Judging by the Reach maps I see, specifically the ones CA and 343i released and did (Condemned, Highlands and half of the Anniversary maps), I am worried about the type of weapons on the map, as all the maps above have excessive power weapons (Save the exact-remake-weapon-placements variants of the Anniversary, like Beaver Creek, instead of Battle Canyon).
How so, well let’s take a look:
*Condemned- Before an updated version was released, this map initally had a Shotgun (2 spare clips), Sword, 2 Snipers (Both had 2 spare clips) and a Rocket Launcher (4 rockets). For a small-mid size map, that’s too many power weapons.
*Highlands- Oh god. This isn’t a vehicle heavy map yet we got Turrets, Snipers AND Rockets at each base. (Snipes and Rockets had 2 and 1 extra spare clips respectively before an updated version of the map was released). Toss in an additional Plasma Launcher and Spartan Laser, I wonder what’s on CA’s minds.
*Battle Canyon- The original Beaver Creek was flawless, yet Battle Canyon makes this even worse by giving the map 1 additional Shotty and Sword. And oh, Grenade Launchers. Now everytime we enter the base, camping would be unequivocally ubiquitous in the them. And umm, each Shotty had 2 spare clips. By. The. Way.
*Penance- Same issue as Condemned. Why add in the Sword? Sure the original Damnation had 2 Shotties near to each other, but that doesn’t mandate the replacement of one of the Shotty with a Sword, for a small-mid size map.
*Solitary- So for such a small map, we have 1 Rocket (1 spare clip), 2 Snipers (2 spare clips each), 2 Shotties (2 spare clips each) and a Hammer? I am starting to think whoever play-tests these maps for a weaponry setup is an absolute noob who can’t kill anything other than close-range weapons. The original Prisoner had 2 Snipers and 1 Rocket Launcher, and that worked fine.
As you have seen with the above examples, I question as to whether 343i can make H4 MP maps with good weaponry balance. Reach became horrible due to too much power weaponry focus (Especially the revived 18-bullet Shotgun-camping horror on non-large/vehicular maps.). Add some more AA terrors into the mix, and well, it’s pretty much who can utilise the best AA-Power weapon combo in matches. Halo 3 did well with power weaponry issues, like on varying maps the Shotgun had either zero, 1 or 2 spare clips, depending on size/layout/type of map. Halo 2, not too well, since Sword was infinite ammo and Shotties always had 36 bullets in them. So getting a good Halo 4 map layout is one thing. Achieving weaponry balance on it is another.
So I sincerely hope 343i will not make H4 maps unbalanced, because the best maps in Halo history (Lockout, Midship, Beaver Creek, The Pit, Guardian) didn’t suffer from an overdose of power weaponry. Thoughts?