I’ve enjoyed the series since Halo CE. I’ve loved what Bungie has made and what they’ve done with the series before departing. Then 343i took over. For their first game, I think 343i did a great job. But they missed the mark on multiple areas and with so many exploits at launch, Halo 4 felt like a half-baked game. I want Halo 5 to innovate for campaign and spartan ops but they should stay traditional for multiplayer I want the controls to feel more like Bungie’s halo, but with a modern touch. (if Kinect returns, it should only be for scanning like in Anniversary.) I want a in-depth campaign, a ton of co-op options, a competitive multiplayer, and a map editor (if Far Cry 3 can do it, why cant Halo?) So here’s the start where I think 343i can reinvent the franchise…
Campaign
-Open world. I’ve been spoiled by games like Mass Effect, I want a Halo game that actually requires traveling without being too linear. And I think that the forerunner map from Spartan Ops would make a good reason why this should be implemented.
-If it’s open world, there should be a mix of hub colonies/ships where we can get missions and updates. Along with plentiful mission-like planets.
-There should be a light-RPG element to the game. Not so much for finding loot, but by doing side quests we can receive XP for upgrades/weapon loadouts/armor abilities, etc.
-For the main story, each mission leads to another, no need for hub worlds. We simply go from one planet for mission 1 to another planet for mission 2. And whenever we complete a mission, we unlock it in some kind of index so that we can replay them at will.
-I honestly believe Chief is on the run from the UNSC as he looks for Halsey. I believe that if we run into a mission surrounding the UNSC, they should be hostile. So that there is a mix of covenant/human/forerunner forces
-Since it is open world and based on Chief, I feel that it would be better that campaign remain single player and Spartan Ops have the co-op options.
-bring back theater.
-Bring back Meta-scoring for certain side-missions and all main missions.
Spartan Ops
-No longer a contained selection of levels, It, too, should be open world and act like a second campaign. However, just like campaign it should have main missions and side missions. Side missions should be a mixed bag of replayable modes. Let’s say we go back to Installation 03, we have the choice of either complete the main mission, a side quest involving some random objective or a third option of taking out heavy enemy forces (aka. Firefight 3.0)
-Bring back the CG scenes for main missions, and instead of each week we get a new episode, each week we get a new planet consisting of a main mission and side quests/firefight maps.
-It’s leveling set-up should be somewhat identical to campaign’s. As well as XP for your social rank for the multiplayer.
Multiplayer
-Multiplayer should take a step back from what Halo 4 offered. Each mode should consist of everyone starting out on equal footing, or atleast close.
-no more mods. They do not add to the customizeable features, they just take away from what were originally able to do.
-AA’s should be available as pick-ups now.
-Sprint can remain default. As long as it stays that when you are shot, you stall and that you ‘walk’ at Halo 3 speed by default
-Loadouts are unlocked right away but are minimalistic and to the point. I.E. we have just a choice between AR (close), BR (med), DMR (long) and maybe a choice between two different handguns (NO PLASMA PISTOLS.)
-We all should start with frags.
-maybe make vehicle health based on how many players are in it. As well as what type of vehicle. Take the Warthog for example. If you have a single driver, a plasma grenade or two should kill it. Two drivers will need at least two grenades (Like Halo 4/Reach) and three drivers will require several (Halo 3 style health.) While the mongoose is vulnerable all around, the Ghost has a high defense up front but takes more damage from the back (or the round engine on it’s side, just like in Halo 2.)
-bots (for offline play)
-instead of swapping out gametypes from a mainlist, just do what Bungie did and separate Ranked from Social and Community.
-Infinity slayer no longer consists of random drops, each weapon on the map drops at spawn, but they are consistant instead of random. And Personal ordnances should be tiered. No longer a random mix of the same close-quarters weapons on a huge map. here are some example (the random weapon will always be only the first option, but based on what map, the weapon will be picked differently. But none will be high-end power weapons like rocket launchers or incineration canons or binary rifles)
(first ordnance)
-random common weapon on a small/med map (SMG/Storm rifle/suppressor)
-random common weapon on a large map (light rifle/carbine)
-random power up
-random AA
(second ordnance)
-random med weapon on a small/med map(SAW/shotgun/scattershot/sticky detonator)
-random med weapon on a large map (SAW/railgun/sticky detonator)
-random power up
-random AA
(third and above ordnance)
-random med-high weapon on a small/med map (SAW/Shotgun/Scattershot/Concussion rifle/needler/sticky detonator)
-random med-high weapon on a large map (railgun/sticky detonator/SAW/sniper rifle/Beam Rifle)
-random power up
-random AA
As for playlists…
Ranked:
-Team Slayer
-Team Objective
-Ranked BTB/BTO
-FFA
-Ranked Action Sack
Social:
-Infinity Slayer
-Infinity Objectives
-BTB
-Invasion
-Action Sack
-FFA
Community
-Community Slayer
-Grifball
-Ricochet
-Flood
The overall rank should be a cross between new and old. Ranked Slayer rewards players for winning while social/community reward on EXP for what you do in the match. Just like in Halo 3, it should be a mix of doing both. Ranked will allow you to progress your military/numbered rank while community and social progress your class. for example, a player who has won 10 matches in ranked is now a level 5 private. If the player plays a few matches of social/community he can progress to a Private first class or second class. The larger the rank, the more EXP required to hit the next class.
Forge
-Should allow us to start with a flat, blank layer. One that we can modify in a similar style to Project Spark or Far Cry 3.
-Give us multiple palettes. Like if I want to make a snow level or a urban level, or a night level in the forest, etc.
-object editing/copying/snapping should be like Halo 4’s but with improvements of course.
-give us options to add bot spawns for custom matches.
Anyway, this is all purely my thoughts on how Halo 5 could be like. It’s currently 4am so I’m pretty tired and I’m sure I missed some details. But thanks for reading.