I’ll keep this brief, as I know that otherwise I will end up sitting here for an hour writing this post!
I’m extremely grateful to the entire Halo team over at 343 & Microsoft.
Thank-you guys for yet another killer release! I logged over 10,000 multiplayer games in Halo 5, but stopped playing my Xbox One in about 2017. Since kicking heroin a couple years ago, I’ve been enamoured with my Xbox One console - which is why it was heartbreaking when it broke in early October. Managed to find an unopened Xbox Series X console from a local guy who sold it for the reasonable price of $800… and this marked my first big personal purchase since rehab etc, and it was because there was NO WAY I was going to miss out on playing the new Halo at release.
I spent hours upon hours playing the Campaign on Mythic. I don’t know if I’d want every future release to be semi-open, but it was super fun for me this time - and what a surprise realising I could go anywhere! The excitement after clearing all collectibles/FOBs because I was ready for a ‘traditional’ Halo mission. The relief after fighting my way through the objective & being released back into the open world. Finding a hidden weapon or two at an abandoned campsite or outpost, revelling in the environment storytelling & really feeling that humanity was just barely surviving. Turning around the corner to reach the nearby squad of marines that I initially came here for - that encounter would’ve been slightly harder had I not discovered the S7 + Hydra.
The multiplayer perfected the things I loved about Halo 5, and fixed some of the minor frustrations. It feels fast, brutal, and oh-so-satisfying to finish a Spartan off & hear the ‘click’ sound effect confirming my kill. Beautiful art found in campaign isn’t missing from the (surprisingly impressive) well designed maps.
I wanted to put my thoughts out there because frankly I am finding it hard to spend ANY time talking with the community outside of being in the game itself.
For me, the community reaction has been… in a word? Disappointing. An IP such as this, and a studio with such heart & dedication to said IP deserves much, much better. Voice your criticisms - sure! I’ll include some of mine at the bottom. But the spiteful, vitriolic rhetoric being spewed on Reddit, Twitter and here reads as nothing more than the temper-tantrums of immature boys with too much time on their hands and a misguided, distorted view of the realities of game development.
I’ll stop myself here before I get carried away (:
Cheers to 343i from Australia - I’ll see you on the battlefield, Spartans 
Criticisms
- Feels frustrating to navigate customisables (specifically armor) UI. The Hide UI function is great, but I wish it was alongside an ‘Inspect Kit’ function equipped with the ability to Zoom etc.
- Initial impressions of multiplayer ‘rank’ progression system was total confusion. The event, challenges etc really needed an integrated tutorial.
- I should be able to press ‘Find Match’ and then navigate any other menu, or move off the button itself for that matter, without the search being cancelled. It’s minor, but I still accidentally cancel it because I didn’t wait the full 3 seconds all the time.
- Doesn’t feel right to have progression tied to Battle Pass and nothing else. This one I’m not too upset about, but if I was choosing my ideal Halo game I’d like to have the ‘core’ progression similar to Halo 3 or Reach - with a Battle Pass layered on top. However, I understand that decisions like those aren’t always left to you. Microsoft clearly had a hand in making it free-to-play, and therefore the Battle Pass-as-progression makes sense. Regardless, I am enjoying ranking up with it. I think I’m Lvl 68 (:
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I’m not sure if I missed the edit button for my main post so I’ll reply instead…
There is one very important thing I forgot to mention when I was referring to those of you who haven’t bothered, or simply refuse to, learn about the realities of video game production.
I don’t agree with the opinions, but obviously you’re entitled to them. The ways + methods that many of you use to vent your frustrations is gross - but again, that’s your prerogative.
However, if you’re going to be cussing out those responsible for ‘ruining’ Halo, or shipping a ‘broken’ game… Can you please make sure you’re directing it at those actually responsible?
343i, and realistically, every single game dev on the planet, is just like you & me in most ways. They don’t like bad games - just like you, they don’t like broken games - just like you, and they sure as heck wouldn’t be proud to put their name on one.
Microsoft would be passing down the orders for the project leads at 343i to negotiate then carry-out. Don’t you think 343 would’ve delayed release and included forge if they had the choice? Doesn’t it seem more likely that as the release crept closer, they realised that in order to ship a quality experience they needed to prioritise things?
Microsoft are primarily responsible for every single (big picture - not small) unfinished or lacking feature in this game. Microsoft need their flagship title to be attached to their new flagship console. Microsoft want to make huge returns on investment, after all, they are a business and video games is an industry. Therefore it is Microsoft, not 343, who you need to be contacting, petitioning, persuading & criticising about ANYTHING related to multiplayer purchasing & Battle Pass.
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For me, I’ve only dabbled in a few of the Halo games - maybe half of the mainline releases - so I’m not that “offended” if a game doesn’t seem to be on par with the best of a franchise.
Together with the fact that I haven’t directly paid for any of it (since I’m using Game Pass), I’m less inclined to criticise it too much
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Awesome, I’m glad you are enjoying it. Don’t let anyone tell you you’re not allowed to.
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I appreciate your response, mate. It’s really refreshing to read something reasonable lol.
I, on the other hand, am a die-hard Halo fan. I’ve bought whatever the new console is specifically for every Halo release, starting with Halo 3.
But I’m not so passionately… angry about something that doesn’t satisfy my expectations - regardless of how dearly I hold Halo to my heart.
I’m also using Game Pass, and conversely that is why I am happy to chuck an extra $20 for a particularly cool aesthetic item to show my support - and buy the Battle Pass to ensure I get to ‘fully’ immerse myself in the new Halo experience haha.
Good to hear your thoughts mate.
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Congratulations!
Your post perfectly encapsulates the toxicity I was trying to describe. Have a brilliant day!
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Cheers, mate! Thanks for your kind words - and don’t you worry, I think I might be a little too mature for their recruitment tactics
Hope you’re enjoying it too!
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I have no idea why people on here are so allergic to positivity. It must be envy of others having more fun than them. 
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I wish you well brother, games are not a solution to addiction so keep that in mind, in fact they are an addiction all their own.
You don’t understand, Infinite was supposed to be the Chosen One, it was supposed to save gaming and defeat the Dark Side…
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Lol, glad I’m not the only one who was shocked by the sheer confidence of such a pointless message.
It’s awesome to hear even just a handful of people like you & I are out there - thankyou for responding.
Oh and I genuinely believe you are correct - hell hath no fury like white young men who play video games.
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I do find it interesting that you find the community response disappointing. Sure it’s negative, but to be fair 343 deserves the criticism. They shipped a pretty buggy product with an extremely minimal amount of content.
The community response is a direct reflection of that.
Sure there are things to be happy about. But for most…it’s heavily overshadowed by the bad that hinders the halo experience.
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I guess we fundamentally disagree on what is acceptable to call criticism, mate.
I think you might have blinders on if you’re implying that the community response has been fair, constructive & rational.
Regarding your final line, I guess we are just different people with differing expectations for a video game. For me, Halo is fun. The Halo experience is community. Halo is welcoming, it’s just, and it’s fair to all who care deeply for it - especially the people who pour their lives into making it for us. The least we could do is point our criticism at the right people - and do it constructively.
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Oh, I am definitely enjoying it. I play 2-4 nights a week. Though the Olympics are going to take over some of that for a bit.
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I’ve seen a lot of fair criticism for this game, actually.
To be honest, I feel like I politely disagreed with you and you’ve resorted to telling me I have blinders on. Didn’t you just call someone else toxic? Geez.
I never stated the vulgar feedback, insults, etc is classified as constructive or fair. There is a line that both supporters and antagonists have crossed, I’m not saying that is right.
I enjoy halo too, but the developers need the feedback regardless of how you feel about it. If everybody just decided to cope with the bad aspects of this game then there wouldn’t be progress towards a better game.
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As someone with over 14,000 matches in Halo 1,2,3 and 4 this game feels boring already.
The grapple shot novelty has worn off.
The weapon balance is mediocre at best.
Radar range is atrocious.
There aren’t proper counters for the Energy Sword, esp with grapple shot.
Banshee is made out of paper.
Warthogs flip too easily.
Vehicle spawns in BTB are a joke.
The game had a HUGE budget and we only got 10 multiplayer maps, meanwhile Vanguard that had half the Dev time, launched with 20 Maps + Zombies + Warzone.
The only good stuff is the New AR, BR and feel of the Movement.
The Arena Maps are “Ok” at best.
Even Halo 4 was way better.
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I definitely agree that the UI for the armor screen is wack.
The sensitivity and camera angle for viewing the armor up close is janky.
I hate to say it but I’m having WAY more fun with SplitGate.
Tons of gametypes.
Tons of Maps and map variety.
The game doesn’t feel cheap and actually has a Great Shotty and sniper AND. Shotty snipers playlist.
Doesn’t feel frustrating to play and very few moments where I feel I died because of the game flaws or balance and not skill
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I do like that Halo has tons of options for PC, but the lack of BTB maps, mediocre campaign story, only One Biome ( One PARTIAl Biome, because PNW has a lot more than just rocks, grass, pine trees and Hexagons ) is too much downside.
Plus the Limited Use Shotty, Useless Ravager, vehicle Spawn BS just makes the game feel meh.
Ravagers are really useful you just have to angle your shots or just use it in close-mid range because it deals lots of damage. When fighting Jega R’domnai I killed him really quickly using a Ravager and in Fiesta I got a bunch of kills using Ravagers.
You could use a Repulsor to buy yourself time or use a grapple shot to get away quickly.
Microsoft has to make money. Also, they have been taking community feedback. Just because they haven’t fixed the progression instantly doesn’t mean that they are ignoring the community.
You should remember that they made this during a pandemic when working from home so it would be hard to make a high quality game under such pressures.
I’m having an absolute blast as well! I play mostly Ranked Arena, and besides the ranking system needing some tweaks (which appear to be incoming), I don’t have much to complain about. This is pretty much the only game I’ve played since November.
P.S. I wish you all the best in your journey of recovery!
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