Gears though.
The most visual detail in the game should be located in the First-person view: Your gun, your hands and your HUD. As cool as it is to make a detailed bright neon sign on a multiplayer map, it will never leave the same impact as perfecting the lens through which the player is experiencing the game from. Still following? Sound design is also super important and I’m not even talking about the guns. Footsteps need to be loud and sound like a supersoldier is walking around. Grunting when clambering and other actions is a safe bet too. Battlefield 4 is probably the best out there in this regard at the moment.
As far as shooters go for the actual gameplay, each battle should feel intimate and personal. But how can you make each encounter a deep, rewarding and fun experience in games where you encounter enemy players every 5 seconds? You slow the pace of the game down and force players to use their brains as much as their actual skills at playing the game. When there’s a fight every 5 seconds, it’s impossible for each fight to be memorable or mean a whole lot because there’s only so much you can cram into a 2 second battle. You shouldn’t be shooting at someone new every 2 seconds, unless that’s the point of the game. In addition, players need more meaningful tools at their disposal to affect the outcome of a fight but not too many. People loved the Titan vs Titan combat in Titanfall because killing another player actually took quite a while and you had a healthy number of abilities at your disposal to try and best your opponent with. When the enemy Titan was weakened enough, you could rip the Pilot out and literally crush him in your hand. How is that not extremely awesome and satisfying?? Yes, Titanfall was not the best game but these examples are worth taking note of. There’s a reason the game had so much hype.
There should also be more emphasis on closer range combat to showcase the games graphics (detailed enemy character models) and further establish the visceral feeling of combat. Everyone loves the feeling of beating someone up close and personal. Don’t take that as me saying that long range is no fun. Shooting at pixels on the screen that are miles away is just wasted potential from both a gameplay and a technical standpoint, in my opinion.
In short: Go back to what made shooters so fun and groundbreaking in the past and crank it up to 11. Then add things into the game that compliment the monstrosity that you’ve created 
Also implement a ranking system that actually either ranks players correctly or puts everyone at the bottom and makes them work their way up the ladder. Halo 5’s ranking system is too inaccurate. If you you aren’t very good, you shouldn’t get placed in Diamond because you got carried
> 2533274833600810;1:
> In short: Go back to what made shooters so fun and groundbreaking in the past and crank it up to 11. Then add things into the game that compliment the monstrosity that you’ve created
The problem you’re going to have is that people will have different opinions on what those “basics” are that “made shooters so fun and groundbreaking in the past”.
I agree with all your points on… how do I call this?.. “combat feedback”. But I’m calling it now, this thread will be another warzone about gameplay mechanics before long…
This is a brilliant post. All 343 is doing is adding bells and whistles to the halo formula, which dilutes it IMO. Everyone clearly did not like Reaches direction, Halo 5 has certainly improved, but it still has a ways to go. Further, issues around this exist too, progression (SR ranks are meaningless, unlocks are behind an RNG paywall/random grind wall) and lack of content, not to mention they butchered the story.
As usual, 343 took a step forward in some areas, but 2 steps back in others.
> 2533274801176260;3:
> > 2533274833600810;1:
> > In short: Go back to what made shooters so fun and groundbreaking in the past and crank it up to 11. Then add things into the game that compliment the monstrosity that you’ve created
>
>
> The problem you’re going to have is that people will have different opinions on what those “basics” are that “made shooters so fun and groundbreaking in the past”.
>
> I agree with all your points on… how do I call this?.. “combat feedback”. But I’m calling it now, this thread will be another warzone about gameplay mechanics before long…
Never said it would be easy and I don’t plan on engaging anyone who is going to bring up something off-topic into this thread.
> 2533274833600810;5:
> Never said it would be easy and I don’t plan on engaging anyone who is going to bring up something off-topic into this thread.
Seeing as you (purposely?) left the title of the thread ambiguous, I’d argue that there will be people that consider topics you want to avoid being part of said “Back to Basics” approach and therefore not off-topic.
But I will now take a step back and let this play out by itself. Don’t want to contribute to this thread derailing myself…
> 2533274801176260;6:
> > 2533274833600810;5:
> > Never said it would be easy and I don’t plan on engaging anyone who is going to bring up something off-topic into this thread.
>
>
> Seeing as you (purposely?) left the title of the thread ambiguous, I’d argue that there will be people that consider topics you want to avoid being part of said “Back to Basics” approach and therefore not off-topic.
>
> But I will now take a step back and let this play out by itself. Don’t want to contribute to this thread derailing myself…
Back to the Basics of being a standout shooter is broad and I’ve even created a new bolded sentence in the beginning of my post to let people know right away what this is about. But anywho, enough of that.
I’d love to go back to the basics of halo, strip away all the glitter and crap
that has been layered on top of the core
mechanics (Sprint Spartan charge clamber slide ground pound and even to a lesser point thrust) get back to the real core gameplay of halo and then let’s start from there and build on top of that
That sounds good and smart.
2 Things 343i doesn’t like at all, remember 343i are Halo hipsters thes hate everything that made Halo Halo
i’m finding it quite surreal that some people i had spent so many posts arguing with coming from the same perspective i do, i’m gobsmacked. (though you are taking this from an immersion standpoint where i’m not, also many things you support i don’t)
i don’t want h3 2.0…
i want sound design that feels unique
visuals that aren’t just post-processing effects but something aesthetically beautiful
i want each map to exude it’s own personality
i want to perform actions and move at all times
i want wacky physics
i want vehicles that feel smooth and handle well
BTB maps that allow for nice vehicle use
a plethora of gametypes for more diversity
fun custom games
maps that work well in social
mechanics that are accessible and competitive (i feel neither are being met atm)
good theater and file sharing
enemies in campaign that are fun to fight
good level and map design
matchmaking intricacies that allow for more interaction and community making
i want the flow, rhythm, pace and tempo back
i am a halo purist, though i only felt dissatisfied with halo 4 onwards
all that came before i loved, though i had many criticisms with each
i hated how bungie approached the community
it felt like they didn’t quite understand the enjoyment, just slightly out of synch
at least with the player driven communities, culture and content anyway
it felt like 12 years worth of happy accidents tbh
i just want halo.
> 2533274836395701;10:
> i’m finding it quite surreal that some people i had spent so many posts arguing with coming from the same perspective i do, i’m gobsmacked. (though you are taking this from an immersion standpoint where i’m not, also many things you support i don’t)
>
> i don’t want h3 2.0…
> i want sound design that feels unique
> visuals that aren’t just post-processing effects but something aesthetically beautiful
> i want each map to exude it’s own personality
> i want to perform actions and move at all times
> i want wacky physics
> i want vehicles that feel smooth and handle well
> BTB maps that allow for nice vehicle use
> a plethora of gametypes for more diversity
> fun custom games
> maps that work well in social
> mechanics that are accessible and competitive (i feel neither are being met atm)
> good theater and file sharing
> enemies in campaign that are fun to fight
> good level and map design
> matchmaking intricacies that allow for more interaction and community making
> i want the flow, rhythm, pace and tempo back
> i am a halo purist, though i only felt dissatisfied with halo 4 onwards
> all that came before i loved, though i had many criticisms with each
> i hated how bungie approached the community
> it felt like they didn’t quite understand the enjoyment, just slightly out of synch
> at least with the player driven communities, culture and content anyway
> it felt like 12 years worth of happy accidents tbh
> i just want halo.
These are all good things to expect and ask for from a Halo game.
I agree OP. Personally, I love sprinting and clambering, but hate the omnidirectional Jumppack.
Powerful sounding weapons? Enough said.
That’s also my answer to game mechanics.
> As far as shooters go for the actual gameplay, each battle should feel intimate and personal. But how can you make each encounter a deep, rewarding and fun experience in games where you encounter enemy players every 5 seconds? You slow the pace of the game down and force players to use their brains as much as their actual skills at playing the game. When there’s a fight every 5 seconds, it’s impossible for each fight to be memorable or mean a whole lot because there’s only so much you can cram into a 2 second battle. You shouldn’t be shooting at someone new every 2 seconds, unless that’s the point of the game.
Contentious, depends on game design. Quake and CS have memorable battles, but for entirely different reasons.
In Quake you’re always in someone’s face, but the battles themselves play out uniquely because of the weapon variety and ability to control enemy movement.
CS Battles are more shallow in comparison, but are more important because they are stretched out and you have limited lives.
> In addition, players need more meaningful tools at their disposal to affect the outcome of a fight but not too many
Elaboration? Problem I have with modern Halo games is there’s tons of weapons but only a handful actually stand out and serve anything close to a unique purpose.
> There should also be more emphasis on closer range combat to showcase the games graphics (detailed enemy character models) and further establish the visceral feeling of combat
[Snarky comment about Sprint.]
> The most visual detail in the game should be located in the First-person view: Your gun, your hands and your HUD.
Interestingly enough, CSGO just recently upgraded the first person weapon and hand models/textures, without changing the maps.
Game is very good but i HATE spartan charge…that thing must go away. We just need better story and a good amount of content at launch.
I don’t think Halo will ever be as big as it once was. Halo 5 is good, don’t get me wrong. But the FPS market is way more flooded now than it used to be so this has a big affect on the popularity of Halo obviously. Who knows what Halo 6 is going to be like, but I’m sure it will be very similar to Halo 5.
OP I totally agree with everything you said. 343 needs to do some soul searching and take a serious look at stripping halo down to its core and starting from scratch with halo 6. UNFORTUNATELY… That is a whole lot of work for 343 and as far as I can tell based on what they have released so far they are not interested in putting a ton of work into a game because they love the franchise or the fans. They are only interested in making money and using the halo title to their advantage to do so. They will spend as little effort as possible to make the most money they can and that is it. While your post couldn’t be more accurate and well thought out I just don’t see it happening sadly.
I feel like 343 have a problem with clutter. Not just in the Multiplayer, but also in the Campaign. Both Visual, Audio, and Mental, and I think that goes back to your point about things being meaningful. I have found it hard to sit and relax or immerse myself in 5. In Multiplayer, I find myself having trouble hearing myself and other players over the secondary noises. They all just start to blend in together and nothing really stands out as a meaningful sound ( with a few exceptions ) to help situational awareness, that wasn’t covered by some other visual cue. Same for the Campaign when I need to process the gameplay, and the story. Trying to remember my history, or having to go back and look things up really breaks the immersion, on top of the imbalanced sounds. I mean it doesn’t make it a bad game, it just takes away a bit of the fun factor.
Maybe they don’t want to hurt someones feelings, or maybe they feel like more is better? I don’t know, but it just feels like there is no one at 343 shooting down somewhat secondary ideas, to focus on priorities. It’s like they need that sort of Steve Jobs -Yoink- to be like " We don’t have X ready yet…Why are you focusing on Y? And why the hell are you even thinking about adding in Z before X is finished, and there is A and B that already serve the same function!?
> 2598282106454479;17:
> I feel like 343 have a problem with clutter. Not just in the Multiplayer, but also in the Campaign. Both Visual, Audio, and Mental, and I think that goes back to your point about things being meaningful. I have found it hard to sit and relax or immerse myself in 5. In Multiplayer, I find myself having trouble hearing myself and other players over the secondary noises. They all just start to blend in together and nothing really stands out as a meaningful sound ( with a few exceptions ) to help situational awareness, that wasn’t covered by some other visual cue. Same for the Campaign when I need to process the gameplay, and the story. Trying to remember my history, or having to go back and look things up really breaks the immersion, on top of the imbalanced sounds. I mean it doesn’t make it a bad game, it just takes away a bit of the fun factor.
>
> Maybe they don’t want to hurt someones feelings, or maybe they feel like more is better? I don’t know, but it just feels like there is no one at 343 shooting down somewhat secondary ideas, to focus on priorities. It’s like they need that sort of Steve Jobs -Yoink- to be like " We don’t have X ready yet…Why are you focusing on Y? And why the hell are you even thinking about adding in Z before X is finished, and there is A and B that already serve the same function!?
I really like your second paragraph there.It probably describes exactly what happened during the halo 5 game design and it really hurt the end product.
> 2533274833600810;1:
> I feel like for Halo 6 to be groundbreaking in the stagnating FPS genre, it has to go back to and improve on what made shooters so fun to begin with. This post is about core gameplay and game feel. Not the REQ system. Not how there’s barely any content. Not the bad campaign. Just the gameplay itself. Here it goes.
>
> The basics of a shooter should have more attention before you start adding all these bells and whistles into a game. That’s not to say that the extra stuff isn’t fun but the core pillars of what make an FPS a satisfying and fun experience should be perfected first. When you walk, you should hear the heavy footsteps of your character (especially in Halo’s case). Gunfire from a first-person perspective should be loud and satisfying, unless the point of the weapon is not to be so in-your-face. Simply pulling the trigger and scoring hits on your target should be fun enough to play the game. There are several ways to do this: Making blood splatter from wounds on your target, creating satisfying sound effects from shooting your gun and hearing the connection on the enemy, etc. Gears of War is a great example of all these parts working together. I’m not saying every game should be like Gears though.
>
> The most visual detail in the game should be located in the First-person view: Your gun, your hands and your HUD. As cool as it is to make a detailed bright neon sign on a multiplayer map, it will never leave the same impact as perfecting the lens through which the player is experiencing the game from. Still following? Sound design is also super important and I’m not even talking about the guns. Footsteps need to be loud and sound like a supersoldier is walking around. Grunting when clambering and other actions is a safe bet too. Battlefield 4 is probably the best out there in this regard at the moment.
>
> As far as shooters go for the actual gameplay, each battle should feel intimate and personal. But how can you make each encounter a deep, rewarding and fun experience in games where you encounter enemy players every 5 seconds? You slow the pace of the game down and force players to use their brains as much as their actual skills at playing the game. When there’s a fight every 5 seconds, it’s impossible for each fight to be memorable or mean a whole lot because there’s only so much you can cram into a 2 second battle. You shouldn’t be shooting at someone new every 2 seconds, unless that’s the point of the game. In addition, players need more meaningful tools at their disposal to affect the outcome of a fight but not too many. People loved the Titan vs Titan combat in Titanfall because killing another player actually took quite a while and you had a healthy number of abilities at your disposal to try and best your opponent with. When the enemy Titan was weakened enough, you could rip the Pilot out and literally crush him in your hand. How is that not extremely awesome and satisfying?? Yes, Titanfall was not the best game but these examples are worth taking note of. There’s a reason the game had so much hype.
>
> There should also be more emphasis on closer range combat to showcase the games graphics (detailed enemy character models) and further establish the visceral feeling of combat. Everyone loves the feeling of beating someone up close and personal. Don’t take that as me saying that long range is no fun. Shooting at pixels on the screen that are miles away is just wasted potential from both a gameplay and a technical standpoint, in my opinion.
> In short: Go back to what made shooters so fun and groundbreaking in the past and crank it up to 11. Then add things into the game that compliment the monstrosity that you’ve created
343i should hire you for the game design!!!
Personally, I think Halo 5’s mechanics are going in the right direction. Its just a matter of Refining and improving for 6.
The more important matter is Content.
A longer, more replayable campaign. A co-op mode for fire teams to invest in. More options and ways to create and share user content.
And definitely more game types and modes. Ideally, we could get player-like Spartan bots in multiplayer to help plug population gaps but I’m not holding out hope.