Halo Technical Flight Feedback
Platform: PC (Steam)
Input Device: Mouse & Keyboard
Spartan Movement
The base movement speed feels good, a near perfect mixture between Halo 3 and Halo 5. The basic walking speed feels very aligned with Halo 3 in that regard. Sprint and Slide feels very good in a sense that it feels more controlled and not quirky and extremely fast paced. Sprint should be faster than walking but not to the extent that it feels unnatural. We’re playing as super soldiers wearing a heavy suit of armor, we shouldn’t be running as fast as the Flash and sliding across surfaces like it was made out of ice. In my opinion, this doesn’t need any tuning.
Motion Tracker
This is a mixed bag of opinions. A lot of people seem to like the change that was made and a lot of people dislike it. I don’t see any bigger problems with the change that was made. I like the fact that you can move a bit more freely around the maps knowing that the enemy doesn’t know your every move every second. It creates a nice flow and pace to the matches. But one thing that I did notice was that it’s hard sometimes to determine if the enemy is above or below you when they actually appear on the radar. I know that the red dot shines brighter if they are on the same level as you, but maybe revert back to using the triangle shape to further indicate. A triangle facing up if they are above you, facing down if they are below you and a dot if they are at the same level. That would make it easier to read on the go.
Maps
Three maps were tested. Live Fire, Recharge and Bazaar. Three smaller maps, two asymmetrical and one symmetrical. All maps were compact and had their own visual style that felt really Halo. Live Fire and Recharge feels balanced even though they are asymmetrical, the weapons and equipment are working well with how the maps are laid out. Bazaar on the other hand is a bit strange. I love the visual style and the overall atmosphere but it feels like a lot of the map is unused. While the map has alleys and rooms close to the middle, the whole match takes place in the middle. It gets a little bit boring sometimes. Maybe switch things up a little bit in terms of weapon spawns to create more natural map flow.
Weapons: Feeling and Performance
Alright, let’s make a list over all the weapons and how they perform with range, hit registration, damage and so on. There are a lot of weapons to go through.
But before I start with the weapons I need to address an issue that me and many others had. And that is when you zoom with weapons, both scopes and Smart Link. The zoom sensitivity is not 1:1 here even though it should be when you look in the settings. It feels a bit sluggish and not at all as responsive as it does when aiming from the hip. Don’t know if the settings are bugged or if the game lacks Raw Mouse input, but this needs to be looked at.
MA40 Assault Rifle
A solid weapon. It definitely got buffed in terms of range and efficiency. I always think twice now before I decide to switch it out for another weapon, which is good. However, it may be just a little bit too good, but it’s a little early to ask for a nerf just yet. I think we need a proper 4v4 Arena Flight before we can say anything in that regard.
MK50 Sidekick
This gun. I don’t really know what to say about it. It’s super reliable sometimes and sometimes not. Sure, I’ve missed some shots with it, but most of the time it feels like I should have hit the target when I don’t. I can kind of see where they want this gun to be in regards to performance and efficiency, I mean, in Halo 5 you immediately switch to the Magnum at the start of a game just because it’s so reliable and precise. I would like to see a slight buff on this in terms of precision.
BR75 Battle Rifle
Not much to say really. The old school look, the sound, the feeling of the gun, it’s all there. This is my favorite weapon.
VK78 Commando
All around it’s a good weapon. Though, I’ve read a lot of comments on Reddit that people were having a tough time when it came to how the weapon handles. It kicks a lot, even on mouse and keyboard. This is not the type of weapon that you can pick up and perform well with consistently. A small tune to the recoil would make it more viable on longer ranges if it wants to compete with the Battle Rifle.
S7 Sniper
You can definitely feel that the bullet magnetism is really low on this weapon. Which it should be. But, I do understand that people who use a controller did have a difficult time with this weapon. Trying to make this weapon fair for all input devices is hard, it will take some proper tuning to meet a good middle ground here.
CQS48 Bulldog
Nothing to say other than it feels good and performs well. It’s a shotgun.
Pulse Carbine
I had a very limited time with this weapon. I don’t really see the scenario where I would use this weapon instead of the AR, Commando, BR and so on. However, the bots knew how to use it well. I got deshielded plenty of times when a bot rushed me with it. If there is something to improve on here it might be the tracking on the plasma projectiles, make it a bit more viable in the current sandbox, give us a reason to use it.
Plasma Pistol
No feedback here. It’s the classic we all know.
Needler
Is it really back to its former glory? Maybe, maybe not. I wasn’t facing any major issues with this weapon, both using it and facing it. It does what it’s supposed to do. It’s really cool to see the old melee animation from CE making a comeback.
Ravager
Can’t really say anything here. I tried it one or two times in the Weapon Drills and maybe one time in a Slayer match. It’s a cool weapon and I can see where it can be used to gain map control and close off doors.
Gravity Hammer
It’s back and it’s super good. It does have a bigger area of damage than before but with a little slower animation time. I think it’s an overall good weapon and feels good to use, especially combined with the Grappleshot.
Skewer
An interesting weapon to say the least. It does exactly what you think it does, shoots a big skewer that turns your enemies into kebab. It’s basically like a one shot sniper. I would say it’s pretty balanced though, with the extreme power comes a slower reload time.
Heatwave
This is basically the forerunner shotgun but with the ability to change how you want to shoot it, vertically or horizontally. This weapon feels a little bit weak compared to other weapons in terms of damage, it does need a little buff in power. Overall it’s a nice weapon that you don’t have to think twice before you pick it up.
Menus & UI
Overall it looks clean. I like the minimalist style they went for here with the menus. The only thing I want to see a change on is the readability in some menus. Primarily the start menu where you get to choose “Weapon Drills” and “Multiplayer”. The background blends too much with the white text here.
Final words
I think the flight was a good first step towards launch. I’ve seen a lot of feedback popping up both on Reddit and Halo Insider Forum, which is awesome to see. I’m looking forward to seeing what the next flight will be all about, hopefully some proper 4v4 PvP, and that I get invited to it as well. Thank you 343 for bringing Halo back. <3